Declare Yard A Nature Preserve: Elmhurst Man

ELMHURST, IL – An Elmhurst man who said he has been fined for weeds on his property asked the city on Tuesday to declare his yard a nature preserve.

At a City Council meeting, Jim Hodapp, who lives on Stuart Court, suggested the city either grandfather in his yard or designate it a nature preserve.

"The prairie is gone," Hodapp said. "We have destroyed 99.9 percent of our ecosystem, and you have the weed codes. Prairie is illegal in Elmhurst. I know, I've been fined $200 for letting natural prairie plants grow."

These are the plants that bees depend on, he said.

"The bee population is collapsing," Hodapp said. "If the bees die, we die."

He said he disagreed with some residents' mindset.

"I understand that some people think that a lawn that is chemically sprayed with no wildflowers and nothing on it is beautiful," Hodapp said. "It's a biological dead zone."

He asked the city to buy his land and let him live on it and manage it.

"I will teach people how to restore the ecosystem of our state, which is on the verge of collapse," he said.

"Message received," Mayor Scott Levin said.