The town of Abilene has instituted a ‘zero tolerance’ crackdown on private property owners whose grass does not meet government-mandated length requirements.
Code enforcers literally drive around with measuring sticks to determine which lawns have been deemed too long by the town. The property owners are then threatened with letters and are ultimately given Class C Misdemeanors if they do not comply.
Property owners might be surprised to discover that they can be turned into criminals just for letting nature take its course on land they rightly own — literally for doing nothing. But with the pervasive erosion of property rights, citizens have become rent-paying caretakers of land that the government ultimately sets rules over.
Citizens who are slapped with a “public nuisance” violation are fined hundreds of dollars and are also billed roughly $150.00 to have contractors trespass on the property and manually make it comply with government standards.
