Residents Say Letter From City Pitting Neighbors Against Neighbors

UPDATED NOV. 30

A letter being sent to residents advising them of leaves on the street in front of their homes—and not on the tree lawn as required—has some residents claiming the is turning neighbors against each other.

Since the beginning of fall, the city has been asking residents to abide by the city law and keep raked leaves out of the streets and on tree lawns. Last week, the city notifying them of infractions. Residents who do not comply could ultimately receive a $200 fine.

One resident, who asked not to be identified, said the letter sounds as though residents are turning each other in, but an engineering department employee said complaints might be generated by city hall and not necessarily neighbors.

"The has received complaints of leaves and grass clippings being raked into the roadway in front of your residence,” the letter reads. “These leaves create a safety hazard to pedestrians, cyclists and motorists….Leaves are considered an illicit discharge per the current NPDES guideline in the City Codified Ordinances…”

Earlier this month, Reitz said with some of the publicity the issue has received, the city has had neighbors calling in offending neighbors. The city began sending out letters last week. One Patch reader, who asked not to be identified, said numerous neighbors were upset with the letter, which sounded as though neighbors were turning in each other.

“First, I agree with 97 percent of the letter,” one homeowner, who received a letter, said. “Leaves should not be in the street. But I have a real problem with the first sentence.”

The reader noted every house on the street received the same letter as did every resident on another street.

“In addition, we learned (a relative) of one of my neighbors lives on a small cul-de-sac with nine houses in which all of them got the same letter. So who complained?” the resident asked. “This letter implies a fellow neighbor has complained. This results in suspicion and can result in arguments between neighbors. This has occurred.”

Engineering Department Colleen Spring said that the letter does not necessarily mean a neighbor complained.

“The complaint could be generated by the city,” she said.

Spring said that the city used one form letter, whether or not the complaint came from a neighbor or from a city worker making the rounds through the city who noted the infraction.

“It didn’t necessarily have to be a neighbor complaining,” Spring said.

A second resident, who also asked not to be identified, said he chuckled at the letter "but others did not and chose to point fingers at each other."

"The result was a heated and public front-lawn argument between two of our neighbors," the resident said. "The letter was the proverbial straw. As a direct result of the letter, we now have a less congenial neighborhood and I have to tiptoe around the subject with both neighbors to avoid taking sides. For the city to say the complaint could have originated from themselves is a cop-out. The letter's author chose to deflect any bad feelings for enforcing a long standing rule onto the backs of complaining citizens."

The resident said the clear message was, "We have to enforce this because people are complaining"

"I do not question the fact that complaints happen, but I believe the unique and overiding feature which prompted the letter this year, as opposed to other years, was the record rainfall and flooding. Stating that hard fact would have been a lot easier for residents to accept, and less damaging to relationships. When a letter goes out to the residents, doesn't somone up the chain-of-command first review it?"