Negligent Lawn Mowers May Soon Have to Fork Over More Cash to the Village

Those refusing to mow their lawns may soon have to up the ante in village fines.

The fee increase was proposed last week in response to residents failing to take the village's weed ordinance—commonly called the "nuisance ordinance"—seriously, said Assistant Village Manager Mike Mertens. 

The weed ordinance takes effect when grass or weeds grow more than 8 inches on a commercial or residential property, according to village documents. 

"Our standard procedures are to first confirm a possible violation with village staff and follow up via a certified letter to the property owner allowing appropriate time for the correction to be made," village documents said. "A follow-up visit is made to confirm if the violation has been abated."

Should the problem still exist, the village contracts out for a mowing of the property, Mertens said. The entire process up to that point costs the village around $200, documents state.

Last year, village officials sent out a few hundred letters to property owners explaining that their tall grass violated the nuisance ordinance, Triblocal reports. 

"Of those property owners, between 20 to 30 ignored the request, which spurred the village to mow the grass for them," the story states. "Of those few dozen, Mertens said a handful were repeat offenders who seemed to be content to pay the bill and leave the lawn to the village to maintain."

Officials said last week that they hope upping the fines discourages repeat offenders. It was suggested during a village committee meeting that the fee for first-time offenders be increased to $250. The second and third fees would be $500 and $750, respectively. 

board approved the changes on first reading at its April 3 meeting. A final vote is scheduled for April 17.

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Do you think increasing these fines is a good idea? Should residents be allowed to let their grass grow as tall as they want?