Bryan Lawn Care Ordinance Discussed

In Bryan, at least one prop­erty owner thinks there is a prob­lem with some lawn reg­u­la­tions in Bryan.

The Bryan Times reports that Bryan res­i­dent Chuck Shep­ard showed up at Monday’s city coun­cil meet­ing to ask that coun­cil recon­sider its lawn care leg­is­la­tion after a home he owns was tagged by the city.

Shepard’s appear­ance was based on the fact that Bryan places signs on lawns with grass or weeds mea­sur­ing more than nine inches in height, to warn the prop­erty owner to mow the lawn within three days.

Shep­ard said prop­erty own­ers need a lit­tle more than that to rec­tify the sit­u­a­tion, after com­plain­ing that he was on vaca­tion for two weeks, and he got no call or let­ter. Just a sign on the lawn, which he didn’t even know about until he got a court notice. He com­plained that the vio­la­tion cost him more than $100 worth of fines and court costs.

“I don’t have time to check every prop­erty to see if there’s a stu­pid notice in the yard,” he said.

Shep­ard asked coun­cil to con­sider amend­ing its leg­is­la­tion to require actual con­tact with a prop­erty owner before mov­ing for­ward with legal action.

But Bryan City Pros­e­cu­tor Rhonda Fisher dis­agreed, say­ing that plan wouldn’t be fea­si­ble, because of the fact that some prop­erty own­ers live out­side the city or state and are dif­fi­cult to reach.