Federal court says Florida city can take man's house for tall grass fines

https://www.tampabay.com/news/pinellas/2021/04/29/federal-court-upholds-30000-in-fines-to-dunedin-homeowner-over-tall-grass/

by WarOnPrivacy • 5 years ago

22 15 5 years ago

tampabay.com

briefcomment• 5 years ago

Two things:

- I imagine people justify this by telling themselves 'rules are rules', but anyone who tries to destroy someone else's life because of grass is a loser.

- I wish it was acceptable to let grass grow taller. Makes me feel like I'm living closer to nature. (Also, mowers need to be electric or have catalytic converters. Such pointless polluters otherwise.)

chmod775• 5 years ago

$30,000 in code violation fines

This is already clearly ridiculous.

for an overgrown lawn.

Only in the land of the free.

I suppose statistically in over 300 million people you would find a ridiculous city run by just sufficiently ridiculous people who do something that ridiculous.

coward76• 5 years ago

People don't bat an eye at property taxes taking people's homes, why would grass be different.

andyana• 5 years ago

$500 per day is an obscene amount of fine to levy over grass.

ludamad• 5 years ago

"You will pay 200% your monthly property tax for each day your grass is tall" is indeed ridiculous

addled• 5 years ago

Agreed. Better option would be to hire someone to cut the grass and bill the property owner for it.

PhantomGremlin• 5 years ago

I wonder if the Federal court considered Timbs v. Indiana? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbs_v._Indiana

Not quite the same situation, but SCOTUS unanimously came down very strongly against "excessive fines".

lazyant• 5 years ago

Why do people care if grass is tall? lawns were invented by rich French nobility to show off how they could afford to have nothingness gardens instead of productive farm land.

dunce2021• 5 years ago

Ticks, rodents

hedora• 5 years ago

Stay off their lawn, then? (Also, tall grass doesn’t really attract rodents. It just gives them a place to hide. Food in uncovered garbage is a much bigger issue.)

dTal2• 5 years ago

Because that's still their function. Just try growing food crops on your lawn! And "low status" neighbors makes a "low status" neighborhood makes you "low status".

Also prohibited: washing lines. What, you can't afford to inflate your carbon footprint with a dryer on this beautiful sunny day? What are you, poor?

j10c• 5 years ago

Though its not crime where I live. But if it was, muncipal officer will give us two-three warning and later come with a team of worker, cut the grass and fine user with penalty + cost of cutting + additional panalty. Repeated violation will may lead sealing og property until the court hearing or a former apology.

Still it will never exceed $1k.

Federal court says Florida city can take man's house for tall grass fines

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