Citations

[ratushebarl.livejournal.com]

I just went down to City Hall to try and get a cert of good standing for a contractor, and discovered $1050 in trash citations -- issued June 16, 18, 21, 23, 25, this is the first I've heard of any of them -- plus a $25 ticket for "overgrowth".

I gather the thing is to appeal trash cites in person? I'd pay one or two out of general civicness, but this seems extreme. I'm unhappy with this much escalation with no notification and no chance to remediate. Plus I think the whole thing is bogus -- I've been tagged before and we're careful about the trash.

On the plus side, the City Clerk employee was very helpful and saw to it that I got my certificate stamped anyway.

In other news, what's the deal with overgrowth? I don't have plants overhanging the sidewalk, or as far as I can tell doing anything else obnoxious. My tiny lawn is weedy, but is this a crime?

Comments

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

Anything that makes the neighborhood look bad can be considered a blight on the neighborhood as a whole. If you were trying to sell your house you certainly wouldn't want your neighbors homes looking unkept.

I mean, overgrown grass seems like it would merit a warning citation first, but I guess you have to draw a line somewhere.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

Forcing people to cut their grass short and remove "weeds" is terrible for the environment. A mown lawn takes a huge amount of water and chemicals. Letting brush grow, even on a small urban property lets nature take its course, and provides habitat for birds and other wildlife. See http://www.for-wild.org/download/growit.html .

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

sort of a reach. there are many environmentally sound options between an "american dream" lawn and just letting it grow out to hell. I'm totally pro- natural landscaping, but I am 99% sure what we're talking about here is run-of-the-mill turf that's overgrown.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

there are many environmentally sound options between an "american dream" lawn and just letting it grow out to hell. I'm totally pro- natural landscaping (and anti-lawn), but I am 99% sure what we're talking about here is run-of-the-mill turf that's overgrown.