[getsmart-l] Municipalities must review Property Standards By-law

[John O'Gorman]

Here is the reason why I raised the point at our EAC meeting that the Town must review its by-laws on "community standards" in order to ensure that our citizens cannot  be hassled for similar environmentally friendly gestures. I cited one citizen's naturalized garden. Another point is that milkweed, essential for the proliferation of Monarch butterflies, is a noxious weed under the Weed Act and the Town is required to remove it under complaints. 

"But to local officials, her friendliness to wildlife looks like a nuisance. They've accused her of failing to maintain her property, a charge she is contesting. A municipal court trial is scheduled for Aug. 28."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070813.re-beinggreen-0813/BNStory/RealEstate/
ENVIRONMENT

It isn't easy to be green in the garden state
Not in our back yard 
GEOFF MULVIHILL 

Associated Press

August 13, 2007 at 11:49 AM EDT

EDGEWATER PARK, N.J. — Among the tidy, brick ranch-style homes with close-cropped lawns on Stevenson Avenue, one yard sticks out like, well, a green thumb.

Vicki Wozniak's garden in Edgewater Park near Philadelphia is designed to attract butterflies, hummingbirds and other winged critters. It is a fraction of a hectare almost totally covered by sunflowers, honeysuckle, azaleas and many other plantings.

But to local officials, her friendliness to wildlife looks like a nuisance. They've accused her of failing to maintain her property, a charge she is contesting. A municipal court trial is scheduled for Aug. 28.

Wozniak is not the only New Jersey resident trying to do right by the environment but running afoul of local officials who want lawns to be neat, who don't want windmills in residential neighbourhoods or are wary of solar panels. The message the residents say they are getting: You can try to save the Earth, but not in your backyard.


Enlarge Image 
Vicki Wozniak stands in the garden at her home. Designated a Backyard Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation, Wozniak's garden is designed to attract butterflies, hummingbirds and other winged critters. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

 
In early July, Township Administrator Linda Doughterty told the Burlington County Times of Willingboro that she was afraid Wozniak's yard was becoming a major mosquito breeding ground and concerned that it didn't look like nearby properties.

"It is the position of the township that we feel this is a health and safety issue," she told the newspaper.

Environmentalists see the message as a major barrier to a greener Garden State.

"We've zoned for conformity," said Jeff Tittel, the director of the Sierra Club in New Jersey. "We have also taken away individuality and taken away the ability for originality."

After she bought her house about seven years ago, Wozniak, an information technology specialist, began adding to the landscaping the same way she did in other places she had lived. She let the shrubs get so big they blocked out her front windows. She put in butterfly bushes and a small pond.

The trouble began in 2003, when the township property inspector started leaving yellow warning stickers on her door advising her that she needed to spruce things up.

"The rhododendron on the side couldn't be tall, the climbing rose couldn't climb, the pine needles needed to be picked up," Wozniak said.

She says she kept doing what she was asked, even knocking down an old shed that was leaning. But she kept getting notices — about 60 of them through 2005, she said.

During that time, she went to an Audubon Society class on how to create a critter-friendly yard and had her lawn certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a backyard habitat. She's sent letters and gave out books to neighbours to explain what she's trying to do with her property.

Wozniak has dozens of bird feeders and almost as many bird baths and bird houses. There are grape vines and raspberry bushes. Then there are other touches she says are there for appearance, not ecology: pink flamingos and American flags.

She says that this time of year, she spends at least 14 hours a week maintaining her garden.

Last year, she said, the township left her alone and her place was featured in a local garden tour. But this spring, the troubles began again. And in June, Wozniak received a court summons.

One notice said: "Your property has become (a) blight to your neighbourhood, with its overgrown landscaping, bushes and weeds. ... There is accumulated debris and is in an unsafe condition."

Township officials didn't return several calls from The Associated Press.

Wozniak is worried about the prospect of facing a US$1,250 fine if she's found guilty. That amount is about what she figures she spends each year on the yard.

Tittel said that in New Jersey, other folks have had trouble with towns or homeowners associations for letting their lawns be more natural. In Wayne and Beach Haven Terrace, there have been controversies over whether residents can run windmills in their yards to generate electricity.

Tittel's group is pushing for a state law that would ensure homeowners be allowed to put up solar panels on their homes.

Michael Stritzki has gotten wide attention in green circles for his East Amwell home, which is powered entirely by capturing sunlight to produce hydrogen and using it for emission-free power. He battled with inspectors in his town for three years before he was able to get the $500,000 job done last year.

"I'm the poster child for getting abused for trying to do the right thing," he said.

Stritzki said that as global warming gets more attention, he expects more communities will allow unconventional methods to try to help the planet.
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