Lake Charles has a new policy for notifying property owners of tall grass violations that will shorten the lengthy process: publishing a notice in the American Press.

The city is required by state law to notify violators and give them time to cut their grass before hiring a contractor to do the job — a process which often took months under the old system of sending out registered letters.

Many people, especially out-of-towners, ignored the letters altogether or waited until the last minute to respond, according to city Planning Director Mike Huber. Meanwhile, the tall grass only grew taller.

Residents have complained that overgrown grass blights their neighborhoods and poses a danger to children.   

“This is one of the biggest concerns that we heard from all over district meetings so far consistently across the board,” said Mayor Nic Hunter.

Hunter said the city reviewed state law and found a way to shorten the process by publishing a notice in the local newspaper instead of sending a direct letter. The notice, which will print on a consecutive Sunday and Monday, gives owners 10 days to cut their grass before the city hires a contractor to do the job and places a lien on their taxes.

City Administrator John Cardone said the new system won’t allow for stalling and could shorten the process to a couple of weeks. 

“We think it’s going to save a lot of time in trying to expedite the grass-cutting process because no longer will people be able to play games by not accepting the registered letter,” Cardone said. 

The new notification system will begin this Sunday, Aug. 27, he said. The city will also send a regular letter to homeowners as a courtesy and place all notices on its website. Grass is considered out of compliance when it reaches a foot high. The city initiates about 3,800 grass-cutting contracts per year.

Hunter said the city “shouldn’t have to remind people” that they need to cut their grass when it’s 12 inches tall.

“We’re seeing a lot of the same properties over and over again, and that’s worrisome for us,” Hunter said. “It’s not fair to the other members of the neighborhood who are doing their due diligence.”  

Once the city cuts a yard, Huber said, inspectors will visit the property every 30 days for a year. If the grass is a foot high on any visit, the city can file an affidavit with the Clerk of Courts allowing it to cut the grass immediately, without further notification.

The city began filing affidavits for repeat offenders about two years ago, Huber said, but the price rose Aug. 1 from $42 to $105 per filing, which will be tagged onto the violator’s tax lien.

Huber noted that, more than just the lengthy notification process, the weather has compounded the issue. Excessive rains this year have caused grass to grow quickly, making it difficult for property owners to keep up.

Contractors are also leery to accept grass-cutting jobs when yards are wet because they don’t want to be tasked with fixing ruts afterward, he said. Terry Magnon, permit center manager, said the city has enough contractors to handle the workload; it’s the weather and the rutting that has held work up.

Huber added that the city also inspects work done by contractors and holds them accountable.

“If somebody’s not performing, we’re going to get rid of them and bring in someone else who will,” he said.

Cardone said that he hopes the new notification system will help calm some of the “grass anxiety” among residents this year.

“Several contributing factors have caused excessively tall grass this year, but we do believe that this new process of putting it in the paper is going to expedite it considerably,” Cardone said.