I can understand if this were on a corner obstructing the view of traffic but not in the middle of a straight block. Also, can't understand how the city can do anything about the flowers on the property side of the sidewalk. Liberals hate flowers.
Posted on 07/10/2021 8:54:18 AM PDT by bgill
South Austin resident Gina Daniel walks past the intersection of Curlew Drive and Crownspoint Drive each day with her dog to admire the rows of sunflowers growing along the sidewalks. For the past year and a half, she said the sunflowers have been a bright spot amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Then, the City of Austin’s code enforcement department issued a notice last week, requiring the property owners to remove the sunflowers. The notice cited right-of-way mobility concerns and an ordinance prohibiting weeds and grasses over 12 inches tall from growing on a property.
(Excerpt) Read more at kxan.com ...
I can understand if this were on a corner obstructing the view of traffic but not in the middle of a straight block. Also, can't understand how the city can do anything about the flowers on the property side of the sidewalk. Liberals hate flowers.
“ordinance prohibiting weeds and grasses over 12 inches tall”
I don’t see any weeds nor do I see any grasses. I guess the city would rather have unirrigated dirt full of real weeds...as long as they stay below 12 inches tall.
Idiots.
I would be a criminal in Austin
Bluebonnets too
I never had any plant classes, but these city officials need a wedgie.
NEVER would have suspected sunflowers counted as weeds.
Claim them as an agent crop.
Ag crop
Ehhh... I think this one depends on whether or not neighbors complained. It’s hard to tell from the photo but if this were in the middle of a suburb with well kept lawns all around this would look like an eyesore in a neighborhood.
But if the neighbors are happy and the city is just throwing its weight around that’s another thing.
Looks like the liberals are destroying Lady Bird’s legacy. She promoted the planting of wildflowers.
Demand more government, gripe when government does what it always does.
I believe I recently read somewhere that sunflowers are racist . . .
...Bluebonnets too<<<
For the bluebonnets or the rattlesnakes they attract?
Seems like code enforcement is a joke everywhere, unevenly enforced. In SF, two doors down from my mother-in-law's home was a lot with tall 6-ft weeds and brush hanging over a fence into the sidewalk. The neighbors complained for years to the city and nothing was done. Then the fence went down and the bamboo weeds obstructed the sidewalk. Neighbors continued to complain.
Then, a newbie neighbor on the other side of m-i-l's home put in a complaint about tall weeds in m-i-l's back yard, not bothersome to anyone, and said it harbored rats. M-i-l got a $270 fine with orders to remove the weeds. We went ballistic, called code enforcement complaining that the newbie neighbor had a dozen chickens in two pens and they were the cause of rats, and by the way what are you going to do about the weeds in the nearby lot and sidewalk that people complained about for 5 years. Code enforcer said, "I tore up the fine notice, and never mind about the order.". Code enforcers are useless.
As a former western Kansas farm boy, I will say that they are most definitely weeds. They are not planted and grow by the trillions all over the wheat farm land. They provide soil conservation during the fields’ off years and decompose to provide nutrients when plowed under. Their saving grace (in my experience) is that they have large, sand-papery leaves that provide a service when you go to the field and forget your toilet paper.
They should have planted dwarf sunflowers on the parkway side.
I imagine these flowers discourage street parking since passengers would have a hard time stepping out into the sunflower patch. This might be the source of the secret complaints.
Also think the city will have a hard time proving sunflowers are a “weed or grass” since they are grown as both an ornamental flower and an ag crop, as well as included in many wildflower seed mixes.
“Ag crop”
Yep. But they will probably pull the “Ag zoning” game. Maybe they can claim it is for fighting climate change and used for soil retention... lol
ƒ[CE, L, S, JB]
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