Town taking another crack at cleaning up ‘unsightly’ yards

Culpeper Town Council is taking another look at “unsightly” yards and how to get them cleaned up faster.

Per a proposed ordinance amendment coming before the Finance Committee today, violators could be fined $50 for letting their grass grow above a foot tall.

Repeat offenders could also face criminal charges.

The town receives hundreds of complaints each year from neighbors about tall grass, trash, inoperable vehicles, etc., so the issue is not a new one. In October, the town received 16 complaints of “tall grass and trash,” according to the zoning administrator’s report.

The zoning administrator responds to such complaints and, when appropriate, notifies property owners of the town’s regulations, subsequently seeking resolution. However, the current ordinance does not allow the town to impose a fine for noncompliance.

In addition, grass has to reach 18 inches before the zoning administrator can begin the notification process.

“Eighteen inches is really long,” said Town Councilman Jim Risner, a member of the Public Works Committee, which last week endorsed a first reading of the proposed ordinance change at the Dec. 8 council meeting.

By the time the property owner is contacted about the issue, he added, a couple of weeks could have passed and now the grass could be 30 inches tall. Such unsightly conditions are “very frustrating” for neighbors, Risner said, so the town is seeking to “make things look presentable a little quicker.”

The proposed ordinance change would trigger town action when grass grows above 12 inches — the same threshold used in the cities of Manassas and Fredericksburg, according to a town report.

In addition, according to the draft ordinance, property owners could be subject to a $50 fine per incident if the grass is not cut “after reasonable notice of the violation.”

The existing ordinance allows the town to cut the grass and charge the property owner for its services if not taken care of “after reasonable notice of the violation” — which Risner specified should be no longer than a couple of weeks. By his interpretation, property owners would not be fined $50 until the third offense.

The proposed ordinance also says the town could criminally charge property owners with a misdemeanor after they receive three civil penalties for too-tall grass in two year’s time.

A second reading on the ordinance amendment is scheduled for the Jan. 12 council meeting, at which time the town could enact the new regulations.

This matter, on a broader level, last surfaced three years ago at the prompting of former Town Councilman Steve Jenkins. He wanted council to create a “zoning enforcer” position to actively patrol the town looking for zoning violations, including too-tall grass.

Further, Jenkins wanted the town to crack down on single-family households in which more than five unrelated people lived — an issue that soon became tied to his quest to police illegal immigration at the local level.

Though Jenkins gained some initial support among council for his proposal, it ultimately died at the committee level.

In September, Jenkins moved to Spotsylvania County and was replaced by Laurel Care Gravatte.

Want to go?
The Culpeper Town Finance and Ordinance Committee meets today at 4 p.m. in town hall, 400 S. Main St.

On the agenda: Recommendation to spend $125,990 to install a traffic signal at the intersection of Golf Drive and Madison Road, next to the Powell Wellness Center.

Once the new traffic light is installed, which could take 30 to 60 days, the crossover at Madison Road and Country Club Drive will be closed for safety reasons. This means there will be no access to Country Club Drive from the northbound side of Madison Road and motorists approaching Madison Road from Country Club Drive will have to turn right.