[Massplanners] Mowing requirements, unsightly property (Corrin Meise-Munns)

Wed Jul 3 12:48:31 EDT 2024

Corrin - I don't have suggestions for addressing the problem of overgrown lawns, but I'm guessing I'm not the only one who smiled when seeing the question came from the community of...Longmeadow.

Apologies,

Danielle McKnight, AICP
Town Planner/Community Planning Administrator
235 North Street
North Reading, MA 01864
(978) 357-5206
dmcknight at northreadingma.gov

Town Hall hours: Mon-Thurs 8-4; Fri 8-1

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Sent: Wednesday, July 3, 2024 12:00 PM
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Subject: MassPlanners Digest, Vol 39, Issue 3

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Today's Topics:

   1. Mowing requirements, unsightly property (Corrin Meise-Munns)
   2. Re: Mowing requirements, unsightly property (Daniel Fortier)
   3. RFI available, Tourism Operations/Economic Impact Report
      (Carol Kowalski)
   4. Longmeadow hiring an energy & climate planning manager
      (Corrin Meise-Munns)
   5. Assistant Planner Position - Grafton (Fiona Coughlan)

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Message: 1
Date: Tue, 2 Jul 2024 13:00:57 -0400
From: Corrin Meise-Munns <cmeisemunns at longmeadow.org>
To: massplanners at masscptc.org
Subject: [Massplanners] Mowing requirements, unsightly property
Message-ID:
<CALcH5OLFxdOP7w35XneNUAkhp4b=LDtCj+6t5YRcLZgC1y+Q8w at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Hello,

My Code Enforcement team wants to beef up our regulations around height of grass/mowing requirements, and "unsightly property."

Regarding height of grass, we have more and more residents wanting to participate in No Mow May, and/or who are raising environmental concerns around maintenance of lawns overall. The problem for Code Enforcement is that they are getting complaints from residents who want to maintain the orderly suburban aesthetic of a mown lawn (as required by our bylaws, which demand a maximum height of 6" for lawn grass). Do any of your communities have provisions to allow for No Mow May?

In Longmeadow, the grass requirement is a General Bylaw so I am considering bringing this to the Select Board to ask them to adopt a policy repreiving the Code Enforcement team from enforcing this bylaw in May. However, this begs the question -- what happens when someone (rightly, in my opinion) argues that taller vegetation and flowering/seeding grasses provide forage and fodder year-round, not just in May? So my second question here is: do any of your communities have provisions to allow for ecological landscaping in residential properties, not limited by month or season?

The Code Enforcement staff are also having a hard time enforcing another zoning provision prohibiting "unsightly property," which itself is a nebulous term and open to interpretation and difference of opinion. Our bylaw prohibits "the keeping of unused (for over 30 days) or unsightly personal property," but does not does not define what constitutes unsightly. This is essentially our version of a blighted property bylaw, but it doesn't touch on the condition of any building or unpaid taxes. Do any of your communities have a bylaw defining and regulating something along the lines of "unsightly property" that you think works well? To frame the conversation, Town Meeting would not likely repeal such a bylaw altogether.

Many thanks,
Corrin

--
*Corrin Meise-Munns* *(she/her)*
Assistant Town Manager / Director of Planning & Community Development Town of Longmeadow, MA
(413) 565-4110
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Message: 2
Date: Tue, 2 Jul 2024 12:19:24 -0500
From: Daniel Fortier <daniel.j.fortier at gmail.com>
To: cmeisemunns at longmeadow.org
Cc: massplanners at masscptc.org
Subject: Re: [Massplanners] Mowing requirements, unsightly property
Message-ID:
<CAHRn-aZvmbrF1AbZWxrNaoFXkWLVs_1QiEG9VZm-n74eKGO-Ug at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

City of Madison Wisconsin adopted a waiver of enforcement for No Mow May.

There are a number of states (Texas and Idaho for instance) that have laws specifically promoting Xerescaping, you might want to reach out to some landscape entities. Be forewarned, I was accused of being anti-lawn when recommending such a by-law in an environmentally sensitive part of Dennis.
Ultimately restricted lawn to no more than 5,000 sf.

Daniel Fortier, AICP Retired Planner

On Tue, Jul 2, 2024, 12:03?PM Corrin Meise-Munns via MassPlanners < massplanners at masscptc.org> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> My Code Enforcement team wants to beef up our regulations around
> height of grass/mowing requirements, and "unsightly property."
>
> Regarding height of grass, we have more and more residents wanting to
> participate in No Mow May, and/or who are raising environmental
> concerns around maintenance of lawns overall. The problem for Code
> Enforcement is that they are getting complaints from residents who
> want to maintain the orderly suburban aesthetic of a mown lawn (as
> required by our bylaws, which demand a maximum height of 6" for lawn
> grass). Do any of your communities have provisions to allow for No Mow May?
>
> In Longmeadow, the grass requirement is a General Bylaw so I am
> considering bringing this to the Select Board to ask them to adopt a
> policy repreiving the Code Enforcement team from enforcing this bylaw in May.
> However, this begs the question -- what happens when someone (rightly,
> in my opinion) argues that taller vegetation and flowering/seeding
> grasses provide forage and fodder year-round, not just in May? So my
> second question here is: do any of your communities have provisions to
> allow for ecological landscaping in residential properties, not
> limited by month or season?
>
> The Code Enforcement staff are also having a hard time enforcing
> another zoning provision prohibiting "unsightly property," which
> itself is a nebulous term and open to interpretation and difference of
> opinion. Our bylaw prohibits "the keeping of unused (for over 30 days)
> or unsightly personal property," but does not does not define what
> constitutes unsightly. This is essentially our version of a blighted
> property bylaw, but it doesn't touch on the condition of any building
> or unpaid taxes. Do any of your communities have a bylaw defining and
> regulating something along the lines of "unsightly property" that you
> think works well? To frame the conversation, Town Meeting would not
> likely repeal such a bylaw altogether.
>
> Many thanks,
> Corrin
>
>
> --
> *Corrin Meise-Munns* *(she/her)*
> Assistant Town Manager / Director of Planning & Community Development
> Town of Longmeadow, MA
> (413) 565-4110
> --
> MassPlanners mailing list
> MassPlanners at masscptc.org
> http://masscptc.org/mailman/listinfo/massplanners_masscptc.org
>
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Message: 3
Date: Tue, 2 Jul 2024 22:36:37 +0000
From: Carol Kowalski <ckowalski at lexingtonma.gov>
To: "'massplanners at masscptc.org'" <massplanners at masscptc.org>
Subject: [Massplanners] RFI available, Tourism Operations/Economic
Impact Report
Message-ID: <60b3e9dc69a14c89a63b9ee9c5afe04d at lexingtonma.gov>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

The Town of Lexington has issued a Request for Information to conduct as study on the economic impact of tourism and recommendations on funding and operating tourism for Lexington.  Please see information and the RFI at the link below:

https://lexingtonma.gov/bids.aspx?bidId=107

Carol Kowalski AICP, ICMA-CM
Assistant Town Manager for Development
Land Use, Housing & Development Department Town of Lexington

________________________________

When writing or responding, please be aware that the Massachusetts Secretary of State has determined that most email is a public record and, therefore, may not be kept confidential.
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Message: 4
Date: Wed, 3 Jul 2024 08:39:57 -0400
From: Corrin Meise-Munns <cmeisemunns at longmeadow.org>
To: massplanners at masscptc.org
Subject: [Massplanners] Longmeadow hiring an energy & climate planning
manager
Message-ID:
<CALcH5OL418pPQA7o-=vx5X34v8orv94CrNfM4sJeFo4ajbFJvA at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Longmeadow is hiring an Energy Manager to guide energy efficiency and use reduction projects in town facilities and to develop and manage a greenhouse gas emissions reduction plan and implementation projects. Will work with the Asst Town Manager/Director of Planning and the DPW Facilities Director. More information and instructions to apply can be found here:
https://www.longmeadowma.gov/Jobs.aspx?UniqueId=107&From=All&CommunityJobs=False&JobID=Energy-Manager-566

--
*Corrin Meise-Munns* *(she/her)*
Assistant Town Manager / Director of Planning & Community Development Town of Longmeadow, MA
(413) 565-4110
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Message: 5
Date: Wed, 3 Jul 2024 13:15:15 +0000
From: Fiona Coughlan <coughlanf at Grafton-MA.Gov>
To: Thomas Bott via MassPlanners <massplanners at masscptc.org>
Subject: [Massplanners] Assistant Planner Position - Grafton
Message-ID:
<DM6PR09MB53359ECB2936A45850E5BD3D9FDD2 at DM6PR09MB5335.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hello All,

The Grafton Planning Department is looking to fill the role of Assistant Planner! Come join a great team as we work on several community, economic development, and land use projects in this rapidly-growing community!

Please submit a resume, cover letter, and a Town of Grafton employment application<https://www.grafton-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/265/Employment-Application-Revised-for-Legal-Form-Final-2018-PDF?bidId=> (available at Town Hall or online at grafton-ma.gov) to hr at grafton-ma.gov<mailto:hr at grafton-ma.gov>, or via mail to the Grafton Town Hall, ATTN: William Blake, 30 Providence Road, Grafton, MA 01519. Applications will be accepted until position is filled. The job posting/full description is here<https://www.grafton-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/13002/Asst-Town-Planner-Job-Description-FINAL-No-RL-6-16-24?bidId=>.

Please reach out to coughlanf at grafton-ma.gov<mailto:coughlanf at grafton-ma.gov> with any questions and please share with your networks!

Have a wonderful July 4th weekend!

[cid:image001.png at 01DACD29.8375F570]

Fiona Coughlan, AICP
Town Planner
Planning Department
Town of Grafton
508-839-5335 x 1402
coughlanf at grafton-ma.gov<mailto:coughlanf at grafton-ma.gov>
Website: Grafton-ma.gov<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.grafton-2Dma.gov_&d=DwMFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=aWpJuYIYLyO12_duLKvVAVdhjVu23gb2hG6o6S56IDo&m=d2-iJNoUND6uJwWUCjWHqYjn-bN_LuLlkfDeuvDXeW4&s=RBwm97Mqrrs5dPqghEnr7uLTu34WDRSMMNVy41gftKA&e=>
Facebook: Town of Grafton, MA<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.facebook.com_TownofGraftonMA_&d=DwMFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=aWpJuYIYLyO12_duLKvVAVdhjVu23gb2hG6o6S56IDo&m=d2-iJNoUND6uJwWUCjWHqYjn-bN_LuLlkfDeuvDXeW4&s=S05TiM-laISVaSrGjcxwIcvpzVEPE8hPQVWVBabyLfQ&e=>
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MUNICIPAL CENTER HOURS
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday: 8:30 - 4:30
Tuesday:  8:30 - 7:00
Friday:      8:30 - 1:00

*Please note - the Planning Department is by appointment only and staff work from home on most Fridays. Please email or call to make an appointment to speak with staff.

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