$30G Fine for not cutting your lawn?

[ruffdog]

Article with picture:

The Dunedin tall grass story went viral. Then the mayor got threats at her home.

Some of the latest details:

Judge denies city’s bid to dismiss lawsuit in controversial code enforcement case

 

[BeezFun]

BTW what is a "homesteaded residence"?

In this context it means primary residence. In many states it implies benefits including exemption from part of your real estate taxes, protection from creditors, spousal rights, etc.

 

[tradosaurus]

I'm not so sure about that, given how touchy some TBN'ers are about "tresspassing", I don't think that would go over very well.

Yeah, there's such a thing as a-hole neighbors, but having draconian rules isn't the solution. There is absolutely no way I would live where there was a HOA with all their stupid rules to "protect property values". What a load of BS. I hear way too many horror stories about people who got fined for having a clothesline, or because their mailbox didn't match everyone else's.

BTW what is a "homesteaded residence"? Never heard the term before. Is it some Florida thing?

The beauty about an HOA is you don't have to live in one. What I don't get is people who live in an HOA but refuse to abide the rules. Rules are what keep the few problem people in line.

Now that I'm out in the country I find that you really need at least 50 acres to surround yourself to insulate from trailer trash. I'm lucky that my one neighbor that I can barely see from my house keeps his trailer and property in shape.

Amazing how many non running cars I see rusting in peoples front yards out in the country.

 

[Diggin It]

Amazing how many non running cars I see rusting in peoples front yards out in the country.

You don't like Yard Art?

 

[tradosaurus]

You don't like Yard Art?

I thought about offering to haul their junk off to the scrapyard and make a little money on the side.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Then I would be the one fined and eventually have to move. But I can abide by rules that I've agreed to before buying a house.

Gee... you must be an adult.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

The beauty about an HOA is you don't have to live in one. What I don't get is people who live in an HOA but refuse to abide the rules. Rules are what keep the few problem people in line.

Now that I'm out in the country I find that you really need at least 50 acres to surround yourself to insulate from trailer trash. I'm lucky that my one neighbor that I can barely see from my house keeps his trailer and property in shape.

Amazing how many non running cars I see rusting in peoples front yards out in the country.

My experience as well. Rural living and trashy properties seem to go hand in hand.

 

[PuffyC]

The beauty about an HOA is you don't have to live in one. What I don't get is people who live in an HOA but refuse to abide the rules. Rules are what keep the few problem people in line.

Now that I'm out in the country I find that you really need at least 50 acres to surround yourself to insulate from trailer trash. I'm lucky that my one neighbor that I can barely see from my house keeps his trailer and property in shape.

Amazing how many non running cars I see rusting in peoples front yards out in the country.

I don’t get that whole “my yard is a festering trash dump” thing that seems to be the norm in so many rural communities. Do people not know you can sell those junked out cars, swing sets or whatever for money? Do they just like living in trash? I have one neighbor who doesn’t have two nickels to rub together but he does have a huge, immobile, junked out trailer that I have to look at every day. One day I offered to make him a sweet cash deal to buy it and he said nope without even asking how much or why, and I would have paid a kings ransom just so I could haul it off and not have to look at it any more. He either has some incredible emotional attachment to this piece of garbage or he hates money, not sure which.

 

[jjp8182]

Then I would be the one fined and eventually have to move. But I can abide by rules that I've agreed to before buying a house.

That would make sense, but it's not always the case since (depending on the HOA) the rules can be changed after you've already been living there.

So it can essentially end up being much like adding another layer of government. ....with all the problems inherent to government bodies, but with far less oversight or publicizing of the actions since it's unlikely to even make local news.

Which means it really depends on how it was set up, and what/how changes can be made ..... and how selective enforcement turns out to be.

All of which can change (drastically in some cases) if/when the personalities involved change....

 

[jjp8182]

BTW I hope everyone is appreciating the irony of complaints about "trashy rural properties" (which I'd suspect) were most likely that way before new neighbors moved into them given properties with lots of unusual objects on them typically don't get that way overnight.

Would rather seem that similar could be said of them as to what was stated above about the beauty of HOAs: not everyone has to live in them.

So really what I don't get is why anyone feels a need to tell others (especially those they've never met) how to live their lives .... especially when it comes down to minutia like grass height (which for a healthy lawn should be driven by the type of grass).

Personally if a neighboring property gets to the point of looking to be truly abandoned, I think I'd probably do what one of my neighbors did here (prior to my moving in): look how to buy the property and solve the problem myself. ...that is of course assuming it was actually a problem.