City Council pulls weed ordinance, sends it back to codes and ordinances board

City Councilor David Walker, right, speaks out against the weed ordinance at Tuesday night's City Council meeting as codes committee char Alexander De Geofroy, middle, looks on (City of Rochester screenshot)

ROCHESTER - The city's director of Building and Licenses saw his lawn length ordinance get pulled like a noxious weed on Tuesday with the City Council voting unanimously to send it back to the codes and ordinance committee for further review.

Director Jim Grant had argued in his proposal that weeds attracted rodents who are a significant health hazard, but even codes chair Alexander De Geofroy, who pushed the ordinance forward to the City Council, said Tuesday night he wasn't sure whether rodents were so attracted to weeds as to present a significant danger to the public.

City Councilor and codes board member David Waller. who first threw cold water on the proposal at last month's codes meeting, said the weed ordinance, which would lock in a 10-inch lawn length limit, would pit neighbor against neighbor and be a detriment to the city.

Councilor Bryan Karolian was also against the ordinance saying it was an exercise in big government and could crescendo into disaster, while councilor Tim Fontneau, noted it's just not enough of an issue at this.time.

After councilors widely agreed the ordinance was not ready for prime time, they unanimously voted no and sent it back to codes.

In other City Council news, the public safety committee urged the addition of flashing beacons and speed trailers on Chestnut Hill Road in the area of the Roger Allen Park baseball complex.

Public safety chair Fontneau said speed trailers have indicated that drivers barrel through the area over 50 mph on average, and that the traffic is getting heavier due to motorists trying to avoid Route 11.

"That will get worse next year with the widening of Route 11," he said, "And with the ballfields being active in the summer it's a good time to do this."

In a bizarre twist, Fontneau added that some drivers compete to see who can get a higher speed notice from the speed trailers. He noted that if anyone goes over 10 or 15 mph over, the speed trailers don't register.

The vote to implement the beacons and speed trailers also passed unanimously.

Mayor Paul Callaghan also took time out to defend the city's new property assessments, which some say have left mobile home owners seeing a much larger hike in their property tax burden than those with single family homes.

Callaghan said the city has increased the property tax exemption for elderly and disabled residents and declared that the property tax for mobile homes is much higher in other New Hampshire cities like Dover, Somersworth and Concord.

City Council also voted to send the RV ordinance that would specify who could live in RVs parked on private property to the Planning Board, since they are the governing board for zoning issues in the city.