Long Grass Frustrates Park Users; Wet Spring to Blame

Residents are getting pretty frustrated with some unmowed, swampy parks and soccer fields, but city officials are asking for patience as crews work to deal with the spring conditions.

A very wet spring coupled with recent summerlike temperatures has resulted in some very tall grass and weeds – in some cases knee- or even waist-high – in the city’s nearly 50 parks and soccer fields.

“The east end of is full of disc golfers and people bringing their kids to the train and the grass is literally waist deep on me in some spots,” Dominique King, a longtime resident whose house backs up to the park, said Sunday. “Friend who came over to visit me had some choice words for it.”

Some soccer coaches have taken matters into their own hands and mowed fields of grass up to 6 inches tall so their teams can play their games.

“There has been too much rain,” explained Greg Rassel, director of Royal Oak’s . “The ground is too soft to get our mowers into the parks to cut the grass. We have had to have some of our equipment pulled out of the parks after getting stuck.

“We barely have enough manpower to cut the parks currently and we have nowhere near enough manpower to do anything with push mowers in the parks.”

Rassel said his department is trying to catch up on the grass cutting, concentrating on large open areas such as the ball diamonds and soccer fields.

“We are not completely caught up,” he said late last week. “The grass is growing very quickly after we cut it. I believe it will take us two mowing cycles to get caught up before the grass slows down.”

Nick Lamilza trudged through the wet, tall grass at Starr-Jaycee one recent morning, working in nine holes of disc golf before heading to work.

“Yeah it’s a little tougher … but if you like playing you come out and play and you get a little wet,” the St. Clair Shores resident said. “It’s definitely soggy.”

It makes playing more challenging, too, he said.

“It’s a little bit more difficult to find your disc if the grass is taller,” he said as he tossed a disc. “I can see why they haven’t cut, though. It is swampy out here every where.”

In addition to parks and soccer fields, overgrown vacant lots and unoccupied homes’ yards dot the city, looking more like meadows than suburban property. At the southwest corner of Crooks and Normandy, for example, the grass and weeds at a home and adjacent empty field are taller than a small child.

The Public Services department is not responsible for mowing tall grass and weeds on private property, but the city has the power to ticket and/or clear the property at the owner’s expense.

The city ordinances state:

Within the City of Royal Oak, it shall be the duty of all owners of land to see that no scrub brush, scrub trees or long rank grass grows more than twelve (12) inches in height. Failure of the owner to maintain their yard will result in the issuance of Civil Infraction tickets. The City may also enter upon said land where tall grass or weeds are found and destroy by cutting all growth over twelve (12) inches in height. The cost incurred will be billed to the owner of the property. (Ordinance 62-13 Section 4.1)

It shall be the duty of all owners of land on which noxious weeds are found growing to destroy the same before they reach a seed-bearing stage and to prevent such weeds from perpetuating themselves or to prevent such weeds becoming a detriment to public health. (Ordinance 62-13 Section 4.1)

Call code enforcement at 248-246-3300 to register a complaint about long grass on private property.