When I was a Captain with a Municipal Police department I was order by the citry council to site a local Businessman under a nusiance ordance because he had a lot on the end of main street that was full of vehicles, debris and weeds the size of trees. I should mention that I've know this man for many years and knew the only real reason the city council was doing this was because he told them to "piss off" several times, including in a few city council meetings when he found out they were discussing him when he wasn't present.
Needless to say I checkied the ordance and inspected his property and he was indeed in violation. However, what I did notice is that there was a mandatory 30 day period for the land owner to get his property up to code. So I met him for coffee and said that I had 2 things for him. The first was a citation for the violation and the second was my help to get things up to snuff. I told him if enough of us worked hard there was no reason we could not meet the deadline. When he asked me why I was offering I told him that's what neighbors do and that I did not care for bullying, especially when I'm ordered to do it. I even got some of the street department guys to swing by with trucks and big mowers and we had it all cleared up in less then 3 weeks.
You can guess that those of us that helped were not really liked by the city council. Instead of threating people or trying to force them, why not walk up and talk to them first. It works and saves alot of hurt feeeling in the end.
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