NIXA, Mo. — The Nixa City Council on Tuesday approved an amendment to city code that will require property owners or tenants to request an administrative hearing for tall-grass nuisance citations before the city must hold one.

City Attorney Nick Woodman, presenting the ordinance on second reading, said the code change adds a waiver option so the city is not required to hold administrative hearings for vegetation-based nuisance cases unless the affected property owner or tenant asks for one. “All this does is, on the vegetation matter, make that to where the property owner has to request it in order for us to have to have a hearing,” Woodman said.

During public comment, a resident raised concerns about unintended consequences if the city begins abatement and a third party later provides a remedy (for example, a neighbor mowing the yard), suggesting that the abatement process could become difficult to unwind and might create a pathway for revenue-driven enforcement. The resident urged caution and said hearings serve as a formal legal step clarifying the city’s position. Council members and staff responded that the abatement process can be stopped at any point and that the city’s cost recovery for abatement “just defrays the cost to the taxpayer,” not to generate profit.

Woodman told the council that under current practice the city has held hearings even when owners did not attend; he said last year the city had no attendance from property owners or tenants at vegetation abatement hearings. The ordinance preserves the property owner’s due-process right to request a hearing but places the burden to request it on the owner or tenant.

Council members discussed exceptions for undeveloped property and said separate standards apply to lots held for future subdivision or construction; staff said they work with owners to set maintenance schedules for such parcels. The ordinance passed on a roll-call vote during the meeting.