To the editor:

In 2006, my honey and I decided to wed on our backyard dock. The lot next door had not been cut in over a year. It was waist to head high. It had changed owners and we had no idea how to find the new folks.

A friend, whose husband was a mowing contractor, gave us a telephone number to call. Her philosophy was someone should be cutting it, hopefully her husband. If you can’t find a responsible person, call the county. My honey called and called, starting in July, after about 20 calls, twice being told the lot had been cut, and three-four letters, two days before our wedding in November, the lot was cut.

After that, I had a friend wack it once with his tractor, then, I cut about half of it with my push mower. I cut some trails to make it like a park, which we enjoyed, seeing lots of birds and critters, with a nice wide, mowed buffer next to our yard.

In the summer of 2009, an orange notice on a tree appeared in the vacant lot. “Mowing violation, D. Crabtree.” The county tries to sell you the story that code enforcement on Pine Island is complaint driven. It seemed odd that someone would complain, since we are the only ones around here in the summer. Some men came and cut the lot. Two months later, I saw Mr. Crabtree in his truck writing another citation. I asked him about it and he said he thought we had complained. After he left, I realized we had, but that was in 2006! When the gentlemen returned to cut it, I told them my story to relate to the owner and that it would have to be cut now and forever, because Mr. Crabtree will just keep coming back.

We enjoyed our “park”, with its birds, squirrels, rabbits and occasional raccoon or opossum and a big black snake. After it was cut, the snake disappeared and within a short time, the rats returned.

We have T-shirts from two years agon, that sum it up. “Save Pine Island – No Code Enforcement.” My lesson learned, is that a complaint is forever, think about that before you call.

Andy Sherwood

St. James City