This is what Amerika is coming to? - Jail time for not cutting your grass?
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Huntergirl
New member
Woa, pretty gnarly stuff...
Seriously never understood the suburbanites obsession with lawns. Having to go to great lengths and expense to have a better looking lawn than the neighbor in his near identical cookie-cutter house next door. Never understood the fierce one-up mentality that goes on in those sub-divisions. Glad as hell I live way out in the country where I can let my grass grow over my house if I wanted to.
Conformity blows.
Maybe the guy wants to stay green and not harm mother earth by senselessly murdering his innocent grass just so his neighbors feel better.....
Conformity blows.
Maybe the guy wants to stay green and not harm mother earth by senselessly murdering his innocent grass just so his neighbors feel better.....
Gatorhugger
Moderator
Fine line between live and let live and letting everyone do what they want.
No I don't want to live next to that trashed picture of a house. No I don't want bands playing.
If you are disturbing others, whether unsightly scenery or other issues, then it's got to be government in some way decide what is acceptable. Because if everyone is left to their own rules, you have no order. I like order.
I have no trouble with laws, statutes, ordinances. I just have a problem with "EXCESSIVE" rules. Whatever that is
No I don't want to live next to that trashed picture of a house. No I don't want bands playing.
If you are disturbing others, whether unsightly scenery or other issues, then it's got to be government in some way decide what is acceptable. Because if everyone is left to their own rules, you have no order. I like order.
I have no trouble with laws, statutes, ordinances. I just have a problem with "EXCESSIVE" rules. Whatever that is
MedicineBow
New member
Sure is.
Laws that don't violate the constitution have to be obeyed or changed through the political process.
It's just the way we roll.
The better solution instead of jail is sending city employees out to cut it then sending the person the bill. if you dont pay it then the city can discontinue city services.
However, we live in a society where your rights stop when ever they are a detriment to other peoples rights and health and the right to pursue, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Not mowing the grass creates a health hazrd for neighbors, decreases property values, not to mention a possible fire hazard looking at that picture if the grass were to dry out.
As was bought up too you can't simply choose to not obey a summons or ticket where you violated a oridnance or law. On the tickets that I have gotten it states on the back failure to appear will cause an arrest warrant to be issued. So the citizen isnt getting jailed for the lawn but failure to appear before a duly constiuted court. As the comedian once said he had the right to due process but didnt have the ability or energy to excercise it.
lazy is not a constitutional right.
However, we live in a society where your rights stop when ever they are a detriment to other peoples rights and health and the right to pursue, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Not mowing the grass creates a health hazrd for neighbors, decreases property values, not to mention a possible fire hazard looking at that picture if the grass were to dry out.
As was bought up too you can't simply choose to not obey a summons or ticket where you violated a oridnance or law. On the tickets that I have gotten it states on the back failure to appear will cause an arrest warrant to be issued. So the citizen isnt getting jailed for the lawn but failure to appear before a duly constiuted court. As the comedian once said he had the right to due process but didnt have the ability or energy to excercise it.
lazy is not a constitutional right.
Bob Lee Swagger
New member
So if one's lawn is fenced in, and there's no way it can touch the neighbor's side (and thus, "infringe" on their safety), it's okay to let it go wild?
MeekAndMild
New member
Sure. There is a house next door right now which has a quarter acre paddock they're allowing to grow up just like that and I've got some cows on a similarly grown up pasture. You do that sort of thing if you're afraid of drought.
My general opinion has always been that people should cultivate meadows rather than scalped lawns. Wildflowers (misnamed weeds by zoning nazis) provide habitat and food for wildlife and birds, noise buffers and most importantly cool microclimates to combat rising urban temperatures. (Anybody who's ever driven through bare sandy and short-lawned Gulf Shores and then to the forested area of Fairhope will see my point about the heat.) With that in mind these folks need to change their zoning laws to penalize people who destroy the natural ecology of the area.
Freakhouse
Inactive
Plant a garden!
Having a fairly strong libertarian streak myself, I believe that you should have the right to do whatever you want with your property, whether it affects your neighbors' property values or not.
That having been said, I personally think that green lawns are an abomination to begin with. They require way too much maintenance, chemicals, wasted water, and wasted gasoline to keep them presentable. If anything, the argument could be made that those keeping their lawns pristine are ruining the natural vegetation and contributing to global warming.
So I think it would be great if everybody started planting wildflowers and field grass, or perhaps tilled it all up and planted a vegetable garden. Take that nosy neighbors!
Anyway, those are my thoughts on the matter.
Having a fairly strong libertarian streak myself, I believe that you should have the right to do whatever you want with your property, whether it affects your neighbors' property values or not.
That having been said, I personally think that green lawns are an abomination to begin with. They require way too much maintenance, chemicals, wasted water, and wasted gasoline to keep them presentable. If anything, the argument could be made that those keeping their lawns pristine are ruining the natural vegetation and contributing to global warming.
So I think it would be great if everybody started planting wildflowers and field grass, or perhaps tilled it all up and planted a vegetable garden. Take that nosy neighbors!
Anyway, those are my thoughts on the matter.
MeekAndMild
New member
Let me be the first to welcome you to TFL, Freakhouse. One can also argue that making property values fall would be good for the neighborhood since falling value means falling property tax assessments. Rising property values help no one except the house flippers and other opportunists. 
Riiiight...
I can see it now: Mr. Joe Schmoe moves into a home in suburbia (presumably buying the place because it appealed to him on some asthetic level) and then he decides he is going to excercise his right to let his lawn go to seed. In order to drive down property values and thus his property taxes.
A stroke of finacial genius right there. Ecologically conscientious, too. Gimme a break.
Show of hands: who here only pruchased their home in the burbs soley as a means of providing shelter from the elements? Who here DIDNT purchase their home with the hope that it would appreciate in value?
Wildflowers!:
I can see it now: Mr. Joe Schmoe moves into a home in suburbia (presumably buying the place because it appealed to him on some asthetic level) and then he decides he is going to excercise his right to let his lawn go to seed. In order to drive down property values and thus his property taxes.
A stroke of finacial genius right there. Ecologically conscientious, too. Gimme a break.
Show of hands: who here only pruchased their home in the burbs soley as a means of providing shelter from the elements? Who here DIDNT purchase their home with the hope that it would appreciate in value?
Wildflowers!:
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They don't issue citations for not mowing here. When the grass gets over six inches high, the code enforcement officer calls a contracted lawn service who comes out and cuts it and edges it. The city then tacks the cost on the owner's next tax bill. I had to drop a dime on the place across the street last week. It's a foreclosure, and the bank thought they could neglect it. Now the taxes will be about 100 bucks more next year.