A place to discuss all the news and events taking place in the province of Ontario, Canada.
Rules
I mean I dont understand why they keep doing this. This is the third or fourth city I've seen get into it.
For those who dont read the article, there was JUST a court case in the last few months where Mississauga lost over this exact issue.
I dont see this precedence being upended UNLESS they can prove this poses a danger to residents (think poison sumac, etc). Otherwise its a waste of taxpayer money and time for a non-issue.
It's a hard situation because pollinator gardens can attract mice, and they sometimes play hell with people's allergies. On the other hand, it's her property - it's not like she's growing crack in that garden. They should leave her be.
I figured mice would prefer long grass coverings and maybe less likely to try to get inside your how in the winter if you have a mowed lawn
Its probably more likely. The overgrown lawn could support a higher mouse population and more mice will be seeking the warmth when winter comes.
Which should also attract snakes. Which is what I experienced when our house was next to a vacant lot that was let to grow and reseeded itself naturally for 5 years. We never had a mouse problem, but lots of snakes in the area ( harmless kinds like Garter, Fox and Brown snakes), especially when you'd mow your lawn they'd be appearing and slithering off.
What’s the point of owning property if you can’t even do what you want with it?
This is a ridiculously overstated argument. So you don't mind if your next door neighbour makes money by burying toxic waste in his back yard. Living in a city means you exchange some of your autonomy over your property for essential city services.
Obviously there are limits, like if you're actively harming people such as in the example you gave. But so long as you aren’t harming anyone I don’t see why you shouldn’t be able to do what you like with the land you own (such as, for example, letting the plants grow freely).
Well, that's a different argument.
My personal experience tells me that "not harming anyone" is far more complex and difficult than people naively expect, and an argument that this isn't harming anyone needs to be supported. It's not the kind of thing that you can just count on your common sense for.
There's also differences of values. What you consider harm and what someone else considers harm are not the same thing. My values say that not only is biodiversity more important than looking good, but even that wild looks better than manicured. But I probably wasn't in the group that set the community values.
Someone might want to let their garden grow to promote bee health. A neighbor might have a child who is extremely allergic to bees. That neighbor would see an overgrown lawn as a threat to their child and reducing the overall safety of their neighborhood.
i had to go to court because i put two bags of leaves on the boulavard on the wrong week. yep . justice
Smooth criminal.
Highlighting that there is a link to a fund raising page in the article. The funds go to supporting the legal defence against the city. They are a charitable organization and if Canadian you receive a charitable donation receipt which can be used as a tax deduction.
You should do your own research before trusting this link. Check the article etc.
https://smallchangefund.ca/campaign/protecting-naturalized-gardens/