Surprise, city code violations (sale, foreclosed, HOA)

[pandaundercover]

Ok, so we just moved into our new house in mid feb. Then by April, we had already received code enforcement violations from nosy neighbors. Basically, the backyard had no weeds when we moved in, and they didn't sprout up on every inch of the backyard til mid March. And we got ratted out on for not pulling them within the first 2 weeks of their blooming. Frankly, we didn't KNOW anything in our backyard would be a problem with a neighborhood... after all, it's OUR backyard and we should've been able to pull them when we wanted to. Anyway, we had some issues with the code enforcement inspector not keeping his word and now we're being forced to go to court and pay a $100 fine, even though the backyard was cleaned up before we got this court notice. And to top that off, they have sent us FOUR of the same violation notice in one week... what kind of excuse do they have for this? Has anyone else dealt with this in Surprise or nearby cities? Is there a way for us to get out of this court crap and settle the problem more peacefully? This is so unfortunate... we thought Surprise was a nice city til we actually moved here... and now we are realizing why no one is buying houses out here. The city laws on top of HoA, leave no room for privacy and rights for homeowners.

[khuntrevor]

green pools can be a violation in many areas. 7 bucks for a gallon of Spectracide--starts working in 4 hours. That being said, you should have been given a warning.

Lots of mixed signals coming from Surprise.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by pandaundercover

Ok, so we just moved into our new house in mid feb. Then by April, we had already received code enforcement violations from nosy neighbors. Basically, the backyard had no weeds when we moved in, and they didn't sprout up on every inch of the backyard til mid March. And we got ratted out on for not pulling them within the first 2 weeks of their blooming. Frankly, we didn't KNOW anything in our backyard would be a problem with a neighborhood... after all, it's OUR backyard and we should've been able to pull them when we wanted to. Anyway, we had some issues with the code enforcement inspector not keeping his word and now we're being forced to go to court and pay a $100 fine, even though the backyard was cleaned up before we got this court notice. And to top that off, they have sent us FOUR of the same violation notice in one week... what kind of excuse do they have for this? Has anyone else dealt with this in Surprise or nearby cities? Is there a way for us to get out of this court crap and settle the problem more peacefully? This is so unfortunate... we thought Surprise was a nice city til we actually moved here... and now we are realizing why no one is buying houses out here. The city laws on top of HoA, leave no room for privacy and rights for homeowners.

It sounds like your backyard turned into a jungle because you mentioned that the weeds were "sprouting up in every inch".

If you have thousands of weeds in your backyard, it turns into a dandelion field with seeds blowing into everyone else's yard. Additionally, weeds with long roots grow under fences. Never mind it is an eyesore for nearby homes with 2 story floor plans. If I was your next door neighbor, I'd be upset too. Would I have called? I'd certainly would have been uncomfortable education a new neighbor on common sense and basic courtesy. Just as it is common sense not to rev your loud motorcycles up and down the block (I'm dealing with that at my MN home), it should be common sense to keep up with your weeds and not let them grow "every inch". It doesn't have to be perfect but you have an obligation to keep your yard looking at least "o.k." So to answer my earlier question, I probably would have called the city. If you got 4 citations, maybe 4 people called on you.

When you buy a home, you have a level of responsibility to keep up your yard to a certain basic level. I do feel for you because I have been battling with weeds in my Surprise back yard as well after buying a foreclosed home. To take care of it, you need to apply a pre emergent like "Preen". The Home Depot has another brand that works as well but doesn't cost as much. But Preen brand is $19.99 on sale and stops ALL germination of seeds for 4 months. If you don't put down a pre emergent, you have a full time weed picking job. Once weeds bloom, you need to pick them and spray a weed killer like Ortho. Go buy the concentrate refill bottle because you are going to need it. Those weeds will bloom and bloom even after you knock them down round one and round two. I've finally "winning" after 3 months of non-stop weekly effort. Every week, 200 more pop-up from root systems that were not dead before but the weekly numbers are dropping. That is the kind of effort it is going to take to get it under control.

You probably noticed that the city of Surprise prides themselves on having well groomed lawns and parks. I moved into Surprise because I like that kind of mindset. Saying all of this, Surprise has better things to do than send out 4 notices in one week. Unless there was a glitch in the system, I'd be shocked if that could ever happen. But I agree. You should have been given a warning. Maybe you were warned? No???

[MotleyCrew]

Some HOA's enforce the rules more strictly than others. Our next door neighbor has never plucked a weed or planted a tree in 6 years. I look at it like it is his jungle, not mine and I don't care what he looks out his window at. The rules here were that within 90 days you should have a landscape plan submitted to the office and blessed then landscape your backyard,,,,or else. The other rule of thumb is if someone in a two story can see your weed jungle or if you have a view fence then you have to landscape asap. Yeah right. Just depends on who you get as a nosey neighbor and how much enforcement takes place in your community.

[AZ bound]

To take care of it, you need to apply a pre emergent like "Preen". The Home Depot has another brand that works as well but doesn't cost as much. But Preen brand is $19.99 on sale and stops ALL germination of seeds for 4 months.

Casoron is king!

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by MotleyCrew

Some HOA's enforce the rules more strictly than others. Our next door neighbor has never plucked a weed or planted a tree in 6 years. I look at it like it is his jungle, not mine and I don't care what he looks out his window at. The rules here were that within 90 days you should have a landscape plan submitted to the office and blessed then landscape your backyard,,,,or else. The other rule of thumb is if someone in a two story can see your weed jungle or if you have a view fence then you have to landscape asap. Yeah right. Just depends on who you get as a nosey neighbor and how much enforcement takes place in your community.

I would not call it "nosy" for a neighbor to want someone to keep on on the yard to a certain level. Thousands of weeds growing up in the backyard isn't acceptable IMHO. That's why people need babysitters (a.k.a. HOA's). I get the fact that not everyone wants a manicured landscape. But most people don't appreciate a jungle out back. That is why the rules were written: some people are not on the same page. While it is the OP's yard, they should have moved to an area that didn't mind people with non-maintained yards. I prefer detailed neighbors. Maybe Surprise is not fo the OP.

If a person lets their yard go, realize that many people think that they are a slob but they just don't say a thing. I go out of my way to make sure my place looks exceptional and most neighbors appreciate that approach.

[rational1]

> To take care of it, you need to apply a pre emergent like "Preen".

This stuff really works.

> Casoron is king!

and there may be other products that work as well.

[pandaundercover]

Thanks for the weed input to control germination. We'll totally be investing in that stuff.

I was saying that the weeds basically sprouted over the course of like ONE week in the ENTIRE backyard. We were planning to take our precious time to pull and maintain the yard since it was so sudden, but then we got a warning just 2 weeks later. But ya, we did get a warning, and we contacted the city about it and the official said he would call us and make an appt to see improvements in maintenance then cancel the violation. But the official never bothered to make an appt and see the improvements, so instead he looked over our gate at 1/5th the backyard (where there were still weeds, of course, because we were pulling them on the other side first) and then we just got the violation to go to court over it another 2 wks later. It was just a shock because the official didn't even bother to do what he said he would do to cut us some slack. It took us an entire month to pull all these weeds. And now we've got 20 bags of weeds and still figuring out to dispose of them... haha. But before we even figure it out, we'll probably get a violation for "Trash" in our backyard.

I suppose on some level it would be easier to hire landscapers to totally dig deep and get all the roots out... and replant some grass for us, which I'd rather do myself and save a few thousand bucks, but I feel like I need some serious lawn advice to succeed at it. But not everyone can afford thousands of dollars and hours of their day to manage something in a hurry because of complaining neighbors. Our neighbors have a well landscaped backyard with trees bordering our entire wall... our weeds shouldn't even BOTHER them, but I have noticed they seem to be spying out their windows in our windows and backyard a lot.

Wanted to note that this is a city violation, but a HoA problem. I don't think HoA gives a crap about our backyard, but they pay landscapers to take care of the front lawn and stuff. Anyway, we'll get over this drama.

Side note, does anyone know an affordable pigeon pest control company out in this area? We ideally want to spent less than $200... closer to $100 if possible. Burns Pest Control estimated us at $250-330 which is too high for us. We'd handle it ourselves, except we have a 2 story house and am certainly not climbing on a 20 foot ladder.

[jdahunt]

Hearing that Surprise is very active in enforcing codes is a big postitive for me, it keeps those that don't care in line so that the rest of us don't have to look at a mess everyday.

[S. Chris Webb]

Surprise is strict on code enforcement, but that is also what makes it a well-run, clean, safe city.