Mow your lawn or go to jail!

Going to jail for not mowing the lawn? That's a little bizarre. I can certainly understand the fine. Sometimes money talks! A few years ago someone notified the city that we had mold on our shed in the backyard. I didn't go out during the winter months to look at the shed. We had 60 or 90 days to paint it or pay a $1,000 fine. I was angry, really angry. Supposedly they call these people "dog walkers" who wander around neighborhood's and make note of people's property issues. Ok, someone needs to get a life! We painted the shed and that was that. I resent the fact this is our house, we own it. Now the city is telling us how to live and what to do with our property. The mold was hardly visible so it wasn't a big deal. If this problem was an eye catcher that looked bad and damaged the value of our property, a call could have been sufficient instead of a notice placed between the doors with a warning.

I think this is a great idea. I wish they would do it here. A few townsfolk have their yards looking like a tip. It's disgusting and makes the rest of us ashamed.

the bill is very tough, here in montreal we have to mow our lawn or get a 300 fine, it is just too much. I have no lawn mower and no money to get one either.

am not sure what is like here but we do ours when needed neighbors pay some one to do it iever week weather they needed t that our notlooks like that town just wants more money out of people!

That is pretty harsh but a lot of people don't take care of their homes and yards which actually lowers the value of the homes in the surrounding area, not to mention it does make the neighborhood look tacky. I wish they had some kind of law like that here, my neighbor across the street doesn't have grass he has weeds all weeds and as of right now his yard is cover with weeds as tall as his house it looks like a field over the a real eye sore.

I'm not sure if they have anything like that in my town, but where I live if you don't mow you're lawn a neighbor will come over and do it and cut it extremely short, almost killing the grass. Mainly, to be a jerk, because most of the people that live next to me are idiots.

Wow! That seems a bit extreme to me. What if a person doesn't have a mower and can't afford to pay someone to do it for them? So far there isn't any ordinance here in California for that (that I know of anyway). Otherwise several people down the street from me would have permanent residence in the local jail.

I think it is ridiculous and we have too many laws on the books as it is. If a person for whatever reason chooses not to mow his lawn...well it is HIS lawn and HIS own personal reasoning. Perhaps he has fallen ill or maybe he can't afford the gas for his mower....there could be a number of reasons and more than likely justifiable ones. Most people prefer their homes to look good. Rather than condem him, his neighbors should all band together and help him out. The only instance I can see this law being acceptable is in the case of a rental unit in which the landlord should be responsible for the upkeep of his properties. Privately owned properties? The law is going is putting it's nose in where it doesn't belong.

I think that it is the craziest thing in the world. But it is reasonable to pay a fine because of the increase of the price of fuel. But to go to jail, that isn't a really fair think to do. So many criminal out there and they want to waste the cells on people that don't moe there lawn.

First read this news. I don't think this can make one perpon guity...

On one hand law inforcement could be spending more time and effort in other more important areas. On the other hand I used to live next to a woman who didnt take care of her lawn (we're talking 10 foot thistles!) and it turned out to be quite a hassle. Not a jail time kind of hassle I don't think but...

I think that jail thing is just a threat from the council,since everybody is afraid to go to jail then they have to lawn their home..after all,it is a positive thing to do..keeping houses clean and preventing wild animals like snakes living in your yard..

you meaning s i canton ,ohin !!where are you from??USA/

I think we as neighbors should take ownership of our neighborhoods and take the initiative to cut the grass if it will take away from the beauty of our community. Maybe we can start a volunteer group to go around and cut grass!

...sounds a bit heavy handed to me! A bit nazi-istic, if ya ask me! That's to say, a bit extreme.. I like the notice and sending someone else out to do it at the reprobates expense much better! Are ya gonna throw someone in jail because their lawn mower broke.. or they went on vacation and the person they hired decides to take a long break.. Geesh, let's kick out the rapists and such and make room for the folks with long grass!

That seems awful steep doesn't it. Our town is like yours, they will send you a notice and then they will do it. They charge you an outrageous bill if they have to do it.

Maybe they have trouble collecting the money they billed for mowing so have gone a step further. Often it is absentee landlords with abandoned/empty property that gets overgrown. They probably just ignore the bills when they come. Maybe they should have made it a fourth-degree misdemeanor to not pay the mowing bill!

Wow That does seem to be extreme. My ex hated any yard work. At one time he would let the grass and weeds get really high before mowing. It was very embarressing. Here in Houston most of the residential areas have home owners associations which control things. I really dont see why if someone does not want to do it, hire someone who will.

This is a bit extreme, or seems to be. But if, as the article says, they spend so much money cutting people's grass, it's understandable. Every area has different regulations. When I lived in Florida, the local yard police used to come by with rulers. If anything - including those things that shoot up after a rain! - was more than 6 inches, you received a notice to mow within 24 hours. If you didn't, they came out and did it - with riding mowers. If they ran over your flower beds, oh well. When they were done, they charged you $150.

This is an outrageous misuse of government. Mediation is the way to go.