It's back to the drawing board for grass statute
By BENJAMIN C. SHARP bensharp@journal-spectator.com

The city of Wharton will hold off yet again on a proposed ordinance making it illegal to blow grass clippings into the street.

The council on Monday was expected to take action on the ordinance, but instead opted to wait until the next meeting as advised by City Attorney Paul Webb.

Webb said he wants to discuss the ordinance further with the city council Finance Committee, which last month recommended council approve the proposed changes.

"I want to try and approach it a little different way," Webb said.

The council initially considered the proposal Nov. 26. But several citizens questioned its purpose, saying it would impose unnecessary restriction on area residents.

"I think this is overly burdensome and punitive and I hope you will reconsider," Wharton resident Debra Medina had told the council.

Councilman Domingo Montalvo Jr. agreed. He labeled the ordinance a "silent tax" and said it was a gross overreaction.

The statute, which would amend Chapter 34 of the city's code of ordinances, would make it "unlawful for any person to discard leaves, grass, weeds or other vegetable matter by blowing or sweeping or otherwise depositing said items into a street, gutter or into a drainage ditch of the city."

Violation of the ordinance would be a misdemeanor, with a fine of up to $2,000.

"This thing is very severe in my opinion and the interpretation of it is very broad.

"I think that we really need to look at this," Montalvo said earlier.

He was absent from Monday's meeting. The intent of the ordinance, though, is to beautify the city and to prevent the blockage of storm drains, City Building Official Ronnie Bollom has maintained.

Grass clippings have been pushed into the storm sewers via leaf blowers several times in the past, leading to drainage problems, he said.

Webb, though, said that the ordinance needs to be "thoroughly reviewed."

"I would like to meet with you and the (Finance) committee to discuss all of the issues which have been raised as concerns to the Council and citizens," he wrote in a letter to City Manager Andres Garza Jr.