No, it wasn't the money amount. They trimmed 13 trees, 4 or 5 of which the city may own, on or very near the couple's property. The trees are still healthy and undamaged. No trees were injured in the making of this debacle. Here's the link to an article written before the fine was dropped. All the articles are available with a simple search. Linda

Here is a link that might be useful: Article about the tree fine

I saw the newspaper photo of the drought tolerant garden in Glendale. Sorry, but this couple did not go about it the right way. First of all, they covered too great a percentage of their front yard with hardscape. The city codes are easily accessible on the city's website, and it is very clear about how much of your front yard you can cover with hardscape.If you want to see front yards covered in hardscape, go to North Hollywood or parts of Van Nuys.

Secondly, the dry river bed does look like crap in the photo. It looks like someone dumped a load of rocks. Maybe in person it looks better?

Thirdly, if they had covered the bare dirt between the plants with a nice mulch, it would have made a world of difference.

And lastly, they could have 'sold' their native garden by putting up a cute little sign in the garden proclaiming it a native garden. Or a Backyard Habitat sign.

Yes, the city folks seemed uneducated about native gardens, in general. But the couple who planted the garden could have done a LOT better job of it.

City of Buena Park (Mario Camacho - Code Enforcement) harrassed me and he admitted he knew nothing about plants and flowers. I was killing my grass to go drought tolerant. I even had to go to City Prosecutor (Mario took pictures of gazanias (freeway daisies and called them weeds!) He took picture of dirt where I was putting in broken cement and enlarged to look like I had enormous pile of dirt. Should be fired for falsifying reports. www.bewaterwise, www.cawatercrisis.com

Hi, We planted drought tolerant plants in the front yard about 8 years ago. They didn't look very good when they were small, but have filled in nicely. They get no water from us and only need to be trimmed back about twice a year. There are brick paths running through them. Our city might have codes regarding this stuff, but we weren't even aware that it could be an issue. Some cities don't care what you do on your own property unless it creates a real problem. The city inspector was here in November for our pool removal permit, and he didn't mention it. I'm in Walnut, near Pomona.

Buddyben I agree with you that the Glendale yard looked bad in the picture, but have to think that it was early in the job. Because most landscapes are built around a large patch of grass, drought tolerant plants take more planning, experimenting, a little more getting used to and they're not for everyone. Most people wouldn't want huge fines or criminal charges brought against anyone for having a yard that they thought was ugly. Spreading mulch probably wouldn't have helped the situation, because mulch wouldn't be 'green'. Putting up any sign could lead to yet another code violation. Wonder what the heck peeling paint on some windows had to do with the yard? John and Ken (KFI) played audio from the city council meeting regarding the huge tree fine, and it was clear that these guys with their pompous and arrogant attitudes could care less how an ordinary citizen that they supposedly represent would come up with $350K to pay their petty fine for trees that were not harmed. What is the criminal code for an ugly yard, lol?

HeirloomK, I didn't think that Buena Park would have the same kind of problems. It takes only one person to cause all sorts of problems for you. A relative built a shed in Duarte by himself (he's a carpenter) and one city guy hounded him and made all kinds of accusations and threats. When he took off work to go to city hall, they said that the shed was fine and to just ignore the guy who was bugging him. Have you posted pics of your yard on any of these forums? It would be fun to see 'the yard worthy of handcuffs'. Linda

At the Glendale City Council meeting this past Tuesday, the drought tolerant yard and the code enforcement issue was discussed by the staff and council members.

Staff stated that the couple with the drought tolerant yard actually "bricked" over part of their front yard and parked their car on it!!!! Tacky!!!

Staff also admitted that the city codes regarding drought tolerant landscaping are very out of date. Staff was instructed by council to work on updating the codes and report back to council. I think they are going to agendize the issue for a future council meeting.

Current city codes say the front yards have to have live vegetation. It does not say it has to be green or that it has to be a lawn.

Knowing Glendale, I think it was the 'bricked over' front yard with the car parked on it that probably drew the attention of the neighbors. That was their big mistake.

This item reminded me of something that happened a while back in Lawndale. The city eventually changed its mind. Of course, the hardscape may have been the trigger point, but hopefully awareness of drought tolerant and native plant landscaping will become more widespread.

Here is a link that might be useful: Howser's Lawndale visit

Kelp, Thanks for the Lawndale link. I knew about that incident, but lost track of where the info was and couldn't remember the city. I do remember that the city was threatening to bulldoze the yard if the homeowners wouldn't, and then charge them for the job of forced demolition of their own property. Just rediculous.

Buddyben, I think these cities overstep their boundaries, because many city officials think everything should look like their own taste dictates. I don't think 'tacky' is mentioned in the codes, and am not sure there were any complaints from neighbors. California natives and succulents are certainly live plants. Why a job called 'Neighborhood Services Administration Analyst' even exists is a mystery to me. If you use this single example of being required to have city hall approve your plant selection, even while they deny that there is any such thing as drought tolerant plants, then it looks like the nanny mentality is alive and well and citizen control is the order of the day. Don't we still live in a desert and import our most of our water? It will be fun to see what they turn into a crime next. Linda

BuddyBen,

Assuming for the sake of argument that the yard was "ugly..."

(Would you care to define that term for me? There are things I like that others find ugly and things others like that I find ugly and as far as I know, no objective definition of what constitutes "ugly" or "attractive" is specified in any legislation local, State or Federal.)

...why is that any of the city's business? Even if you use the (dubious to my mind) argument that your neighbors have a right to demand that you keep your yard attractive to preserve their property values, I haven't seen any evidence that any or these people's neighbors objected to the landscaping.

Ryan

Ryan,it was not my intention to say that it is the city's business to determine what is 'ugly' or not. I don't believe I even used the word 'ugly.'
And no, I haven't seen any evidence that any neighbors objected to the landscaping, either. That is why I said that it was probabaly the bricked over hardscape that attracted someone's attention, not the landscaping. And by 'someone's attention,' yes, I do mean it was probably a neighbor who complained. You see, this city has over 200,000 residents, so the very small Neighborhood Services department typically remains unaware of code violations unless someone reports it to them.

Lindaewandsew, the reason the Neighborhood Services administrator exists is to investigate citizens'
requests for code enforcement. It is the city department people call when they see garages turned into illegal dwelling units, when illegal construction takes place, when they see people dumping furniture and trash on private property or in the steet, when contractors pour their excess concrete in the gutter, when people cut down city trees on the parkway, when people leave unoperable cars permanently parked on the street or in their front yard, etc, and the list goes on and on.
This city did not need a Neighborhood Services Dept. 20 years ago. But when you see your neighborhood going to hell in a handbasket, who ya gonna call???