A Camp Hill man escaped serious penalties for mowing borough-owned property out of frustration last year, after a plea deal Tuesday that seemed to signal a truce in the situation going forward.
The Borough wanted to charge him with felony criminal mischief to make an example of him, and to achieve free publicity goals, for mowing a patch of borough-owned property along Conodoguinet Creek that was being left purposely unmowed to help create a natural buffer to reduce the flow of sediment and runoff into the stream.
Urban was initially charged with a felony and the borough had requested damages of 12,350 for "for estimated costs of alleged damages" officials believed he caused when Urban took his riding mower to their intentional "Riparian" buffer along the creek.
The area in question sits across the road from Urban's home, between the stream and the stream bank, it was being left purposely unmowed to help create a natural buffer to reduce the buffer to reduce the flow of sediment and runoff into the stream.
Different wildcat mowers had hit it in recent years prompting the borough to set up a surveillance camera.
"The borough ha a law that says you can't have grass over 8" long or you can be fined, .. .. I just don't want five-feet weeds by my house," Urban said last October after the case was filed.
"Basically it was safety, "Urban said, noting he got about 20 tick bites this spring that he attributes to the growth. " I have three grandchildren that live with me, the weeds were taller than they were. I got tired of the ticks, I got tired of the rodents, I had to relocate a copper head snake."
So, on May 16th last year, he hopped on his riding mower, and went to work on the weedy empty lot, where Camp Hill's cameras got him on tape, and police were able to identify his lawn mower. Local politicians made a publicity campaign about this, while the county district attorney's wife was running for Camp Hill Council, she got him to turn the prosecution over to the state attorney general's office.
Contrary to the borough's felony charge, and alleged damages cost, the Borough Manager slipped up and stated that a "Riparian" buffer do "a low cost" job of preventing pollution from getting into waterways
Under the deal, Daniel Urban pleaded guilty to one summary count of criminal mischief. His sentence is a $150 fine, plus restitution of an additional $150 to Camp Hill Borough to reimburse it for the cost of a camera set up to catch bandit mowers.
