Good evening honorable Mayor and Commissioners. I write regarding code enforcement being used as a weapon. There is a group of retired ladies that are going around and making code complaints about people who have astro turf or rocks or other water preservation landscaping. These ladies, one who is on the CRA, are trespassing on people's property or using drones because they are reporting properties that have turf in private back yards (which was previously permitted). You can debate whether astro turf or grass is worse or better for the environment, but our code is not clear at all and doesn't even mention astro turf. It is crazy that the city is coding well kept homes whose owners spent thousands of dollars on turf while ignoring life safety slum lord homes (sometimes right next door).

Also, while the landscaping code calls for “living ground cover” it doesn’t explicitly prohibit artificial turf. Moreover, the code, which seemed to have been written by the same retired ladies who are now using code as a weapon, discriminates against families with children. The idea that families with small children are not allowed to have play areas on their private property is absurd. Living ground cover which turns into a jungle is an absurd suggestion to familes with small children who want their child to have a safe play area.