The City of Urbana, Illinois apparently has no tolerance for relaxed lawn care, even during the internationally promoted “No Mow May” movement.
Check CU has learned that Urbana City inspectors are out and about, armed with wooden yardsticks, and they mean business. Inches count, and the fines for non-compliance could potentially cost a household thousands over a summer.
The photos below were taken by Urbana Compliance Officer Jason Arrasmith two weeks ago, right before he sent a “Notice of Public Nuisance” to the homeowner threatening to issue fines if the lawn wasn’t immediately cut shorter. Arrasmith apparently snapped the blurry photos while driving by.
According the Arrasmith, all vegetation that isn’t “trees, shrubs, vines, and vegetation allowed under the managed landscape plan permit” must be kept under eight inches at all times. That includes the private backyard areas of a residence. A first offense fine starts at $25, but the fines increase exponentially to $500 on a fifth offense.
When the owner of the lawn took issue with the City’s assessment, Arrasmith returned to the property with a yardstick a week later (after the lawn had already been mowed) and took more photos. This time, he measured individual blades of grass to demonstrate that the lawn was still in violation of the eight inch rule (though he did not issue an additional nuisance notice).
On the same date that Arrasmith was scrutinizing individual blades of grass at a private residence, Check CU documented many comparatively gross violations (large areas in excess of 14-18 inches and some areas pushing four feet) of the eight inch rule at the Urbana Library, the Urbana City Building, and the Urbana Public Works buildings. Apparently, lawn maintenance is yet another matter where the City of Urbana has determined that they are not accountable to the same rules which they impose on their residents.
Check CU has issued a number of FOIA requests to the City of Urbana seeking information about their lawn enforcement practices. Have you been subjected to heavy-handed lawn enforcement in Urbana or Champaign? Please contact us and let us know what happened.