A Tale of Two City's Tall Grass Policies

[XLFD]

At the beginning of this month, Scottville passed a resolution to collect from 27 different people/businesses in that town the delinquent fees for code enforcement lawn mowing.  Like the City of Ludington, the City of Scottville (COS) employs a company for lawn mowing services and utilizes them when they notice that a lawn has too much growth on it.  The process for both cities is to serve notice on the property owner, wait for a week or so, send in the mowing service if it doesn't get done, and then send out a large bill.  When people ignore the bill, they collect the money through adding the amount to their property tax bill.  

In that October 4th meeting of the Scottville City Commission, they passed a resolution to add nearly $5000 onto the 27 entity's taxes.  I have been observing Ludington's government closely for about a dozen years and this seemed a rather high figure for code enforcement mowing.  Ludington City Manager Mitch Foster was contacted about the amount of folks that had their lawn mowed by their mowing contractor over the last two years, and whether those were collected or set to be collected through property taxes.

He found that information out without additional questions; Mr. Foster is a busy man, but a dedicated public servant who will generally give a concerned citizen an answer to a relevant municipal question.  He related that in 2020 there were ten people who needed to have their grass mowed for a total of $1175.81, only three were collected via taxes.  In 2021, ten people had their grass mowed by the contractor for a total of $762.97.  All were at least in the process of being voluntarily paid up, so nothing would be collected through taxation.

Population-wise, Ludington is about seven times the size of Scottville.  One would expect Ludington's grass to grow bigger and faster since they get more rainfall near the lake.  Yet, for some reason, they have no lawn mowing bills being collected by taxes, while Scottville has 27 going to the taxman, and likely many more that have paid the tribute.  Ludington had only ten violations, all of whom paid.

If they had the same philosophy, one would expect Ludington to have nearly 200 people to collect mowing fees from (27 X 7), but instead they have zero.  Is Ludington code enforcement just lazy when compared to Scottville?  This is unlikely, I did a random sampling of twenty lawns from both cities, and Ludington's lawns had shorter grass, but not by a statistically significantly margin.  

The first obvious difference between cities that may account for the odd data is that the codes for Scottville and Ludington limits their grass height to 6 inches and 10 inches, respectively.  I have previously shown that the City of Ludington had difficulty keeping grass on their own properties under ten inches (Hypocrisy in the Tall Grass) and from doing research around that time, six inch grass wasn't that uncommon to see, particularly after rainy periods, when people could not mow their lawns and grass would grow quickly.  

Last Saturday, October 16th, I found myself in Scottville with my camera and my folding yardstick, intending to check on the height of tall grasses on property owned by public agencies in the city.  These properties do not pay property taxes and so they have nothing to worry about on their winter taxes.  I found almost universal non-compliance.  

The grass in the foreground, along a replanted strip averaged between 9-11 inches tall outside the Scottville Lower Elementary, as seen above.   The rest of the lawn had grass that was 8 inches long.  This can also be seen below.

The Old junior high school is privately owned, however, the grass and prolific weeds are over 36 inches tall in their backyard, adjacent to a public playground.  It's likely this lawn hasn't been mowed all summer by the owner or by the city's mowers. 

The Upper Elementary School, the Middle School and the district tech center's lawn all look as if it wasn't mowed lately, but were mowed around the same time, with average length coming in between 7-8 inches for each.  The baseball field in the background of the tech center above was cut below 6 inches at least.

Rounding out the schools, MCC Senior High also had 8 inch tall grass with patches where the grass was about 10 inches like above.  All Scottville schools had lawns that violated their tall grass laws, except on their athletic fields.  Let's take a look now at city hall's properties.

The Scottville Fire Department firehouse has a paved front yard, but their backyard grows patchy 7-9 inches tall grass, with slightly larger grass where the weed whacker wasn't used.  Apparently nobody has volunteered to do the lawn since maybe August.

One would think the DPW would have a nice looking lawn, and they do, but they've let it grow just a little too much with grass just under 7 inches high.  This healthy looking lawn would be fine in Ludington, but it will get you fined in Scottville, and they do take it seriously, when it's not their property.  The Optimist Hall is in possession of the City and is the shiny beacon of hope on this day, with a freshly cut lawn and 2-3 inch high grass.  It would be the City's sole example of compliance with the law they enforce.  The worst, however, is seen below:

If you don't recognize the building, it's the backyard of Scottville's City Hall.  Like the fire department, they've let it go for months and even taller weeds are plentiful in the 9-11 inch tall grass.  Right beyond and inside those brick walls, the city clowncil passed a resolution to collect $5000 from 27 folks who fail to cut their grass on October 4th.  City hall provides the best example of city hypocrisy by being the worst example of keeping your lawn under control. 

This survey wouldn't be complete without checking the lawns of each of the six established councilors who passed the resolution (Commissioner Thue was exempted because he just got on the commission).  So as not to come off as creepy or dangerous, I did not take photos and I only measured grass in the street right-of-way, and only when it looked non-compliant.  Four of these passed; congratulations Ms. Spencer, Mr. Yeomans, Mr. Seiter and Mr. Claveau.  

Mayor Pro Tem Rob Alway's lawn had two different types of grass in his lawn, much like the elementary school nearby, so half of his grass ranges around 5 inches, while the other half towers at 7 inches.  Regardless, his lawn would be considered non-compliant since it has strips of grass over 6 inches tall.  

The out-and-out winner on this day among the city's legislators was Ryan Graham.  His lawn was beautifully lush and deep green with densely-packed blades that waved in the wind.  Yet, despite all this healthy looking greenery without any evidence of wild growth or seeding, the grass was between 9-11 inches high, just like behind city hall.  

Normally, grass stops growing significantly in October in Michigan but this has been a warmer October than most, so let's liberally say that in the twelve days since October 4th, grass in Scottville grew 2 inches.  When Mr. Graham voted to penalize his fellow Scottville citizens, his lawn was well beyond compliance at 7-9 inches tall.  

If the City of Scottville cannot comply with their own tall grass codes on their own collective properties, other government agency's properties, and their own individual yards, then perhaps their code is a little too stringent and not designed to be equally enforced.  If their leaders actually wanted to solve the problem, rather than use it as a revenue source, they would adapt their law accordingly, and takes cues from Ludington City Hall on how to get compliance without using a heavy hand.

In this last year at least, Scottville leaders have weaponized the strictures of the tall grass code as a money-making opportunity for the city corporation at the expense of the area's citizens and businesses.  Ludington leaders have chosen a different path, achieving compliance through mutual cooperation and withholding their municipal power to fine individuals as a last resort.  How else do you explain that they have better-tended lawns, zero mowing fees being attached to taxes, and only ten incidences of code-enforcement mowing for a full season, while Scottville has 27 delinquent mowing bills and likely many more that have been paid off-- while being 1/7th the size of Ludington?

[AQUAMAN]

I'd say it's a case of the same old conundrum of: " do as we say, not as we do". Glad to see Ludington is doing it much better on this subject matter too. Also glad to see Mitch Foster had no problem answering you X, timely, and with courtesy. He's the best CM we've had here in many years imho. I'd be real tempted to show these pics. at the next mtg. they have, and also the media, if they even care. If Scottville gets real lucky, maybe some snow storm will hit to excuse their lack of actions, lol.

[XLFD]

Mitch Foster has had a good start and I honestly believe he doesn't have the negative character traits that made John Shay go bad after his initial few years.  He does have a weakness or two (from my viewpoint), but those aren't seen as weaknesses by his employer (the city council), so it's possible that if the council starts getting populated by better public servants these weaknesses may fade.  

His contract was extended 3 more years at last night's meeting with a modest increase.  The next three years will be a big test.  If he's still a user-friendly model by the end of what looks like some interesting years coming up, I will fully acknowledge his accomplishment.  The general competence of this administration has allowed me the opportunity to look into issues developing at Scottville and in the local school district, rather than just Ludington.  These public bodies have been making some concerning decisions lately.

[Willy]

[Freedom Seeker]

Thanks again for the imaginative and hilarious with a hidden meaning of truth graphic, Willy! That's so true.

I like your points too Aquaman. And X ... smokin' story!

[XLFD]

A true smoking story will be coming up at the next Ludington City Council meeting, when the council will likely have an ordinance that bans smoking or drinking on city playgrounds.  Little Jimmy's going to be so disappointed; after a stressful day on the teeter-totters there's nothing he liked better than lighting up and quaffing a cold brew from his sippy cup.  

Willy is our resident political cartoonist, and good one, but I think the last COS Code of Ethics book was ran over and shredded by Rob Alway's lawnmower.

[Freedom Seeker]

For those parents who have to smoke or drink alcohol while on a city playground watching their kid, I guess they may have to rethink their health habits if this ordinance passes.  So where can parents who smoke take their kids then?  Sounds a little over reaching but then as a non-smoker, I'm quite annoyed by someone smoking in my face and the litter of butts.  Maybe their could be a designated smoking area on the playground..  How can the city be so pretty with this and yet clutter sidewalks with tables, chairs, heaters, tents and social drinking?

Good point about the shredded COS Ethical Conduct Manual, but that implies that the grass has been cut.

[Willy]

I'm glad my pictures make at least some sense to all of you. One never knows how folks will perceive criticism, even it it is humorous or even a bit negative. This smoking story is going to make for good conversations. I am looking forward to it.