Lawn-mowing rules toughened in Springdale

SPRINGDALE — Grass mowed. Check. Leaves raked. Check. Sidewalks swept. Check.

But is the job complete? The Springdale City Council has redefined the standards expected of property owners.

City workers said they were overwhelmed keeping summer grass mowed, said Brad Baldwin, director of engineering and public works. He said employees assigned to work on replacing asphalt and clearing drains in the summer were called away to cut grass throughout the city because the landscape department couldn’t cover it all.

The city probably was operating a $500,000 “lawn service,” Baldwin said. “It was a burden to taxpayer money and taking money away from private industry.” The department’s proposed budget for cutting grass in 2019 is $250,000.

Cities across Arkansas are continually reviewing and revising ordinances that essentially set standards for property owners, and trying to come up with ways to work with property owners to keep cities neat and tidy.

In Hot Springs, a city of about 37,000 residents, the planning and development department has stepped up its efforts to clean up neighborhoods — working one on one with residents to help facilitate their compliance with building codes and conducting major cleanup operations at least quarterly in targeted areas, a spokesman said.

The latter program, called “Clean Sweep,” addresses code violations while also targeting any problems with animal control, law enforcement and fire safety, among other issues.

Hot Springs’ planning and development department has also been working more closely with its courts to hold violators more accountable

through stiffer fines and adding the cases of violators to the court docket more quickly.

The city has a 22-page property maintenance code that, among other things, addresses weeds, dead trees, graffiti, and “parking vehicles, boats, trailers and campers on landscape or lawn portion of a front or side yard that is adjacent to public right of way.”

In North Little Rock, which has about 65,900 residents, the city has ordinances requiring property owners to cut unsightly weeds and grass, and remove stagnant water that might become a breeding place for mosquitoes, flies and germs. Grass and weeds, for example, cannot exceed 8 inches in height on a residential property.

In January 2007, when Little Rock started its 311 system — the shorthand, quick way to reach the city for nonemergencies — one of the suggested topics officials asked the city’s nearly 200,000 residents to report was complaints about tall grass and weeds in neighborhoods.

In Springdale, a Northwest Arkansas city of about 80,000 people, municipal officials aimed to clarify requirements, said Ernest Cate, city attorney. The ordinances addressed the issues, he said, but somewhat

vaguely.

For example, property owners have always been required to keep bushes, limbs and tall grass trimmed around any traffic signs. But the new language explains the line of sight for drivers must be clear.

It’s a safety issue, Cate said. He cited an instance on Falcon Road when a driver pulled up and couldn’t see the traffic approaching because of overgrown bushes.

Also, homeowners must clean their lawns and their fence rows that lie within 12 feet of a street or a subdivision. Ron Findley, director of the Code Enforcement Department, gave the example of a subdivision on Har-Ber Avenue. The subdivision backs up to the street, leaving about 4 feet of grass between the street and the homeowners’ back fences.

The city was mowing the strips, even though the homeowners own that 4 feet and are required to mow it. “It’s still private property,” Cate said.

Property owners are in charge of keeping the streets clear to the centerline, he said.

That also means leaves, grass clippings and bulky waste can’t be left on streets or sidewalks.

The requirements were changed to include specifically items that cannot be dumped into gutters and storm drains. Such debris fills the drains,

causing backups and possible flooding, Baldwin said. The city’s permit with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality requires this, and residents need to do their part, he said.

“Personally, I don’t like it when people leave their cut grass in the street,” said council member Jim Reed. “Mine goes out into the street, but I use my lawn mower to blow it back onto the yard.”

Reed said the timing of the issue was important because of the leaves that have fallen this time of year.

“It also helps those in code enforcement clearly understand what they are looking at,” Baldwin said.

But most people already complete these chores, Findley said. Findley started with the department in January and reported good success, with no tickets written this summer — just a few reminders to some residents when it’s time to start mowing the grass again. Most reminders noted tall grass on vacant properties.

He said letters will be sent to those residences where the city will no longer mow. About 250 properties will be affected.

If a property is found out of compliance, the code enforcement officer will leave a warning at the property, giving seven days to correct the problem, Findley said.