On Aug. 12, Colorado Springs resident Nico (last name withheld for privacy) vented in a Facebook post about how code enforcement for the City of Colorado Springs had told him to tear out a garden he’d worked hard to cultivate over the summer due to a neighbor’s complaint.
He planted the garden in the strip of land between the sidewalk and the road in front of his house on the west side of Colorado Springs. These narrow swatches of land are often neglected and weed-filled, serving mainly as a pit stop for local dogs and collection point for wayward bits of trash – and for this reason are sometimes referred to as “hellstrips.”
“Just learned I have to rip out my entire hellstrip garden of nanking cherry bushes, russian sage, sunflowers, echinacea, irises, and roses due to a persistent narc who took issue with my yard and reported it every time the ‘weeds’ got too long for their liking, despite my upkeep on that space this summer,” he wrote.
“So my hellstrip, which was a haven for the biggest of bumblebees, is going to just be a patch of grass like every other one on the block,” Nico wrote, noting he had just run irrigation to that area – a difficult project involving running tubing under the sidewalk. “Now it’s all for nothing.”
Nico said he asked code enforcement if it was ultimately better for residents to not put in effort to their hellstrips since “they might have to tear it all out if a random neighbor complains.”
He said the code enforcer affirmed it was not worth the effort, since homeowners are required to maintain hellstrips but it is the City that owns it.
Nico mourned the impending loss of the garden. He planned to transplant the thriving vegetation to his yard but worried would not survive the move.
“I put a lot of work into that space, this summer especially, as I wanted to bring a little beauty to my street that my neighbors could enjoy while providing for the pollinators. And to be fair – a lot of neighbors have been super nice about it. Shout out to all the folks who offered kind words about that space when they’d see me working on it,” he wrote.
The Pikes Peak Bulletin (specifically, this reporter) read the Facebook post and asked Nico to provide the section of code the code enforcement officer cited in determining the garden had to go. Nico obtained that code: Colorado Springs Code of Ordinances Section 9.6.304 titled Traffic/Pedestrian Hazards.
The code states, “The growth of weeds or the accumulation of cuttings, mowings or other debris, or nonremoval of weeds, cuttings, mowings or other debris from any property adjoining a public right of way in which the growth or accumulation extends beyond the edge of the street or street curb into the property, regardless of the presence of sidewalks, and which interferes with the movement of pedestrians is hereby declared to be a traffic and pedestrian hazard. Weeds must be cut and removed from the property to a distance at least nine feet (9′) back from the edge of the street or street curb.”
The Pikes Peak Bulletin reached out to Stephen Heltzer, the code enforcement officer overseeing this case, to explain how this section of code – which deals with weeds and the movement of pedestrians – indicated Nico’s garden had to be removed.
Heltzer did not return multiple phone calls from the Bulletin, but Nico said he did stop by Nico’s home and told him the case was being dropped at Heltzer’s discretion.
Nico said he had already moved a few plants, and was grateful his other plants could stay, but said “systemic issues remain around individual’s subjective complaints having so much sway over whether certain codes are enforced.”
“I can see how certain codes might make sense for ensuring that sidewalks remain accessible, especially to those who use wheelchairs and mobility aids, or ensuring that plants don’t cause visibility issues around corners for vehiciles – but the fact that some things that really don’t make sense can be enforced does give me pause, such as there being issues with the existence of plants over 9 inches within a strip of land that would otherwise go unused. Apparently, there is an allowance for plants if they are being cultivated, though?”
He concluded, “While I am relieved that the plants that are still there can stay there, I also have to make some decisions around whether I do want to try and plant new things in that space to fill in the gaps left by what was removed, though I do feel a bit hesitant given what a headache this whole situation is. I am not sure yet.”
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