I have called the codes officer to deal with a neighbors overgrown shrubs blocking the alley we need to use to get out of our garage & one that many others use as well. It's their job, not mine, to see that this is dealt with. Came to find out the house is being rented & renter is not responsible. The "owner/landlord" has been notified twice for this issue. Once when he had the house up for sale & just last week. He lets things go until he's forced to deal with it.
Speaking to even friendly neighbors isn't always easy. My husband asked (nicely) a neighbor across the street to turn down his garage(back of their lot) radio that was so loud we could hear every word from the radio announcer, not to mention the blaring music in our house with doors/windows shut! Sitting outside on our porch was like being at a rock concert. Neighbor got majorly pissed & stopped speaking to us.
Since you have a language issue & are not on speaking terms & past situations (aka the cat dirt) I would contact codes officer & tell them your situation. Explain your husbands allergy problem & that you don't know for sure & don't want to get them in trouble & perhaps they have no idea of the laws.
You'd be surprised how many people have no idea of codes. Not all towns have written codes you can go pick up. Ours doesn't. If we want to know we have to call the codes officer.