Students looking for off-campus housing in the fall should know who is responsible for lawn maintenance before they sign leases, some city officials say.

Morris McDaniel, director of building and neighborhood services, said students sometimes overlook clauses on lawn maintenance in the leases.

Anyone who rents should read their contract and find out who is responsible for what,” McDaniel said. “Know your obligations.”

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A city ordinance enacted about a decade ago states that property owners must keep their grass less than 6 inches high.

Bill Dixon, the Carbondale weed inspector, measures lawns suspected to be in violation. If lawns are in violation, yellow placards are placed on the lawns notifying the occupants that their lawns should be mowed.

If the lawn still is in violation of the ordinance seven days later, when the weed inspector returns, the city puts in an order to have the lawn mowed. The city charges the owner at least $57.75.

From May 1, 1996 to April 30, 1997, McDaniel said placards were posted in 1,487 lawns in violation of the ordinance.

Ben Evans, an undecided junior from Alton who lives on South Poplar Street, found out about the ordinance two years ago when placards were placed on his lawn. He then realized his lease stated tenants are responsible for lawn maintenance.

“(My landlord) doesn’t even give us a lawn mower, which kind of sucks,” he said.

Jason Hamblin, who lives on South Hays Street, said the city has placed placards on his lawn seven or eight times.

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He and his roommates are responsible for lawn maintenance according to their lease, but Hamblin said his landlord is supposed to provide him with a lawn mower.

“He says that he’ll drop it off and he never does, so we’ve been borrowing our neighbors’,” Hamblin, an SIUC graduate in marketing from Island Lake, said.

McDaniel said the city charges property owners, not tenants, of rented houses. However, he said owners can pass those charges on to their tenants, depending on who is responsible for lawn maintenance in the leases.

Tom Redmond, Carbondale director of development services, said the city tries to make the community aware of the ordinance.

“We have a number of different brochures we try to get into the community,” Redmond said. “And the placard serves as a notice.”