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August 27, 2024 St. Anthony Council Work Session - 3 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. 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 person 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? To help better understand the current process used, the steps in seeking remedy are: 1.Attempt to contact homeowner or renter and identify the violation and discuss aspects of remedy. If contact is not made, an informational flyer identifying the violation(s) is left, often with a written note and invitation to contact Staff. 2.Recheck location for remedy, usually 2-7 days later. 3.Attempt to contact homeowner. 4.Attempt to contact homeowner. 5.Write letter to property owner highlighting the violation(s) and invite them to contact Staff to discuss the violations or reasons for not being able to remedy. 6.Recheck location for remedy, usually 2-7 days later. 7.Recheck location for remedy, usually 2-7 days later. 8.Letter sent from Fire Chief asking for either remedy or contact to discuss. 9.Recheck location for remedy, usually 2-7 days later. 10.Based upon type and severity of violation, letter sent from City Attorney informing property owner as to the City’s options for criminal or civil actions to seek compliance to the City Code. 11.Recheck location for remedy. 12.Repeat #11 until it is determined the City Council should be involved to consider legal action. All steps in the process are documented in the City’s record management system – Caselle. Mayor Webster stated there is some confusion about what maintaining a yard is to some residents.