VERIFY QUESTION

You ask -- we verify. This time, we're cutting down rumors about grass. Isn't it irritating, when you carefully mow your lawn, blow off your sidewalk, but then you step into a pile of someone else's grass clippings lying all over the street?

That's probably why someone started a petition on Change.org. It calls for making blowing grass and debris in roads illegal in North Carolina. There are more than 680 signatures so far, and the petitioner wants to sent it to Governor Roy Cooper and Senator Richard Burr.

News 2 viewer Gayla Malloy saw the petition and wanted clarity about whether it's already illegal. She asked, "Can you please verify if mowing grass clippings onto the road is illegal or not?"

VERIFY SOURCE

To verify, we reached out to the City of Greensboro communications director Jake Keys. He said the rules depend on the city or county where you live.

VERIFY PROCESS

In Greensboro, grass clippings are part of the city code chapter 10 in the land development ordinance (improper disposal section). It reads in part:

It shall be unlawful for any person to drop or throw any...grass, shrubbery, tree clippings..upon any median strip, alleyway, street or street right of way...without permission of the owner...or upon any public property..."

So, what's the punishment? If the city issues two violation notices and the person does it a third time, a city employee can issue a fine. But, Jake said the city's goal is education and compliance. Instead of issuing a fine right away, a city official would visit the person and talk about how to prevent the issue from happening again.

VERIFY CONCLUSION

City and county ordinances determine if throwing grass clippings into a private or public property (like a street) is illegal. It is illegal in Greensboro. You should also know regardless of where you live, in North Carolina it is illegal to throw yard waste in landfills. You should take it to a yard waste facility.