Council hopes to chew more on longer weed issue

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By Cory Matteson/Lincoln Journal Star

Any supporters of Russ Schultz’ effort to let Lincoln’s weeds and grass grow twice as long as currently allowed must have gotten lost in the rough on the way to Monday’s City Council meeting.

A decision on the matter won’t come for at least a week and probably longer.

“Don’t all rush to the microphone,” Councilman Dan Marvin said, after asking for supporters of a proposed change that would increase the six-inch cap on unsightly vegetation to 12 inches.

Nobody came to the proposal’s defense. Thirteen people spoke against the change, offering everything from recent photos of shoddy Lincoln lawns to an anecdote about a rat gnawing on a Kansas City infant’s face.

In referencing the wide array of materials, each speaker made a similar point — the proposal would allow Lincoln’s habitual non-mowers to get worse.

“Something needs to be done to put more pressure on these people,” said Jeanette Harris, while gently shaking a three-foot-tall weed she plucked Monday from a neighboring yard.

Shultz,  the Lancaster County Noxious Weed Authority superintendent, said there are 350 unsubstantiated complaints about grass and weeds in the six-inch range.

The question, Councilman John Spatz said, is this: Do the false reports drag down the ability of Schulz’s office to respond to legitimate complaints?

It’s a question that will need more time to be answered. Council members said they would like to speak with Shultz further following more than an hour of public discussion.

They heard many suggestions to streamline the process of forcing homeowners to mow.

Several speakers agreed with a suggestion by Shawn Ryba, of NeighborWorks Lincoln, who said the weed inspectors should hang door knockers on violators’ doors, like the city used to do to enforce the cleaning of graffiti.

Two public speakers brought multiple photos of obvious city code violations to the lectern with them. (“I just happened to be on 27th Street, and I had a ruler with me,” Ryba explained.)

Perhaps complainants could e-mail photos of problem yards to the weed superintendent, rather than have inspectors drive by yards, some suggested.

But no members of the public thought allowing the weeds and grass to grow longer would benefit the city.

“How do you improve it without taking a step backward?" said Michael Snodgrass, executive director of NeighborWorks Lincoln. 

He referenced a news story out of Kansas City, Mo., in which an infant’s face was permanently scarred after a rat attacked her in her crib. The outside of the apartment was overgrown and not up to that city’s code, he said.  

Snodgrass said he wasn’t harboring fears of similar attacks in Lincoln but said the apartment in which the baby’s face was eaten was an eyesore, with an overgrown yard and trash strewn about.

He said it’s hard to rebuild and revitalize older neighborhoods and bring new residents into them when the weeds in neighboring yards grow so high.

“I’m interested in seeing a broader discussion,” Councilman Jonathan Cook said. “I’m not excited about changing without discussing those things.”

Schulz said some of the public’s suggestions might require changes to state law and told the Council that any changes would have to answer this question: “Where do you want to direct my efforts?”

Reach Cory Matteson at 473-2655 or cmatteson@journalstar.com.