Developers and residents in Tea will need to pay closer attention to their lawns this summer.
The city council voted to adopt a more streamlined and strict set of nuisance rules last week that will shorten the amount of time between infraction and reaction and require lawns in the city to be kept under 6 inches tall.
The previous rules required lawns to remain under 12 inches, and residents were given plenty of leeway when asked to clean up.
Now, violators will receive only five days’ notice before the city hires someone to cut the grass and levies a $220 assessment for the work.
Most of the measure, which passed May 18, was already in place. The new ordinance puts all the rules for weeds, grass, piled-up garbage or vegetation and sidewalk snow removal in one ordinance. It also defines what is and is not a weed based mainly on state statute – dandelions are included on the list.
Collecting all the city’s nuisance rules will make things easier to understand for residents and free up time for city employees as they tackle other tasks, said Planning and Zoning Administrator Kevin Nissen.
“It was just something we were going by – the ordinance was kind of confusing,” Nissen said.
In the past, violators of nuisance rules were given notice, then allowed several days to deal with the problem. For overgrown lawns, Tea police officer Jessica Gilles said, the city often gave landowners as long as two weeks to deal with it.
Now, she said, her department has been instructed to drop a red tag on the offending homeowner’s door and wait five days, then send out workers from Tea True Value to cut the grass or deal with the nuisance.
The assessment for lawn care is $220 a lot.
“This new way is going to be much more slick and a lot more productive,” Gilles said. “It’s basically in and out – we don’t have the manpower to give them there 10 day notice, then go back and check on every time.”
Gilles and her fellow officers take turns working the day shift. The day shift officer will be in charge of nuisances, she said. The police department will also be the first to deal with nuisance calls. In the past, city hall fielded the calls.
The police, like the city, will work with homeowners, she said. The new ordinance grants the city authority to charge up to $200 in fines in addition to the $220 assessment, but Gilles said only repeat offenders would likely face such stiff fines.
“We’re not about just going out and trying to fine people,” Gilles said.
Part of the reason for the change is the number of undeveloped lots with overgrown weeds that remain problematic each summer. Grass and growth in undeveloped lots will draw city scrutiny after they grow to 12 inches or taller.
“We don’t want to baby-sit those lots that seem to be a problem every year,” Nissen said. “We’re not gonna let that happen anymore.”
During discussion on the issue, there was some debate over the size of the fines and assessments. True Value only charges $68 an hour to mow residential lots and $75 for commercial lots.
The city can change the costs as they see fit, but voted to go with the $220 assessment because police officers will need to monitor the lots and it makes a bigger dent in the pocketbook of the violator.
“The cops have got to drive around to write the tickets,” Council member Sid Munsen said. “We need to decide how much to charge and set it, and it should be enough to make it hurt so we don’t have to go back all the time.”
Two council members –Herman Otten and Joe Weis – voted against the ordinance because they felt dandelions ought not be classified as a noxious weed.
The city will send out letters to homeowners this year to make them aware of the changes, Nissen said.
The full ordinance will be available on the city Web site, www.teasd.com.