[Massplanners] mowing requirements

[Mark Hamin]

I am 100% on Team Pollinator/Re-Wilding myself, however I believe that every community needs to have some plan for how to differentiate between an intentionally designed, well- managed pollinator garden or meadow landscape vs. owner negligence/abandonment of care, which could constitute an attractive nuisance that neighbors would likely and rightly consider problematic.  Private property (yard) rights are not 100% sacrosanct if there is a valid public interest in regulating potential negative impacts on abutters, e.g., pests, fire, etc.  Maybe neighbors just need to communicate better with one another during No-Mow May and Low-Mow Spring?  My $.02, fwiw...

Mark Hamin PhD (he/him)
Principal Consultant, Sustainability Designer
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-hamin/
https://www.sustainabilitydesigner.com/<https://secure-web.cisco.com/1MLmvRFjWMJmQMr_yWrjBH8BklHd_NXr9vAlfagDgAbD-u3L7nPvAQK9a3KxpzBqsKxz5TD7mEF2up_kRfbuzebh_4Ivn9AgOj8C6AI6SBC1NFavPWgeTtHrsEicbF9TLxULXUzGQ2CP4wGPKVTHwfFNImxcULoxZn4U5Xxlwxk3lSSds2QDAk1exkU3EIhGYqT79tllAY-7qoeguUykzFnIEXZr1acaD1UIN6Aom_7T3FeioiQWq1n13bi8ojHIK094YPvBofLfz7abd7uWnBmuwhUZluC0SKzqCT_L6ZivpBHI9d64hjH8PQY3dgPsA2kPdLQ4vRamN57_J_j5_7wj8mzCymgzaMn00t5LX2vu9smI0quu4qHlKq5wYaXkQSvejmg2UxPZGkaOGWrCN1IjxehfhYq9Dxr6ntnDOeOw/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sustainabilitydesigner.com%2F>
413 387-9760
________________________________
From: MassPlanners <massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org> on behalf of Corrin Meise-Munns via MassPlanners <massplanners at masscptc.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 3, 2024 4:00 PM
To: Barbara Carboni <bcarboni at truro-ma.gov>
Cc: Nate Card <card24 at csld.edu>; massplanners at masscptc.org <massplanners at masscptc.org>
Subject: Re: [Massplanners] mowing requirements

Love the support. Come and speak at my Town Meeting :)

On Wed, Jul 3, 2024 at 3:57 PM Barbara Carboni <bcarboni at truro-ma.gov<mailto:bcarboni at truro-ma.gov>> wrote:

I’m with Jeff, on grounds of both property rights and pollinators.

No retreat; no surrender; no forced mowing.



Barbara Carboni  AICP  MCPPO

Truro Town Planner and Land Use Counsel

(508) 214 0928



From: MassPlanners <massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org<mailto:massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org>> On Behalf Of Jeff Lacy via MassPlanners
Sent: Wednesday, July 3, 2024 3:41 PM
To: Nate Card <card24 at csld.edu<mailto:card24 at csld.edu>>
Cc: cmeisemunns at longmeadow.org<mailto:cmeisemunns at longmeadow.org>; massplanners at masscptc.org<mailto:massplanners at masscptc.org>
Subject: Re: [Massplanners] mowing requirements



Are we talking about private property? A homeowner’s little patch of the earth? I can’t see any legitimate role for government here, especially if the only complaint is appearance.

Jeff Lacy

Rural Planning Associates

(413) 230-9693



Sent from my iPhone



On Jul 3, 2024, at 3:18 PM, Nate Card via MassPlanners <massplanners at masscptc.org<mailto:massplanners at masscptc.org>> wrote:



I don't know what it would look like, nor of any precedents (as far as regulations go) but I suspect you could establish an approved ratio of mowed to un-mowed lawn, essentially requiring some degree of cues-to-care, like mowed borders or pathways. Or perhaps waivers to the current regulations could be issued for households submitting a plan for some level of lawn conversion, to promote long-term pollinator support.



Nathanael Card

M.S. Ecological Design, 2024

The Conway School, Northampton, MA

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Corrin Meise-Munns (she/her)
Assistant Town Manager / Director of Planning & Community Development
Town of Longmeadow, MA
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