This is what Amerika is coming to? - Jail time for not cutting your grass?

Cutting your grass is getting expesive. I mowed my yard the other day, myself, I mowed it, It was $12 of gas and 2 hours and it was well over 100 degrees. Next time Ill just burn it. itll be cheaper
 
That many be true, but its not the government business to tell folks to do it.
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As a pretty strong Libertarian (one of my friends will often try to introduce me as a Libertarian Revolutionary), I think this is within the gov't power. The reasoning for this has little to do with property values or the eyesores.

1.Rats and insects love tall grass lots located in cities. Shelter+food supply
2.fire hazard.

When you live in a city you receive some benefits and give up a few rights in order to meet the zoning laws. You don't have the right to provide shelter for snakes, rats, mosquitoes etc. that migrate through the neighborhood affecting everyone else. You also don't have the right to unnecessarily endanger someone else's house to fire. Get off your lazy but and mow the grass every 2 weeks.
 
Ever think of using Astro-Turf?
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I have a client who does this. I lose it every time I drive by their house. I will warn insurance companies are not real big on this simply b/c they run everything off of statistics and there are not many available for astro turf (how likely someone is to trip etc.)

EVERY 2 weeks? Oh Cmon!! How about every year! Ill mow my grass at least every year.
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The ordinance in our town is twice a year for residential nad there isn't one for business/industry. After a particularly drastic tornado in '74 (see if anyone figures out where I live) my Grandfather decided to rebuild his business in an area zoned residential(all the houses were flattened at this point). The city manager warned him about the change and he just laughed and said once in January once in February.
 
When neighborhoods go into maintenance decline, there is a common correspondence with a crime incline.
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yes... especially when you make maintenance decline a crime.

Now you will have more criminals... criminals have a hard time getting jobs and credit. This is the criminal lifestyle... you can get a good job so you move up to more profitable crime.

Have to tell your potential future boss you did time in jail for tall grass? Youll lose the job. Need to feed your kids still? Go rob the neighbors house.

You know... lets step away from this logic for a minute. Lets just pay for more incarceration... raise taxes for more jails.

Then who cuts the grass while they are locked up? the city? do they just add more time to the sentence because the property is still in lack of maintenance...but then how could it be maintained if the maintainer(or lack of) is in jail...would this property then be confiscated and auctioned off to profit the PD?

Brilliant
 
"I live out in the country, there is no zoning here."

Try opening a landfill and taking waste shipments from out of state. Or used tires, that's always a popular one. You'll find out what your zoning is in short order. You're on somebody's master plan for land use.

John
 
Pay now...or pay later. Your choice.
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Or not pay at all for something so idiotic. how does tall grass influence violent crime... last i checked there was tall grass in the field behind my house. If you consider coyotes eating rabbits violent crime then lets outlaw tall grass to stop some possible thing that maybe is out there....
 
I dont live in suburbia. I live on the edge of the worst part of my city... I can say grass has the least impact on why people do what they do.

in fact there have been several raids conducted in the condominium i live in... but the HOA has a yard man that actually cuts the grass too short. If our grass is shorter than it should be, why do i have to listen to the police helicopter circling my building weekly? I can tell you it isnt grass, instead the source of crime in my area is poverty and im willing to bet this also is the cause of crime worldwide.

Tall grass may be a sign of poverty but isnt the source of it. wearing all red or all blue is a sign that you are a gang member but doesnt actually make you a gang member. You can arrest everyone wearing red or blue but will this really fix anything? This is the same witch hunt as the britts outlawing hooded sweaters... its insane!
 
suburban decline vs pride of place?

I live on the edge of the worst part of ny city
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Perhaps cutting the grass could be a step in the right direction towards turning around your neighborhood's decline?

why then do i have to listen to the police helicopter circling my building weekly?
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You tell me...are they checking the length of your grass?
 
i thought my last post did tell you. The helicopter is being used in conducting drug raids on my neighbors. A month ago it was used because a neighbor was held hostage by a fugitive from the law. Its not the lawn causing all this, dude.

ps: rereading things... i think you caught my last post in mid edit.
 
Ah...the mid-edit.

So you're saying that we, as your neighbors, should have no reasonable expectation that you will maintain your yard so as not create a unsightly and unsafe condition around your home, no matter if we complain or not...and that we are in fact "insane" to expect the same?
 
Im not saying that at all. I'm saying the government putting people in jail for tall grass is insane. Home owners associations and their liens along with fines for violating ordinances.... ok. But jail time is too far.

I mean, we had a neighbor that didn't cut his grass. What did I do? I went and cut it for him. The next step would be to bug the HOA about it until they bug him enough. This wasn't necessary though... after i cut his grass he got the idea.
 
Im not saying that at all. I'm saying the government putting people in jail for tall grass is insane. Home owners associations and their liens along with fines for violating ordinances.... ok. But jail time is too far.

I mean, we had a neighbor that didn't cut his grass. What did I do? I went and cut it for him.
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Hey! You're catching on!

The city in the story that started this thread took just that route. In fact, they were spending more than $250K a year doing it. But the offenders weren't taking the hint -- in fact they weren't paying attention to the tickets either. So, they passed an ordinance that, with enough violations, someone could have to serve some days in jail. Big surprise! And exactly what that city should be doing to be responsible.
 
Exactly. They are not jailing people for not cutting their grass...they are jailing people for ignoring the tickets and summonses for repeatedly ignoring city codes and ordinances. Not so insane when you see the reality behind this issue, is it?
 
A truly lazy neighbor would just let you continue to mow his grass. And then allow you to paint his house, fix that broken rain gutter, etc.

There are only two ways to get people to do things: negotiation or force. When negotiation fails, force is required.
 
Wyoming has had decades of drought. It was published in the newspaper that allowing your grass to grow tall makes it stronger and better able to withstand drought condition, as well as saves water. Interestingly, some neighbors are not happy seeing this in others' yards. But some of my neighbors are not neighborly either. Tall grass is NOT necessarily a sign of a declinig neighborhood. Drugrunning, or prostitution is.
 
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