Dupage Policy Journal

The Village of Roselle recently debated how to best handle the spring sustainability action of No Mow May.

At their April 24 Village board meeting, Roselle officials were presented with an item that came from Green Roselle, a nonprofit environmental organization that has stepped in to assist their village with the responsibilities that come with their dedication and commitment to the Greenest Region Compact back in November of 2022.

No Mow May is an initiative in which residents do not mow or cut their lawns until after the month of May. The purpose is to allow early season pollinators easy and consistent access from local wildflowers; protect soil health while also naturally resisting weed growth by limiting sunlight access to the soil; and reduce carbon emissions by skipping the lawn mower, which is approximately equal to a 93-mile car trip.

"I might assume that we might have people calling and wondering, why is my neighbor's lawn like this?" Village clerk Amanda Hausman said in the meeting. "But we plan to have yard signs, cute yard signs that say, 'I'm participating in Green Roselle's No Mow May campaign.' We can co-market that with the Village and put a nice logo on here. And that will explain to passersby with a QR code as well what what we're trying to achieve here, and that's to protect local pollinators, to have a healthy ecosystem, to protect our food supply and all of the other great benefits of caring for our planet and pollinators."

The proposal was that the Village suspend its code ordinance that regulates the height and length of grass and lawns in the village. It also encourages residents to use an online portal with the Village to register their participation, which will help the Village gauge how popular and utilized the initiative is and also report their sustainability numbers to other organizations. Residents are encouraged to partially participate if they feel more comfortable with that, mowing less often, mowing only portions of their lawn, or high-step mowing.

The Village board debated the item. All were generally in favor of the effort, but some had varying concerns such as the population of rabbits in some neighborhoods, mosquitos, legal obligations with tenants or landlords, and the necessity of suspending their ordinance. The grass cut ordinance can issue fines for grass length above 8 inches.

“I'd be somewhat reluctant to change the ordinance, but I would defer to the board if they choose to want to do that," Trustee Wayne Domke said in the meeting.

Others asserted that the plan was not mandatory.

“If it's not right for your tenants, for the lease that you have, for your home, for your situation, we are not going to push anyone to do this.” Hausman said.

After much debate of whether or not to suspend the ordinance or just be lenient or understanding with violations that might or might not arise, the Village decided that they would leave the ordinance. They would be issuing only warnings first, and the board directed staff to move forward with the slightly amended low/slow mow direction.