It’s illegal to blow your mowed grass and leaves into your street

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Yardwork can be year-round work for Floridians but cutting corners when cleaning up your yard waste could wind up costing you.

Cynthia S. in Hudson asked VERIFY if it’s legal to blow your grass clippings and other yard waste into the roadway.

THE QUESTION

Is it legal to blow yard waste into your street?

THE SOURCES

• Claude Tankersley, public works administrator, St. Petersburg
• City, county ordinances

THE ANSWER

No, it is illegal to blow your yard waste into the street. If your city doesn’t have an ordinance, VERIFY found every Tampa Bay area county does.

WHAT WE FOUND

St. Petersburg’s public works administrator says it’s a rule most don’t realize exists – or understand why.

A city ordinance in St. Petersburg says blowing yard waste anywhere other than in your own yard could cost you up to $500 in fines each time you’re caught.

But it’s not just about making a mess in your neighborhood streets.

“Our streets are part of our stormwater system,” said Claude Tankersley, St. Petersburg’s public works administrator. “If you're blowing leaves and sticks and grass into the streets, you're blowing it into our stormwater system which then will lead to clogged pipes, which can then lead to backups.”

Those backups can lead to flooding, a concern in communities across Tampa Bay, especially during storm season.

Additionally, Tankersley says yard waste that winds up in stormwater drains ultimately can harm our waterways.

“The red tide and the dying of the seagrasses, it's all related to nutrients getting into the water,” he said.

The language on the books in St. Petersburg is identical to ordinances in other cities and in every county in the Tampa Bay area. But enforcement is difficult, putting the onus on everyone to “be good neighbors,” Tankersley said.

“Not only the people in your neighborhood but being good neighbors to everybody within Tampa Bay,” he said.

The city of Tampa has posted several times on social media warning residents to not blow leaves and other debris into the streets.

You can read the city ordinances here for Tampa and St. Petersburg. You can read the county ordinances here for Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Polk, Pinellas and Sarasota.