Okay, listen up. This is probably the closest thing I’ll ever come to sounding conservative: The government needs to stay out of my damn lawn.
A city employee came by yesterday telling us that they’ve had a complaint about our yard. The rim of weeds surrounding our otherwise decently-kempt yard is over the limit (nine inches, I believe). If it’s not taken care of, we’ll get a $150 ticket. Then a $250 ticket and so on.
It’s not a matter of health and safety, like when a building is condemned. It’s not wet here, so mosquitoes won’t breed. The weeds mainly just ring the yard, so vermin won’t be making nests.
No, this is a purely aesthetic issue.
The guy said the issue is probably that we’re right next to the park. Apparently, people will come to the park, see that a yard looks bad and call it in.
Uh… why does it matter what passersby think about our private property?
It’s not an issue of a glaring eyesore for people in the park. Thanks to a row of hedges maintained by the city, our yard isn’t visible any place that people would linger: picnic area, play area, basketball courts etc.
We are in no way inhibiting the enjoyment of the park. It’s ridiculous!
I’d understand more if it were one of our neighbors. At least then, it would actually affect them inre: property values.
Anyway, the city employee, like the one a year and a half ago, was pretty nice about it. He learned that we have health problems, had already scheduled a yard guy for Saturday and that it’d been awhile since our last citation. So he gave us til Monday to deal with it.
I appreciate how reluctant the employees are to actually charge people for this ridiculous law. Still, this is absurd.
Anyway, I double-checked with the yard service that we’re definitely, absolutely scheduled for Saturday.
Granted, it’ll cost a cool $325. But that includes pre-emergent spray in the front and back. Allegedly, that’ll keep things at bay for about nine months. As long as we keep on schedule, the second spray should last about a year. The third spray, he said, should last a good chunk longer than that.
So at least most of the headache will be gone. If a few do pop up here and there, I can ask Marc to get them with the weed-whacker.
Have you ever been cited for a weedy yard?
Beth says
No, I have never been cited for a weedy yard but a couple of years ago just after the township re-paved our road we got a letter from the township. The letter suggested we re-pave our driveway and widen it because my husband was parking his truck on the edge of the yard and tracking mud onto the new pavement. Now there isn't any statue on the book that says we can't park on our lawn, there was no reference to a fine if we didn't comply and they have no way of making us re-pave and widen our driveway. What it came down to is that one of our neighbors didn't like the looks of the mud on the street (tire tracks not clumps or globs) and had a friend who was willing to write a letter on official paper to try to scare us. I really wish I had taken the letter to the township building and complained about mis-use of power. Good luck with the weeds and the yard. Beth
Donna Freedman says
What a silly waste of your time! I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall if you'd taken it to, say, a council meeting to complain about the misuse.
Abigail says
Wow, that's just beyond ridiculous. Glad you didn't cave.
Impossible Girl says
“one of our neighbors didn’t like the looks of the mud on the street”
Dafuq? Do you live in the Sahara? What do these people do when it rains? I can’t stand people who apparently have nothing to do but tattle on their neighbors about little dumb stuff like this.
Kristin says
Gosh, who has time to look at your yard, find the number to call and complain and make a stink about it? This person sounds like a real jerk and probably complains about everything in life! Sorry this happened to you!
Kristin recently posted…Side Hustle True Story: I Donated Plasma
Abigail says
Yeah, I wonder that too. Just silly.
AuntLeesie says
In California, weed abatement is for fire safety, and maybe that’s why the hassles in Arizona? You’d probably want to hire it out at some later date, and I know you’ve got other financial priorities right now, but a more lasting fix to the problem could be having strips of construction grade plastic (my pop called it visqueen) laid out in strips with river rock or gravel on top where your weeds like to sprout and grow. Less expensive than landscape fabric, it’ll last for years. No weeds can pop through it. Depending on who you hired to do the job–using some of your gift cards from the insulation for materials–it could cost as little as $500 total.
Abigail says
Yeah, rock is definitely in our future. Just… not the next few months. For now, the guy’s pre-emergent spray should keep our yard clear for the better part of 9 months.
Kat says
For us, keeping things limited is about fire, but I think you’re coming up against a blight law. Think of it as a relatively weak HOA. Cities have them to prevent property value (and by association property taxes) from slipping. They also have them to discourage crime and vagrancy. A few cities around here are actually trying to make them stronger.
We’ve been skirting one recently, with a frustrating problem. Fences around here are supposed to be maintained. We share our fence with a neighbor- we maintain our half, but they don’t maintain theirs
Abigail says
Yeah, it’s definitely an issue of blight. All the houses in our area are block and there are no wooden fences, so there’s very little to catch on fire.
Intellectually I guess I get the reasons you’re listing, but the end result still feels ridiculous.
No Nonsense Landlord says
Here in MN, our grass can grow an inch a day, or more. It is not unusual to have to mow 3x a week is you want a pristine yard. And you have to bag the grass if you really want it nice.
I have never gotten a ticket or citation, but maybe should have… Despite having several commercial mowers, including a 52″ Z and a 52″ walk behind, I have other things more important to do than mow 2 acres.
Maybe you can get a goat?
No Nonsense Landlord recently posted…How to Be a Dream Tenant – Nationally Published Blog Article!
Abigail says
A goat would probably make things worse. My FIL barely keeps up with their two dogs’ poop in the back yard. And we don’t have a fence to keep the goat in the front yard, which is the issue.
Yeah, I wonder how many Phoenicians are going about their business with a perfectly weedy lawn thanks to uninterested neighbors/passersby. Ah, well.
Stefanie @ The Broke and Beautiful Life says
Oh how I enjoy being a renter 😉 I imagine people bugging me about my yard would drive me pretty nuts!
Stefanie @ The Broke and Beautiful Life recently posted…Diversity of Income, Diversity of Happiness: Why Having a Back Up Plan Isn’t Resigning Yourself To Failure
Abigail says
Yep, there are definitely things I miss about renting. Like, lack of repair bills. Or City of Phoenix employees coming around.
Teresa Mears says
I got cited for not mowing once. After that, I hired someone to mow every two weeks (less often in winter), and then at least the weeds got mowed. In theory, we could all do yard work, but I find that I don’t get to it often enough and it’s just easier to hire someone who is going to show up and do it regularly.
I have, from time to time, applied the same argument to housework though I am doing my own at the moment.
Teresa Mears recently posted…How the rich get rich — and stay rich
Abigail says
Yeah, we’re hoping the pre-emergent can keep this hassle down in the future. And at some point we’ll bite the bullet and just put rocks in. But not right on the heels of the fans ($765), gates ($690) and masonry wall ($1,500). And in the next couple of months we’ll have to do the HVAC unit for the guest house so… blech.
Tina in NJ says
Years ago, a guy in the Midwest (Minnesota, I think) was cited for not mowing his lawn. They said his lawn was useless. This guy, Roger, knew his stuff and responded plant by plant. The only useless plant in his lawn was Kentucky Bluegrass. And Roger ended up a correspondent on Sunday Morning on TV.
Abigail says
Now that’s a great story! Who the heck needs a lawn to be useful?
Taylor Lee @ Engineer Cents says
I remember our family having problems with our HOA like this (e.g. we left our trash can a whole THREE HOURS out after pickup and were cited/fined), but never with the city. I can only imagine what they’d have done if we had weeds (probably try to get us evicted or something).
Taylor Lee @ Engineer Cents recently posted…Should I Splurge On Dress-Shopping?
Abigail says
Wow, that’s pretty ridiculous. We’re just annoyed because this isn’t even an HOA issue. We specifically made sure there wasn’t one when we purchased because of this ridiculousness.
Oh well, it’s taken care of now.