Officials Sue Couple Who Removed Their Lawn 819
Hugh Pickens writes "The LA Times reports that Orange County officials are locked in a legal battle with a couple accused of violating city ordinances for replacing the grass on their lawn with wood chips and drought-tolerant plants, reducing their water usage from 299,221 gallons in 2007 to 58,348 gallons in 2009. The dispute began two years ago, when Quan and Angelina Ha tore out the grass in their front yard. In drought-plagued Southern California, the couple said, the lush grass had been soaking up tens of thousands of gallons of water — and hundreds of dollars — each year. 'We've got a newborn, so we want to start worrying about her future,' said Quan Ha, an information technology manager for Kelley Blue Book. But city officials told the Has they were violating several city laws that require that 40% of residential yards to be landscaped predominantly with live plants. Last summer, the couple tried to appease the city by building a fence around the yard and planting drought-tolerant greenery — lavender, rosemary, horsetail, and pittosporum, among others. But according to the city, their landscaping still did not comply with city standards. At the end of January, the Has received a letter saying they had been charged with a misdemeanor violation and must appear in court. The couple could face a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine for their grass-free, eco-friendly landscaping scheme. 'It's just funny that we pay our taxes to the city and the city is now prosecuting us with our own money,' says Quan Ha."
I presume... (Score:5, Funny)
Right? Right?
I see you (Score:5, Funny)
electrolytes (Score:5, Funny)
Re:No one is wrong here... (Score:1, Funny)
".. the law requires 40% live ground cover, so they should be given a citation."
Not to put too fine a point on it but, if you take any sample of their wood chipped yard, and looked at it under a microscope, it would most certainly meet the 40% live ground cover criterion.
It says live, it doesn't say it has to be visible to the naked eye...
As someone who grew up in the country... (Score:5, Funny)
Right?
Right??
Seriously you guys... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I see you (Score:2, Funny)
And stay away from my grass!
Re:Fire hazard (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Dumb Government Abuse of Power (Score:2, Funny)
One day some abusive admin did a rm -rf / or deltree C:\
Those bastards... that's why root should have no powers.
And the 'rm' command needs to be redacted.
Re:electrolytes (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I presume... (Score:5, Funny)
no, he means his garden looks like the moon.
Re:How do you define Irony? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:I lived there for better than a dozen years... (Score:4, Funny)
Sadly, I can't think of any viable solution to the problem.
Arizona Bay?
Re:Dumb Government Abuse of Power (Score:5, Funny)
sigh. You do realize that the worlds biggest warlord [nytimes.com] was behind the Somali gov "collapse"
I don't know if the nytimes.com is the world's biggest warlord. Sure, it's annoying to have to register to read the article, but warlord?
really? (Score:4, Funny)
they were violating several city laws that require that 40% of residential yards to be landscaped predominantly with live plants.
Maybe theirs is one of the 60% that don't have to be landscaped with live plants.
Re:Fire hazard (Score:4, Funny)
'.... In these places you've actually got such a scarcity of water that you have to measure how much you use and pay based on that! Why would you want to live like that?'
For the spice.
I don't get it either, but then (Score:3, Funny)
3 TONS of water. For one house. No wonder the US uses close to 10 times the amount of resources of decent human beings.
Re:Dumb Government Abuse of Power (Score:3, Funny)
This sounds like turning government into a giant game of flux, which is great until someone plays the "pass all bills" card.
Re:Dumb Government Abuse of Power (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Dumb Government Abuse of Power (Score:3, Funny)
Damnit! You KIDS GET OFF MY... I mean THE GOVERNMENTS LAWN!