MOUNT PLEASANT, Pa. -- The Mount Pleasant township council said a woman can keep bamboo stalks as high as 35 feet in her yard because the plants can be eaten, exempting them from rules that govern grass and other plants.
The Central Westmoreland Council of Governments was asked to weigh in by two of Myra Posner's neighbors on College Avenue in Mount Pleasant.
Posner grows bamboo outside her home-based Bamboo Grove Yoga Studio. She told WTAE Channel 4's news exchange partner, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, that the plants help create a soothing atmosphere.
But the neighbors who complained said the bamboo stalks invade their yard, attract birds and smack against their house.
"It's unbearable to live by, it's unsightly, it smells, it's a public health hazard with the bird droppings," neighbor Dan Gelzheiser said. "We have mice, we have every street cat in the neighborhood here. I don't know. What do you do?"
Neighbors asked the council to enforce a 10-inch limit for grasses, but council said that limit doesn't apply because bamboo can be eaten by humans.
"I have a son. He'll be 2 in October," neighbor Tara Greenawalt said. "He can't run out here at all. We don't use the front yard because of it."
The neighbors said they plan to appeal the council's decision.
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