The cost of a shaggy yard
By Brandy Nance (Contact)
Originally published 01:01 p.m., June 2, 2008
Updated 01:01 p.m., June 2, 2008
Photo by Adam Vogler
A mow order from the City of Emporia stands out front of a home at 114 S. Market St. Monday, June 2. The order states that if the owner does not comply with the order that the city will mow the property and bill the owner for the costs.
If you don’t heed the warnings by the city to mow your lawn according to the city ordinance, it will cost you — at least $500.
Emporia is cracking down on hairy lawns. If a lawn is more than 12 inches high, it must be cut.
Complaints of tall grass on properties in Emporia have risen by more than 100 percent this year over last year, said Lawana Williams of the Emporia Fire Department, who handles complaints that come into the office. A large part of this is because this year, the city isn’t relying on residents’ complaints. Officials are out themselves looking for lawns in violation of the ordinance. Williams said if fire personnel are out at a fire or testing a hydrant and they see a lawn in violation, they report it back to her. Williams handles about 50 complaints a day, she said.
The lawn ordinance states that weeds and grasses cannot be more than 12 inches in height. And 12 inches means just that, Williams said. A complaint cannot be lodged until the majority of the lawn is 12 inches tall.
“If it’s 11 inches tall, there is nothing we can do,” Williams said.
The weed ordinance also includes trimming around the property. Williams reminded property owners that they also are responsible for the areas between the home and the alley. That means if there is a patch of grass on the edge of the alley, the property owner is responsible for it.
“They have to mow all the way to the alley,” Williams said. “And they have to do weed-eating by the curb.”
The turnaround time for enforcing the mowing ordinance in Emporia has improved dramatically this year, Williams said. A mowing order sign is posted in a lawn in violation. Three days later, personnel go out to see if the lawn has been mowed. If it hasn’t, for in-town property owners, a certified letter is sent. If the property owner lives out of town, the order is published in the paper. Orders are always sent to the property owner, whether they live on the property or not. This prevents confusion when renters don’t pass on the information, Williams said.
The property owners have five days from the time they sign for the certified letter to cut their lawn. If the order is published in the paper, the owner has 10 days from the time of publication. Once the property owner’s time is up and the lawn is still in violation, the city sends a contractor out to mow the property. A $500 administrative fee is assessed. The property owner also is responsible for the contractor’s fee, which is $100 a lot or $100 an hour. The property owner also will get billed for the cost of publication and/or the cost of the certified letter. Bills also will be mailed via certified letter.
“We are passing everything back to the property owners,” Williams said.
The fees have gone up dramatically over the years from $75 to $200 last year and $500 this year. The reason for this isn’t to make money, said Tom Andrews, fire marshal. The fee is intended to be used as a deterrent against violations. It used to be cheaper to have the city mow lawns for property owners. At $500 a pop, this is no longer true, Williams said.
“And it’s working,” she said. “Once people get the letter they are mowing their lawns now. Half of them are mowed before we could send them a certified letter.”
On repeat offenses, there will be no warning, Williams said. If the city has to go back out and mow a lawn, the property owner will not receive a letter or publication. Only a bill.
“The second and third time you get nothing,” she said.
To report a lawn in violation of the ordinance or for more information, call 343-4230. Williams said to be patient after a lawn has been reported.
“It’s not that we’re overlooking them, but we have to give the owner time to mow,” she said.
Comments
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Posted by rmbcollege (anonymous) on June 2, 2008 at 6:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It's good that the fee is deterring people from not mowing their lawns.
Posted by pizza (anonymous) on June 2, 2008 at 11:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Does it strike anyone else that some of these city employees are getting a real power trip out of kicking people around that have a shaggy yard. I agree that the yards need mowed but $500 is a bit unreasonable. Have these employees completely forgotten who they work for....they seem to think they are in charge now....
Posted by USNretired (anonymous) on June 3, 2008 at 8:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I wonder if anybody at the city runs a lawn mowing company.
Posted by Iloveemporia (anonymous) on June 3, 2008 at 10:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
if you need your yard cut i can do it for 150 a whole cheaper than 500
Posted by Iloveemporia (anonymous) on June 3, 2008 at 11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
i should modify my mower to sit right at 11 inches and cut my whole yard to that height and see what happens they would shove the ruler in the dirt and be like look it 13 inches here is your 500$ bill
Posted by blulitespecial (anonymous) on June 3, 2008 at 11:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
500 bucks for an "administrative fee"?! Sounds like a Dukes of Hazzard speed trap. I'd say 100 for fees,and 75 to 175 for mowing costs.A deterrent for out of state owners is one thing- a tax on being poor and in the hospital or dead is another is another.Wonder if I could sell insurance for this?.....
But 12" is pretty dang high.It should be costly if you just don't worry about it.
Posted by blulitespecial (anonymous) on June 3, 2008 at 11:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If the city backhoes out a trench in your yard to drain city property,are you responsible if it's too deep too mow?
Posted by Iloveemporia (anonymous) on June 3, 2008 at 11:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/19486...
Posted by Merry_Carol (anonymous) on June 3, 2008 at 12:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What happened to neighborliness? Often when grass gets out of control, it's due to someone inside being ill or elderly and poor, and they suddenly can't do the work and are too proud to ask for help.
With the cost of living rising so fast, we'll see more people with those problems. And some of us might wind up in that position too.
For a fine that large, the city should check on the well-being of the person inside before slapping them with a fine that big. That's ridiculous.
Isn't there some volunteer group who will help people with mowing? I mean, hard times can happen to any one of us.
There are more people than we like to think who need help. Mowing is one help that some people need.
We really need to watch out for each other better than this. Things never should have reached this point. Check on your neighbors if you see things getting out of control, even a bit. I'm going to.
Posted by eldiablo (anonymous) on June 3, 2008 at 1 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'll do it for $50!
Posted by zander (anonymous) on June 3, 2008 at 9:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The owners are sent a certified letter stating exactly what the charge and all the details are about days after the actual mowing order sign is posted. They are given plenty of time to either mow or make other arrangements. There are plenty of mowing businesses listed in the paper if they would just call. I know the person mowing the yards and the yards are dangerous because some are so tall he hits things in the yard and damages his equipment and gets cut up himself. Most yards are a total mess and the owners just don't care. If the owners think this is unfair then they need to get the job done or ask for help.
Posted by dhcc66 (anonymous) on June 3, 2008 at 10:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
i guess i'm puzzled. why is every body whining about mowing their yards? i guess you folks must be the ones who have to worry about bumping into the junk cars if you mow ?? (just kidding)
it's well known that shaggy yards, especially the ones i see around that are well into the 2 feet and taller variety...they harbor rodents and all kinds of nice stuff. i guess if you want your neighborhood or your own yard looking trashy, then go ahead...fight the system the whole way. personally i think that warning them several times may be too many times....ever think that this might be another way to deal with bad landlords/landowners too??
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