Palatine caps lawn mowing at 9 p.m. daily

Palatine residents can no longer mow their lawns past 9 p.m.

The Village Council voted unanimously this week to change the daily deadline for residents using noisy outdoor equipment to cut their lawns, trim their hedges, blow their leaves and use street cleaners and industrial vacuums.

Snow removal equipment is not included in the new rules.

People used to be able to mow, blow or trim until 10 p.m. The morning hours will remain at 7 a.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. weekends.

Village Manager Reid Ottesen said other suburbs vary their nightly deadlines to between 7 and 10 p.m.

He added that most complaints in Palatine have been over neighbors illuminating their yards with their car headlights to mow or trim after dark.

Ottesen said he thinks 9 p.m. is a good compromise, but Councilman Tim Millar "was hoping it would be a little bit earlier, like 8:30 (p.m.), for little kids going to bed so they wouldn't be awakened."

"I'm just thinking of the time of year when after 8 it's going to be dark," Millar said.

Ottesen said he will monitor how well the 9 p.m. deadline works, and report back at a later date.