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LAWN AND LANDSCAPE On 5/24/2022, the city council approved language (Am. Ord 2022-03) approving language within section 151.10, specific to the inclusion of natural or native vegetation, included below: (E) Yard cover. Every yard of premises on which a dwelling stands must be covered by lawns and/or ground cover of vegetation, gardens, hedges, shrubbery, or related decorative materials and must be maintained. Once an area has been converted to turf grass, the land owner shall not allow the turf grass to exceed the height of six inches or be allowed to go to seed. No land owner may permit or maintain on the land any growth of weeds, grass, brush, or other rank vegetation to exceed the height of six inches, any accumulation of dead weeds, grass or brush, or any noxious weeds or plants as defined by the State Department of Agriculture. Gardens (pollinator, vegetable, flower, rock, and the like) are permitted types of yard cover, and must be maintained and not encroach on other property or the right-of-way. (1) Any natural or native grass vegetation exceeding six inches shall not be any closer to a fire source than 25 feet. (2) Setback requirements for surfaces covered by native vegetation and/or pollinator gardens shall be a minimum of three feet from a side yard property line. No vegetative growth greater than 12 inches in height five feet from any public roadway adjacent to the front yard, and for corner houses, a public roadway adjacent to the side yard. To facilitate the transition of this newly approved option to traditional yard cover, staff, working with Community Services, hosted two courses specific to the process and commitment required for a healthy native and natural landscape. Additional content was provided on the creation and benefits of pollinator friendly species within these spaces. Since this change occurred many residents have made alterations to their traditional turf grass spaces and this has been accompanied by a certain amount of confusion within the community regarding the legitimacy of the native and natural species and opinions on the change. The remainder of the code specific to traditional turf grass remained as it was. Since making native and natural spaces allowable, there have been few locations in which directed research into potential code violations have yielded issues of non-compliance. The most common conversations with residents have been over the need to place a commitment on the continued maintenance of these spaces, specifically the need to remove weeds and unintended vegetation. The code has setback requirements from property lines and from the curbline. More conversations over the need to keep species exceeding height setback limits have been necessary more than any other relating to these native and natural spaces. CODE COMPLIANCE PROCEDURES The City’s approach to code compliance is an endeavor to balance enforcement of the city code as written and intended by the City Council with consideration for reasonableness for the conditions around each situation that may at times indicate compliance is unable to be achieved or overly burdensome to achieve strict compliance. Staff works to educate residents on compliance standards and assist with compliance when possible. Through both proactive monitoring and being directed to specific locations reported by residents, staff identifies locations which are non-compliant and depending on the severity of the problem or giving consideration to factors which may have prevented compliance, the location is set for a recheck or an attempt to speak with the property owner is made. When personal contact cannot be made, an informational flyer with the specific section causing the violation(s) highlighted is left. Should the council wish to institute a process of incorporating administrative citations (fines) for violations of the city policy on residential lawn irrigation, or other violations of code, at what point in the process of seeking remedy should an administrative citation be issued? 8