There is a lot of support on Belleville council for allowing so-called naturalized lawns on residential properties but council has sent proposed by-law amendments back to committee for some “fine-tuning.”
Most on council agreed with Councillor Paul Carr who had concerns with buffer zones around naturalized lawns and wanted more precise detail on which plants were acceptable for planting and which were not.
“For those who maybe don’t understand or draw the assumption that lawns will suddenly just be left to grow weeds and whatnot, that’s not the case, so a public education piece as well.”
There were also concerns about how and who would be enforcing the new naturalized lawn regulations.
Under the proposed by-law amendments native plants and grasses will be promoted while noxious weeds will not be allowed. The proposed buffer zones are now 4.5 metres at the front of the property and one metre along the sides and rear.
The Green Task Force will come back with further revisions to the by-law at a future date.
