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July 12, 2010

Village Reaches Out Again...But Not In A Good Way

It hasn't quite even been one year since I last heard from Bartlett officials. As seen in the attached letter, they are once again asserting that I have violated the municipal code and that the plants in the parkway pose some sort of hazard. Of course their actions are backed by anonymous complaints. They are once again insisting that I mow the plants or they will do it and charge me.

After reading section 7-6-1 of the Bartlett municipal code, it is not clear how it applies to the vegetation planted in the parkway. I am not a utility and plants are not utility facilities. On the positive side, I am protecting against environmental damage and decreasing storm water runoff. As the resident closest to the vegetation I can confidently say that it does not pose any hazard to vehicular or pedestrian traffic. I drive and walk through the area on a daily basis without incident.

I also reviewed section 7-2-1 of the Bartlett municipal code. Since I neither planted nor removed any trees or shrubs, it does not seem to apply. I leave the maintenance of the tree in the parkway to the Bartlett arborist team. In fact, just last October they trimmed it back to address visibility issues. This occurred after officials, Paula Schumacher and Keith Johnson from the Village of Bartlett, visited my home to inspect the parkway.

Once again it is surprising that Bartlett chooses to interact with its residents in this manner. It is disappointing that anonymous complaints will drive village officials to get creative with the interpretation of the municipal code. Just because something is unusual does not make it bad. It would seem that in a world where "green" is becoming the way of the future, those officials might be compelled to understand and inform the complainers about the benefits of native plants.

I have sent email to Jim Plonczynski requesting further discussion of this issue. Last year I found that while the village resorts to form letters and threats initially, they can be worked with when they are engaged in a more personal manner. I hope that is the case with Mr. Plonczynski.

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Comments


Paul wrote at 2010-07-13 09:53:

Don - you may want to obfuscate your address in that image.

Benia Zouras wrote at 2010-07-13 10:47:

We share the address of Native Suburbia in our website, so visitors to the site will know where to find us. We welcome visitors to view our gardens if they like.

Don Zouras wrote at 2010-07-13 18:32:

It turns out that Mr. Plonczynski is not one of the more reasonable employees of the Village of Bartlett, as he responded with this: "Mr. Zouras, The parkway will be cut on Thursday. You have until then to remove any plant material that you choose. Jim Plonczynski"

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