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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance No. 4539 - Ordinance - Amend Code Chapter 8-5 Tall Grass Weeds ORDINANCE NO. ____ AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTIONS 8-5-1, 8-5-2, 8-5-3, 8-5-4, 8-5-5, 8-5-6, 8-5-7, 8-5-9, 8-5-10, AND 8-5-11, OF CHAPTER 8-5 OF TITLE 8 OF THE ROCHESTER CODE OF ORDINANCES RELATING TO TALL GRASS AND WEEDS. THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROCHESTER ORDAINS: Section 1. Section 8-5-1 of Chapter 8-5 of the Rochester Code is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 8-5-1. – Legislative intent. (a) It is declared to be the purpose and intent of this chapter to protect and preserve the city's neighborhoods and the public health, safety and welfare of those who live there. The common council determines that keeping the city free of tall grass unattended turf grass and noxious weeds improves the quality of life of city residents by improving the aesthetics of the city, by eliminating harbor for rodents and insects, and by eliminating fire hazards. At the same time, the council recognizes that requiring the mowing of turf grasses and noxious weeds is under certain circumstances impractical and unreasonable. The exemptions contained within this chapter are intended to cover these circumstances. (b) The city council also determines that a variety of properly maintained landscapes in the city add diversity and a richness to the quality of life, and does not want to discourage the preservation, restoration and maintenance of diverse biologically stable natural plant communities or environmentally sound practices. The city council finds that the establishment of native or naturalistic plant communities is an acceptable landscape treatment in the city. However, as a protection for the larger community, this change in vegetation must be properly planned, managed and maintained,. and the length of transition period must be minimized or the property is likely to create a public nuisance. Section 2. Section 8-5-2 of Chapter 8-5 of the Rochester Code is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 8-5-2. – Definitions. The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning: Boulevard means that portion of the street outside the roadway that may contain sidewalks, landscaped area, infrastructure, or amenities. Buffer or buffer strip means a unit of yard, together with the plantings required thereon, designed to mitigate nuisance between adjacent land uses or between a land use and a public street street, sidewalk or path. Developed means improvements to property, including roads, paths, sidewalks, any buildings, driveways, or out buildings. Landscaping means the active involvement in the encouragement of selected plants to grow on a site. Native and naturalistic vegetation means grasses and flowering broad-leaf plants that are native to, or adapted to, the state and that are commonly found in meadow and prairie plant communities, except noxious weeds. Consistent with Minnesota State Statute (412.925 Native Landscapes) this does not include turf grass lawns (blue grass, fescues and ryegrass and their blends) left unattended for the purpose of returning to a natural state. Native grasses means grasses (beach grass, wood chess grass, sand reed grass, wheat grass, bluestem grass, grama grass, brome grass, buffalo grass, switch grass, Indian grass, wild rye) that existed in the area prior to European settlement. Native plants means plants that existed in the area prior to European settlement. Natural landscaping means the use of groups of plants native to the area. Naturalistic landscaping means the use of native and non-native plants. Noxious weeds means plants so designated by the commissioner of agriculture pursuant to state statutes, those identified by the county, or USDA-APHIS. Prairie means a plant community dominated by a diversity of native perennial herbaceous plants and grasses. Regularly cut means mowing or otherwise cutting vegetation turf grasses so that the dimension of the vegetation turf grass measured from the ground to the top of the vegetation turf grass (as extended upright), regardless if that is the blade of the vegetation turf grass or any other part of the plant, does not exceed 12 inches in height. Temporary erosion control grasses means grasses (winter wheat, oats, annual rye or regreen) that are used as single growing season cover or nurse crops to assist in the establishment of permanent vegetation. Traditional landscaping means the use of turf grasses and woody plants (shrubbery and trees) with defined areas for cultivation of annual and perennial plants. Transitional period means the amount of time to change from one type of landscaping to another. The period should not extend beyond three growing seasons for any specific area. Turf grasses means bluegrass, fescue and ryegrass and their blends with nonwoody vegetation interspersed with them commonly used in regularly cut lawns. Unattended Turf Grasses means grasses including but not limited to bluegrass, fescue and ryegrass and their blends commonly used in regularly cut lawns that exceed 12” in height and exceed 200 sq. ft in area. Weeds means prohibited noxious weeds as identified by the state department of agriculture, the county, or USDA-APHIS and any undesirable or troublesome plant that is horticulturally out of place exceeding the height limitations in this chapter. For the purposes of this chapter, Taraxacum spp (common dandelion) is not considered a weed. Wetlands means lands transitional between terrestrial and aquatic systems where the water table is near the surface. The boundary of wetlands, for purposes of this chapter, shall be determined according to the most recently published U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual. Section 3. Section 8-5-3 of Chapter 8-5 of the Rochester Code is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 8-5-3. – Nuisance declared. It shall be unlawful and a public nuisance for any private person having control of any property or boulevard in the city to permit or be allowed to maintain retain on such property any noxious weeds, or growth of unattended turf grasses and weeds in excess of 12 inches in height, if the growth of unattended turf grass and weeds occupies an area of at least 144 200 square feet and is located within 200 feet of the property line of a developed or platted parcel or within any platted property. No owner shall It shall be the owner’s responsibility to prevent growth of permit such noxious weeds or and unattended turf grass to be a public nuisance within any private property and all adjacent boulevards, or encroaching upon any public sidewalk, path, or roadway. but Owner shall abate the any nuisance by preventing noxious weeds from spreading by seed or other vegetative means or by cutting the weeds and turf grass and removing the clippings. Such clippings shall not be deposited in a manner to create areas which the vegetation will be ruined/killed. Section 4. Section 8-5-4 of Chapter 8-5 of the Rochester Code is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 8-5-4. – Exemption and conditions for exemptions. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to the following: (1) Non-noxious weeds and grass vegetation in an identified wetland area; (2) Non-noxious weeds, grasses and herbaceous vegetation within 50 feet of designated stormwater ponds (lying within the stormwater pond property) or within 50 feet of natural or altered creeks, rivers and stream corridors, including riparian buffer strips, that convey water, provided they are cut to less than 12 inches at least once per year if located within 200 feet of an occupied residence or developed property; (3) Non-noxious weed and grass vegetation growing on agriculturally-zoned land, including pastures, that are fenced and contain animals; (4) Temporary erosion control grasses; (51) Maintained and noxious weeded free prairie, or natural/naturalistic landscape vegetation that does not contain noxious weed growth within the boulevard upon issuance of Natural Landscape Permit; provided that the property owner applies for and is issued a natural or naturalistic landscape permit, and maintains the property in a condition sufficient to maintain the permit; (62) Grass Native or naturally adapted plants and non-noxious weed vegetation in publicly owned parks designated as natural area or private property so designated by the city council or any natural undisturbed areas existing beyond 200 feet of a developed/platted property where the land and vegetation appears not to have been graded, landscaped or otherwise disturbed by human or mechanical means in recent time; (73) Unattended Turf Ggrass and non-noxious weed vegetation on natural or altered slopes steeper than 2:1; or (8) Ornamental grasses. (4) Yards containing turf grasses taller than 12 inches that is attended to and/or in the process of conversion to natural or naturalistic vegetation with a permit issued by the Parks and Recreation Department. Section 5. Section 8-5-5 of Chapter 8-5 of the Rochester Code is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 8-5-5. – Natural or naturalistic landscape permits. Natural or naturalistic landscape permits are required if attended turf grasses exceed 12” in height within any private property or a proposed landscape includes grasses that exceed or are expected to exceed 12 inches in overall height naturalistic landscaping located within the boulevard. Permit applications shall be submitted to the parks and recreation department. Section 6. Section 8-5-6 of Chapter 8-5 of the Rochester Code is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 8-5-6. – Contents of natural or naturalistic landscape permit application. The applications shall contain: (1) The name and address of the applicant and the legal description of the property being permitted; (2) A site plan for the area sought to be permitted. The scale of plan should be one inch equals 30 feet and include all adjacent properties and public streets and alleys; (3) A general description of the vegetation types, plants and plant succession to be used; and (4) A specific management and maintenance plan which shall include: a. The estimated transition period; b. The elimination of non-native or invasive vegetation Noxious Weeds; c. The replanting of the area by transplant or seeded by human or mechanical means; d. The maintenance of the area to a height of 12 inches or less if weeds cover more than 25 percent of the landscaped area equaling in excess of 144 square feet; e. The maintenance of all nonwoody vegetation/grasses located in a buffer strip with a minimum distance of four feet from side and rear lot lines is to a height of 12 inches or less unless the adjacent property owner has consented in writing that the buffer strip is not required, a copy of which is filed with the permit application; and f.d. Maintenance of all vegetation within 18 inches of any public street, walk, bikeway or alley to a height of 12 inches or less. Section 7. Section 8-5-7 of Chapter 8-5 of the Rochester Code is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 8-5-7. – Issuance of natural or naturalistic landscape permit. The parks and recreation department shall determine the completeness of the application and shall issue the natural or naturalistic landscape permit unless: (1) The management and maintenance plan is incomplete or inconsistent with the application requirements.; or (2) The transition period for the area is longer than three growing seasons. Section 8. Section 8-5-9 of Chapter 8-5 of the Rochester Code is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 8-5-9. – Revocation of natural or naturalistic landscape permit. (a) A natural or naturalistic landscape permit may be revoked by the parks and recreation department for any of the following reasons: (1) Weeds are not maintained; (2) Buffer strips are not maintained; (32) Vegetation within 18 inches of public walks, streets, alleys and paths is not maintained to a height of 12 inches or less; or (43) The permittee fails to maintain the natural landscape area in a manner consistent with the management and maintenance plan included in the application. (b) The notice of revocation shall indicate that the revocation conversion shall be effective on the date identified therein, which date shall be not less than 14 days later than the date of the notice, unless the permittee files a written appeal with the park board. Upon receipt of the notice of appeal, the park board shall set a public hearing at which the permittee and any other party wishing to be heard shall have an opportunity to present evidence as to the permittee's compliance with the provisions of this chapter and the approved natural landscape permit. If the park board determines that the permittee has failed to abide by the provisions of this chapter and the approved natural landscape permit, it shall direct the parks and recreation department to issue a tall grass and weed violation notice pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. Section 9. Section 8-5-10 of Chapter 8-5 of the Rochester Code is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 8-5-10. – Inspections and notification by city. The city shall make such inspections as are necessary to determine whether weeds or grass constitute a public nuisance as defined in this chapter when clearly visible from a public right of way, and is hereby authorized to enter onto private property for the purpose of conducting such inspection. Upon finding such public nuisance, the inspector shall cause an administrative citation to be issued pursuant to chapter 1-2. The city may also serve a notice by regular mail or by personal service upon the record owner of the property. The citation or notice shall order such owner to abate the nuisance by cutting the weeds and grass, and removing the clippings within 48 hours of the date of the notice. The citation or notice shall also state that if the owner fails to do so, the city will cause the weeds and grass to be cut and the expense thereof shall be the owner's responsibility. Refusal to accept, or not seeing such notice by the owner of the property shall not constitute a defense that the notice was not received. Section 10. Section 8-5-11 of Chapter 8-5 of the Rochester Code is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 8-5-11. – Mitigation by the city. Upon finding a public nuisance associated with noxious weeds or unattended turf grass without evidence of intention to convert space to natural or naturalized vegetation, the designated park staff may issue to the property owner an administrative citation pursuant to the administrative fine process outlined in chapter 1-2 or a violation notice pursuant to this chapter. For purposes of mitigation of the public nuisance, the director of parks and recreation, or assigns, may enter onto private property to mitigate nuisance weeds or grass no earlier than four calendar days after the date the administrative citation or violation notice has been issued. The director of parks and recreation shall keep a record showing the cost of the required mitigation on each lot or parcel. Section 11. This ordinance shall become effective from and after its publication. PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA, THIS __________ DAY OF _______________, 2024. ___________________________________ PRESIDENT OF SAID COMMON COUNCIL ATTEST: __________________________ CITY CLERK APPROVED THIS _____ DAY OF ______________________, 2024. ___________________________________ MAYOR OF SAID CITY (Seal of the City of Rochester, Minnesota) Ord20/Chapt.8-5TallGrassWeeds.docx