An online survey has been launched by Chatham-Kent to seek input on modifying the long grass and weeds bylaw to allow environmental naturalization activities on private lands.
Municipal officials say in the fall of 2020, Council approved a motion asking for recommendations for altering Chatham-Kent’s long grass and weeds by-law to allow appropriate environmental naturalization activities on private lands.
Chatham-Kent’s existing long grass and weed bylaw (Bylaw # 56-2020) was introduced to: implement a minimum outdoor landscaping maintenance standard that prohibits overgrown grasses and weeds on private properties, to maintain community aesthetics and prevent unmanaged, unmaintained and abandoned yards in our community, Municipal officials say.
However, the motion also recognizes that the existing bylaw does not allow environmental naturalization activities on private lands, which is defined as activities that return a portion of a private yard to a ‘natural state’ using combinations of plants that are native to Chatham-Kent’s Carolinian eco-region.
Such activities can provide a number of desirable environmental benefits for the community such as habitat for native plants and pollinators, Municipal officials say.
In order to inform recommendations on altering the existing bylaw, the municipality has launched a five-question survey on www.Letstalkchatham-kent.ca Chatham-Kent’s online engagement platform to obtain the community’s input on:
– The level of support in the community for allowing naturalization on private properties in general
– The level of support for allowing naturalization activities in urban residential areas, rural residential areas, and agricultural areas
– The way that the bylaw should be amended
The online engagement platform can be accessed at https://www.letstalkchatham-kent.ca/modifying-long-grass-and-weeds-by-law and will be live until Sunday, March 21 2021.
