SYRACUSE -- For many gardeners, the spring rains have been a little too much of a good thing. Even on a rainy days, Shelley Griffith tends her flowers and keeps the yard neat, but she's frustrated that not everyone in her neighborhood does.
"I come from the North Country. I see pasture fields and meadows and my neighbor has a meadow," said Griffith.
Syracuse code enforcement has been cutting some slack when it came to citing unmowed lawns, but as some lawns go to seed that courtesy is ending.
"We kind of gave people a break with the rain. We'll get out there - we'll probably cite anywhere from five to six hundred in a week," said Syracuse Code Enforcement Director Mike Bova.
If your lawn is cited, the city gives the homeowner five days to get it cleaned up. If they don't, the citation goes to the law department. The law department then typically works with homeowners to make sure the lawn is being mowed. If a solution can not be worked out, a charge for a city lawn mowing crew can be added to your taxes. Codes Enforcement Director Mike Bova says it is extremely rare for the city to mow the lawn of an occupied home and that usually the issues are worked out.
On Thursday, city crews were cleaning up 20 to 30 of the 620 vacant lots in the city. Technically the cost will be added to the property's tax bill, but realistically the cleanup is an expensive chore with little reward.
"It costs the city quite a bit of money, and you don't recoup what you'd like, obviously," said Bova.
When the city mows a vacant lot it can result in a charge of up to $500 depending on the size of the lawn.
Shelley Griffith says that while her neighbor's lawn frustrates her, she'd rather help out with mowing it than have her neighbor get a citation from the city.
"Because we all want it to look good in the city and we're going to try to be proud of what the city looks like right now," said Griffith.
