We get it. Life gets busy. There are countless things that are happening in everyday life that just keep piling on top of one another.

A few weeks go by, and the lawn which you had planned to mow has now got to be an unruly jungle. Especially with all of the rain we’ve been getting this summer. After all, it takes rain, sunlight and time for things to grow.

But we also get if you are a property owner, there are certain expectations that the cities and communities have that need to be followed for public safety.

One of them is the length of grass on a property. In Mount Vernon the past few years, there has been some leniency on enforcement of that ordinance for those who are participating in efforts like No Mow May to help the pollinators, part of the city’s sustainability efforts and supporting the Bee City designation that Mount Vernon has. But after that month has allotted, it is the responsibility of homeowners to make sure their lawns are properly mowed.

For both cities, enforcing nuisances is not what they want to be spending time doing. It’s time consuming, and as Siggins indicated, some of the nuisances are repeat offenders. With lawns, reminding citizens every couple of weeks for the same issue does take time, especially if there are multiple chances to avoid having city crews avoid the lawn mowing.

Again, we get this spring and summer have seen more rain than the past five years have seen, which contributes to the growing grass. But it is property owner’s responsibility to take care of nuisances when they are pointed out or pay the penalties, infractions and work needed to abate the nuisance.