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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/34311432
Soon they'll do it remotely, via drones.
this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2025
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United States | News & Politics
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Americans: My right to private property is guaranteed by constitution! Unlike those communist countries, I can do with my land as I please!
America: Has lawn inspectors. Also enforces having a lawn in front of your house taking up valuable land in urban areas.
Yeah, getting fined or ticketed for having your grass "too long" is ridiculous. I had to deal with this while pet sitting for some people who were just moving in to a house that had been unnoccupied. There was no one there to even cut the grass because they were packing up their old house in a different state.
I dont think a "too long grass" fine is unreasonable. I think if you can completely obscure a 5' tall figure standing upright in your grass alone, maybe a 30 minute fine is reasonable.
... it's how much? For being how long?
I don't understand HOAs having so much control over people's property.
Where I live if you live somewhere that has rules about how the exterior of a place looks, it's part of a strata and you pay monthly fees and the strata pays for landscapers to come in and mow everyone's lawns, repaint people's houses, repair the roof, clean the eaves trough, etc.
Seems so backwards that you just own your home outright but if you don't maintain it properly someone can just fine you. Take care of it yourselves then and leave me out of it.
California just passed a bill that caps HOA fines at $100 per offense. (iirc). Meaning if you want to paint the house purple and the HOA doesnt allow it, you pay the $100 fine and move on. It is effectively going to completely neuter HOAs.
Where I live if you live somewhere that has rules about how the exterior of a place looks, it’s part of a strata
Nah fuck stratas too. Mine refuses to let us install mini split air conditioners because the outdoor condensers are "ugly" and "makes this nice Canadian townhouse complex look like one of those shithole commieblocks from China" (they actually didn't say that but someone on Reddit once did in defense of stratas and that pisssd me off so much). They don't even let us change the windows from swing out style to the sliding type that can support window air conditioners, instead we're stuck using portable air conditioners which are the least energy efficient type. So in a place where AC was not necessary until very recently due to climate change, and there are worse heat waves every year that go beyond uncomfortable to putting people at risk of heat stroke, they're worried about the aesthetics of the complex over the health of the people in it.
Our strata even got pissy at us for putting a blanket over the window to reflect the sunlight. Can't do passive cooling either.
Depends on your HOA. Some maintain pools and parks in the area. Some exist solely to 'keep property values up.'
Which is also funny to me because I would be willing to pay less if a house was In an HOA not more.
Same, HOAs are a non-starter for me. That said the price is going to be high with or without and those buying $500,000USD homes are probably less likely to care about an extra $100 a month.
we had an oppressive hoa, but did a hostile takeover with the chill neighbors next door. first order of business, no more citations for unkempt lawns, no more loud noise citations, you get to treat your home like your property so long as you weren't piling up trash in the front yard. the old hoa board had a "legal" service run by an "attorney" downtown they contracted with to fine people for menial bullshit and we fired them. guess what? people started taking better care of their yards. kids are actually playing in the street (we have enough for a baseball team now). the neighborhood has never looked better.
Surely you’re not saying that people’s lives are better with freedom than under oppression?!
That's interesting. I would have figured sending a tank would de-escalate the situation.
Fuck a duck. I live in Oklahoma and haven't mow my front yard in a month. To goddamn hot to be outside doing manual labor. No ones said shit. Plus I try avoid mowing altogether. We began see fireflies at night, and rather have wild flowers then a well maintained lawn. ACAB. Killed a man over not .mowing his grass. What bullshit. And you know it was some nosey neighbor probably sames ones quoted that called code enforcement on him.
To be fair to the pigs, they killed a man for pulling a gun on the nosey neighbor patrol. They wouldn't have bothered to shoot him over the grass... Unless they felt like it at the time.
Mental health issues and guns, a match made in heav... USA!
Guns. It's just guns. Having them around seems to trigger people into doing silly things
Bigger stick make monkey brain fearless...
That's why we don’t let any random person buy guns
I believe in every American's right to own a 25mm cannon. Keeps the Bearcats away.
That is how you get killed in self defence
Why are people complaining about grass heights, and why is there a person whose job it is to care? And why is this a violation of anything?(I know the answers, please don’t respond pedantically)
My neighbors lawn is knee high.
"911, what's your emergency?"
I was annoying some guy about how he mowed his own property and he pointed a gun at me.
Way to go your neighbor
Eh only reason I would see it being an issue is if it started sprouting weeds and the seeds were blowing all over into everyone else's yards, especially if they were invasive or noxious.
Here's hoping that all the people involved in this death have a hard time sleeping for the rest of their miserable lives.
From the person that complained in the first place, the inspector, that whole office, and all the cunting officers that attended. Bunch of fucking arseholes.
Apart from that, peace and love from Australia.
That is insanity. Meanwhile I sit in my backyard right now that is so overgrown I can barely see my large dog... I should probably be shot too. They brought a tank to a code enforcement situation.
My back yard:
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Somehow I doubt the grass is gonna get cut now
I saw a few random patches on that lawn that had blades as high as 15cm!!
Maybe they can kill him again!
But did they mow the grass?
/s
While I'm usually the first to say "Fuck the Police", this one looks like just a sad situation all around, but was probably ultimately justified.
Code enforcement guy came to the house to ask about the lawn, and resident pointed gun at code enforcement guy and told him he couldn't leave. Code dude calls the police because he has a gun pointed at him and can't flee. Police show up in armored vehicle because someone is threatening to shoot a government employee, get shot at, and return fire.
Did the guy deserve to die because he was having a mental health breakdown? No. But sometimes it isn't about what is deserved. Guy was threatening someone with a gun, wouldn't let them leave, then started shooting at people. Police can't let that continue.
Yeah "mental health crisis" is doing a whole lot of work here and basically sounds like cop-speak checking boxes to justify killing a guy. But personally, it might just be my prejudice, but this guy comes off as a suburb brained chud. A guy took a picture of his house which activated his constitutional sheriff castle doctrine so he had to kidnap him at gunpoint.
And the rest of this thread are lower level libertarian brains acting like he got shot for his lawn. So the cycle continues.
I blame the city. They should have just mailed the long grass notice.
How does the city know the grass is too long without sending someone? They can't just believe every jerk that hates their neighbor.
How is Falling Down guy not the problem here?
You can inspect it without stopping the car. The problem is the confrontation the city sent the inspector into.
Confrontation? The guy took a picture presumably from the street. You are subject to being perceived from the outside.
City mails a fine. Guy gets mad and doesn't pay it. Nanny State mails you demanding money for grass, government overreach, etc.
City goes to the man's door and says "we got a complaint, mow the grass so I don't have to fine you." Man is treated like an adult who is given the opportunity for grace. Man mows the lawn and goes on living his life.
Would you prefer drive-by citations for everything without having an opportunity to correct issues?
Would you prefer drive-by citations for everything without having an opportunity to correct issues?
I'd prefer they mind their own fucking business about how someone keeps their property. Long grass isn't hurting anyone
When you sign the agreement that you allow the neighborhood to care about the length of your grass, you agree to make it their business. Don't live places that care about grass length if you don't want people to care about your grass.
If you've got the money to be buying guns to threaten people with, you've got the money to afford a uHaul.
That's a false comparison. Mailing a note that says "we got a complaint, mow the grass so I don't have to fine you" gives the same opportunity for grace and treats people like adults while also removing the face to face confrontation.
If I have to mail you something to tell you to mow your lawn out of fear you might pull a gun on me, I'm not treating you like an adult.
People should be able to talk to each other.
Yea there is really no need to bother residents directly with outdoor code enforcement. My city just mails you a picture of the offending area, and tells you to fix it - or they will instead and send you the bill.
I work in a development/code enforcement department. We generally mail a notice, then we knock on the door if things don't improve for a courtesy check before issuing a citation.
We don't want to send someone to court because they didn't mow their lawn.
And if there's a reason they cant mow their lawn or it tuelrns out the house is unoccupied, we want to know about it so we can plan to have a crew take care of it for fire safety.