Mowing Rules

It varies a bit from city to city, but if you aren't able to keep up, it could cost you. From the News-Gazette on Sunday:

Are local municipalities' grass-height codes really cut and dry?
...
Both Champaign and Urbana require homeowners to keep their grass height to 8 inches. That includes grass on the parkway — the area between the sidewalk and the street that is technically public property but the homeowner's legal responsibility to mow.

"We always encourage people to have a managed landscape plan, which can be as simple as keeping the grass cut on a 10-day cycle," said David Oliver, Champaign's code-compliance manager...

There are also rules for what can be planted — or allowed to grow — on parkways. Flowers and shrubs on parkways, for example, aren't allowed to grow taller than 24 inches in Champaign, though shrub blooms can reach 36 inches in blooming seasons.

When Champaign sends a warning letter about overgrown grass or weeds, the property owners have 10 days to take care of it, Oliver said. If the owners take care of the problem within the 10 days, then it's case closed.

Homeowners who simply can't get their grass cut within 10 days can ask for extensions and often get them, Oliver said.

Urbana gives property owners seven days to respond to warning letters before it sends out contractors to do the mowing and bills the homeowners, according to Jason Arrasmith, Urbana's environmental compliance officer."

Full article here. More information from the City of Champaign nuisance code here. The relevant Urbana City Code is here and here.