Fredonia is cracking down on illegal flowers.

“We may get some pushback,” said Charles LaBarbera, the village’s top code enforcer, during a Board of Trustees workshop last week.

“It seems like there’s a lot of residents that like to plant flowers and stuff in the right-of-way. The right of way belongs to the village,” he said. “It belongs to DPW, not the homeowner. Our law says any vegetation (in right-of-ways) has to be under six inches. So we reached out, in a nice letter, and let people know that they’ve got to start pulling back and putting grass back.”

LaBarbera continued, “Down Maple Street, you see all these plants and stuff that are growing. Over in White Street, a lady actually has a fence around her plants and stuff. That’s not their property. If we have to go there and dig it up, now they’re going to be mad because we tore up their plants.

LaBarbera said the initial response to the letters “wasn’t a good scene.” Mayor Michael Ferguson said, “I heard a few things during Attic and Seller Days.”

LaBarbera said, “One of them has plants around the fire hydrant that have grown and covered the fire hydrant. Unbelievable.”

The code enforcer mentioned he is also cracking down on signs placed on telephone poles, and grass clippings blown into the road. Warnings against such activity have been placed on the village website.