A west Windsor, Ont. man says he doesn't plan on complying with a city order to cut down his sunflowers.
Spencer Allossary planted a crop of sunflower seeds in his front yard in the spring. The plants are now 6 ft. tall, higher than the 3 ft. allowed by the city on a right of way.
Allossary says he came home to a notice on his door ordering they be cut down Tuesday. He says the city doesn't go looking for infractions, so one of his neighbours must have complained.
"Why in the world would somebody look at a sunflower and decide to call the city because there's a possible violation of a height limit; really? People really need to find something to do," he added.
Allossary says the sunflowers recently sprouted over the city's limit and will die on their own soon.
"They're only really 6 ft. for 30 days, is this really an issue? Is this really how we handle our problems," says Allossary.
He says he didn't just plant them because they brighten the neighbourhood.
"We have a shortage of bees right now, we have a shortage of butterflies and all the scientists are screaming about this stuff. That's one of the reasons I went this route," he says. "Now the city goes no, you can't support the wildlife that our floundering, you have to cut them down."
Allossary says every neighbour he's spoken to has been supportive, so he's not sure who called to complain to the city.
According to the city's website he has seven days to comply with the order or he could face fines.
The city can also remove the flowers and add the cost to Allossary's annual tax bill.
— with files from AM800's Rob Hindi.