$30G Fine for not cutting your lawn?

[Diggin It]

This is why I don't live in a city any more.

Federal Court Rules Florida Man Must Pay $30,000 in Overgrown Lawn Fines

Jim Ficken, who has faced foreclosure as a result of the fees, says that he plans to appeal the ruling.

www.newsweek.com

.

 

[PILOON]

In my area a guy's garage collapsed 2 winter's ago and has not been touched.

The city is now about to clean up the mess at his expense, that only after verbal notice followed by a 30 day warning.
However they only act after a written complaint from a citizen even though city inspectors pass by almost daily.
They claim 'not my job'.

 

[sea2summit]

In my area a guy's garage collapsed 2 winter's ago and has not been touched.

The city is now about to clean up the mess at his expense, that only after verbal notice followed by a 30 day warning.
However they only act after a written complaint from a citizen even though city inspectors pass by almost daily.
They claim 'not my job'.

Why are they cleaning it up? Is it not on his own property? It's not their job. Not sure if Canada is different though.

 

[fried1765]

This is why I don't live in a city any more.

Federal Court Rules Florida Man Must Pay $30,000 in Overgrown Lawn Fines

Jim Ficken, who has faced foreclosure as a result of the fees, says that he plans to appeal the ruling.

www.newsweek.com

.

If I were that property owner I would now spray every blade of grass in that yard with a double dose of Roundoup!

 

[Oaktree]

This is why I don't live in a city any more.

I can think of lots of reasons not to live in the city, but this seems a bit excessive. I've heard of HOAs fining residents for such things, but never the city itself.

 

[TractorTYMe]

HOA's aka Local group of Karens aka Hut Nazis.

 

[rbstern]

The right thing to do? Settle it for a one day, $500 fine, acknowledging the special circumstances of the situation.

But we're talking government, so rational solutions aren't the norm.

 

[dodge man]

Our nearest town fines people to, they just go in and mow it for you and charge you. It’s inflated but not totally out of line, maybe $100 for a town lot. They will foreclose but it’s usually a vacant property that people aren’t taking care of. I personally don’t have a problem with towns enforcing this kind of thing within reason. The town sounds greedy foreclosing on the guy in this case.

 

[Jstpssng]

That seems like extenuating circumstances... and a way for the town to raise easy revenue.

 

[BeezFun]

If you read the details of the story, this guy had 12 code violations in the previous 11 years all related to being unwilling to maintain his property. So the city had expended money 12 times to intervene and deal with the guy and finally decided to treat him as a repeat offender. There was also a long history of neighbor complaints about the property. So it sounds more like a case of someone nobody wants for a neighbor rather than government over reach.