[Massplanners] mowing requirements

Wed Jul 3 17:18:16 EDT 2024

Love this conversation....

Our yard is an example of an unusually shaped lot that is large and 
lends itself to "meadows". Oddly shaped yards can be tempting for 
different management approaches. We have lawn around the house, large 
veggie gardens, lots of landscaping, groundmount solar, and two meadow 
areas. We mow the meadow areas once in the fall. They are host to 
decorative grasses, lupines, daisies, and many, many, many daffodils in 
the spring. People take photos. Is it a lot of management - no, but some.

Why can't people let part of their yard that was perhaps overcleared for 
construction allow some of it to return to forest through an unmanaged 
process. It would be of value to us all.

A good conversation for an "almost friday".

Carolyn Britt, AICP

1 Shagbark Woods

Ipswich, MA 01938

978-356-9881

On 7/3/2024 4:29 PM, Mark Hamin via MassPlanners wrote:
> 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.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> 
> 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> *On Behalf
>     Of *Jeff Lacy via MassPlanners
>     *Sent:* Wednesday, July 3, 2024 3:41 PM
>     *To:* Nate Card <card24 at csld.edu>
>     *Cc:* cmeisemunns at longmeadow.org; 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> 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
>
>         -- 
>         MassPlanners mailing list
>         MassPlanners at masscptc.org
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>
> -- 
> *Corrin Meise-Munns* /(she/her)/
> Assistant Town Manager / Director of Planning & Community Development/
> /
> Town of Longmeadow, MA
> (413) 565-4110
>
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