The Mineola Village Board adopted a new law targeting invasive plant species, mainly fast-spreading bamboo, last week. The law requires residents to maintain certain plans on their property, or be subject to a fine. The law covers Japanese, golden, common and arrow bamboo as well as poisonous plants.
“We’re not banning the plants that are listed,” Mayor Scott Strauss said. “All we’re looking to do is say you have to contain them on your property. They can’t infiltrate anyone else’s yard. If they do, there’s an avenue those neighbors can seek to get relief.”
The issue with bamboo is its aggressive growth once planted. What seems like an aesthetic barrier to its owner, may be a nuisance to neighbors. Eliminating bamboo can be a tall task. It’s resistant to many weed-killers. Roots and stems must be removed because even a trace of bamboo left could re-sprout and grow.
“The fight against bamboo is an ongoing one,” Mineola Boulevard resident Diane Blake-McDonald said. Bamboo has been in her backyard since 1980. “It requires vigilance. Bamboo, like grass, grows and spreads. It’s much tougher than grass and will go right through blacktop and cement driveways, patios and eat into foundations.”
According to Michael Veracka, a professor of ornamental horticulture at Farmingdale State College, proper maintenance will control running bamboo.
“If unattended, it will develop into new plants,” he said. “If you have a bunch of new [bamboo] shoots, and you’re not paying attention, your grove has expanded and if it’s traveling underground, that’s the problem.”
The Mineola law states that property owners will be responsible for expenses incurred by neighboring homeowners who attempt to eradicate the plants.
“We’re looking to create a law to contain it, not totally ban it,” Strauss said. “If somebody wants to have it on their property, they can as long as it doesn’t invade other properties.”
Many municipalities, including the villages of East Williston, Westbury, Malverne, Babylon, Northport, Amityville and Hempstead have passed laws limiting or banning bamboo. The cities of Long Beach and Glen Cove and the towns of Hempstead and Huntington took measures as well.
“This law not only requires containment by the property owner, but requires them to take all reasonable action necessary to prevent such plants from invading any other property in [Mineola],” village attorney John Gibbons said.
Twenty-three year Burkhard Avenue resident Catherine Harnett is concerned with safety, specifically with electrical or gas lines being impeded by bamboo.
“We don’t have it on our property, but it’s on the property behind us,” Harnett said. “We’re constantly dealing with the [bamboo] shoots. If my husband wasn’t there to eradicate them, they’d take over the place.”
Village officials expect the law could force bamboo-owning residents to rethink the privacy-plant, but that there’s room for revisions in the new mandate if needed.
“This is a step in the right direction,” Deputy Mayor Paul Pereira said of the new law. “It’s not to say that we can’t revisit [the law] in the future if this doesn’t work out.”
