GALVESTON, Texas – A Galveston woman is balking a notice from the city to mow her lawn or risk a hefty fine.
Sasha Francis got a notice from the City of Galveston earlier this month that the tickseeds, or coreopsis, in her yard are taller than the city allows without a permit.
The city stated she would need to mow her lawn by Saturday, April 22, or the city would file ‘appropriate charges’ in Municipal Court. Alternatively, the city may choose to perform the necessary clean-up work and exact payment for such work by filing a lien on the property.
“I’m not trying to be a nuisance. I’m not trying to cause trouble,” Francis said. “I am not trying to create an eyesore, which it clearly is, I’m trying to do the right thing, and I’m also trying to empower other residents to support local wildlife.”
This isn’t her first time having an issue with the city over her yard.
In 2021, Francis and her husband received similar letters about a notice and ended up in court over the same issue.
At that time, they ultimately paid $300.
While in court, she was made aware of the city’s wildflower exemptions.
The exemptions are free; however, property owners are required to apply for it each year by Jan. 31.
“People don’t go through processes like this because it’s too cumbersome and hard to understand,” Francis said. “And it really kind of puts a target on their back to be harassed and watched.”
Saturday came and went. Francis did not mow the lawn.
“I did inform [the city] yesterday that I have no intentions of mowing,” she said.
Since Francis did not follow the city’s ordinance, according to the city spokesperson, a citation would then be issued. Francis could then be required to go to court where a one-time fine would be issued up to $500.
“I’m not saying Ms. Frances didn’t intend to have a wildflower garden but we do have a process that we have to follow,” Marissa Burnett said. “We need to consistently apply it across residents and the process was not followed in this case.”
Burnett said the city does not want to issue a fine but instead would rather work with Francis.
The concern for Burnett is if the city allows Francis to keep the wildflower, without a permit, the city will have to do the same if anyone else violates the ordinance.
“We want to fairly apply our ordinances so even though she had it in the past, it would still be required this year to be applied for in January. Because next week, there could be another person who says, ‘Well, what about me?’ and if they’re told ‘No,’ then that’s not fairly applying our rules.”
Francis created a Change.org petition hoping to get city leaders to extend the application process for the exemption form among other things:
- Allow residents to renew Wildflower Exemption Permits anytime throughout the year OR at least increase the renewal period to Jan. 1 through March 31.
- Require the City of Galveston to send out electronic or mail renewal notices to permit holders within 30 days of their permit expiration date.
- Amend the language of Sections 302.1: Sanitation and 302.4: Weeds to add “and monitored native wildflowers and grasses” to the phrase below, following “cultivated flowers and gardens”: “Weeds shall be defined as all grasses, annual plants and vegetation, other than trees or shrubs provided; however this term should not include cultivated flowers and gardens.”
- Improve permit filing system to retain accurate records and allow for remote access by city marshals to view current records by address or property owner name.
- Appoint a volunteer “Conservation Commission”, consisting of knowledgeable local residents and organizations, to inform the city of best practices to support native plants, habitats, and wildlife, and increase awareness of wildflower exemption permits and benefits. This will reduce the education and outreach burden on city staff and provide a knowledge base to continue to improve and amend environmental ordinances and programs citywide.
“I just again think that they don’t get the bottom line here,” Francis said. “They don’t understand the importance of this, and why it’s so much better than a cut lawn that might look, I’m not going to say prettier, this is way prettier, but look more normal or more cookie cutter.”