Lawn arm of the law gives $140 haircut

Rain barrels and permeable brick landscape pavers are just some of the features that mark Michael Anschel's north Minneapolis home as environmentally gentle.

But the other key identifier -- a tide of tall prairie grass surrounding the corner home -- is gone now, mowed down Tuesday by order of the city of Minneapolis.

He also got a $140 bill for the trim job.

"I can't believe they didn't know this was prairie grass," said Marva Marcano, a neighbor walking by Anschel's home Thursday, carrying farmers market produce in a reusable bag. "They're picking on the wrong issue."

In a city that brags of green roofs on City Hall and Target Center as symbols of its environmental commitment, Anschel would seem a model citizen. He's a principal in a firm that promotes "green building and remodeling for urban living" and helped write standards for a state residential green certification program. His and his wife's remodeled and expanded home has been featured on urban home tours.

Then several weeks ago, the grass he planted three years ago began to send up seed stalks. City inspectors notified him by letter May 17 that both the seed heads and their height -- more than 8 inches -- violated a city ordinance. Anschel said he left a message with inspectors and thought he had some time, but he came home from work Tuesday to find that the main part of his yard had been mowed.

"It would kind of be as if somebody came and cut down your rose bushes after you'd spent the last three years trying to get them to bloom right," said Anschel.

He said he'd like an apology from the city, but that seems unlikely.

City spokesman Matt Laible said there was no record of Anschel contacting the city until after Tuesday's mowing. While the city encourages native plantings and sensitive landscapes, Laible said property owners should have signs on them, telling neighbors and city officials that the lawns are deliberately long or wild-looking.

Anschel said he'd never been given notice he needed a sign. Regulatory Services Department officials could not be reached to indicate whether that's a requirement.

Anschel said there was an "obvious difference" between his yard and "the standard out-of-control yard." The basic grass, sheep fescue, is long and flows across the ground. The ornamentals in a mowed strip along the edge -- spared by the city's crew -- indicate planning and not neglect, he said.

He now has to reseed newly exposed patches of dirt, and water. "I have to pay $140 for the mowing, and now I have all this work to do," he said.