PONCE INLET, Fla. — If you don't mow your lawn in Ponce Inlet, the city will do it for you. Because of all the recent foreclosures, Ponce Inlet leaders decided not to wait for homeowners or banks to clean up yards.
The town was using the typical code enforcement process of notices and fines, but sending letters wasn't doing anything to make the grass any shorter. Now, homeowners will have to pay the city back if their lawns get cut.
Ponce Inlet Public Works employees are doing the yard maintenance on several homes that have been deemed eyesore properties.
"This is where I retired to. It's supposed to be time of my life to kick back and I shouldn't have to put up with that," neighbor Jim Howell said in reference to his neighbor's overgrown yard.
It was residential complaints that prompted Ponce Inlet to cut grass and remove trash from eyesore properties. It's placing liens on homes for all the work, about $75 for each visit.
"The bank doesn't do anything to the house. It's really deteriorating. So we wanted them to do something. This was their answer," neighbor Mary McConnell said.
The town is now preparing to expand the idea for the spring season, hiring a lawn service to respond within days to a home that doesn't meet code.
One resident told Eyewitness News it seemed like too much government involvement.
"We're not painting peoples' houses. We're not edging. We are simply mowing to keep the grass below 12 inches," Ponce Inlet city manager Jeaneen Clauss said.
It was citizens who asked the town to take action, Clauss said, and no one will just show up with a mower. All homeowners will go through a formal code enforcement process and be given a chance to take care of the problem themselves.
The city is also repairing pool enclosures on properties. Public works employees are fixing screens to keep children and animals out. The cost for that work will be part of the lien against the home.
WFTV
