"Lynden myths disclosed" -- Jan. 10, 2006

By C. Jennings Breakey
The Western Front


Western alumnus Lauren Clarke had no intention of breaking the law as he drove to a Lynden store near his home one Sunday afternoon. Clarke wanted to buy beer - a misdemeanor, according to Lynden law. The conservative town prohibits the sale of alcohol on Sundays.

Even though Clarke doesn't drink and was going to use the beer for pest problems around his house, a Lynden ordinance states that businesses cannot sell alcohol on Sundays.

While this law stands firm, other myths negatively affect people's perceptions of Lynden laws.

Clarke said asking Western students about Lynden's strange laws can evoke multiple responses - no mowing lawns, dancing or operating business on Sundays. Other rumors circulating include a law against corporations such as Starbucks opening stores and Lynden's sidewalks closing at 10 p.m.

With generation-old legends distorting the meaning of Lynden laws, the town might need to set the record straight. But, Mayor Jack Louws said he is in no hurry to do so and the myths don't bother him.

“I like to have a little bit of fun with it,” he said.

Louws said visitors who talk with people in the community will understand that these tales are urban legends.

One of the most widespread misconceptions about Lynden laws is regarding lawn length. While Louws said an ordinance concerning grass height does exist, people misconstrue the ordinance's meaning.

“Urban legend has it that we're out mowing people's lawns,” he said with a chuckle. “We don't do that. It's not something that we're having the police drive around town to see whether or not we can make people's lives miserable.”

The grass height limit of seven inches is to prevent fire hazards, Louws said. Lynden officials have only mowed five lawns in the last 15 years. Moreover, the ordinance doesn't apply to tracts of land used for farm animals.

Louws said lawn-mowing restrictions on Sunday is not technically a law. Unwritten agreements between Lynden residents might be the reason for this misconception, he said.

“Most people within the community probably develop like patterns with their neighbors, and there aren't too many people who do mow their lawns on Sunday,” he said. “But that doesn't mean the mayor, at times in his life, hasn't had to go out and mow the lawn on Sunday.”

Jean Taylor, Lynden Public Works building technician, said the residents billed by Lynden usually have large acreage and community members have complained of grass height.

“They think of it as a big field,” she said. “Their neighbors think of it as a lawn.”

Many Lynden myths probably began because Lynden is a community-oriented town that sometimes rubs people the wrong way, Clarke said.

“Lynden definitely has the '50s image, kind of like 'Leave it to Beaver,' ” he said.

Louws said Lynden doesn't have a law restricting stores from remaining open on any day of the week. The voluntary Sunday closures have historically been a part of a community effort to preserve and enhance family values - but the pendulum has started swinging a different direction.

“As a matter of fact, more and more of the town is open on Sundays,” Louws said.

While some shops are open seven days a week, urban legend has it that Lynden law restricts certain businesses from opening in the town. Louws refutes that myth.

“We don't have any restrictions against any businesses,” he said. “If Starbucks came in and put an application in to renovate a building or put a structure up and go into the community, I wouldn't see why they wouldn't be welcome.”

Louws said cities can't pass ordinances that exclude particular corporations. Towns can have restrictive ordinances on businesses' size - such as a law that prohibits buildings from being larger than 30,000 square feet.

While Lynden has no such restriction, the urban legend of no dancing on Sundays is subtly connected to what types of businesses can open in the town.

According to Lynden Municipal Court Code, the town requires a permit for “any dance conducted in any place in the city where dancing is allowed or permitted with or without charge, and where persons are allowed to consume alcoholic beverages.”

In other words, the law prohibits all Lynden establishments from allowing dancing and drinking simultaneously without a permit.

“The intent of that law was not to restrict somebody from having a private party and having a band and so on,” Louws said. “It makes it more difficult for taverns and the adult entertainment business to establish residency within your community.”

Louws said this type of restriction is necessary to have any sort of leverage on Lynden's community standards, which states that “the citizens of Lynden have worked together to compose a vision for the city in the years to come. The predominate objective of this vision is that Lynden will retain its community spirit, small town atmosphere and agricultural roots.”

Business licenses aren't meant to penalize people, Louws said. Instead, the restrictions give Lynden the right tools in the toolbox to take care of the problem, he said.

Unlike the other urban legends, the thought that Lynden closes its sidewalks at 10 p.m. is more of a cliché, Louws said. Evening entertainment options are limited because Lynden doesn't have a Bowling alley or Mall as Bellingham does, he said.

“We suffer from the same thing a lot of small communities do,” Louws said. “If there's not a basketball game going on, then there's just not a lot more to do.”

Even though misconceptions of Lynden law skew the meaning of some ordinances, Louws said he doesn't know if urban legends affect Lynden negatively.

“I wouldn't know how to quantify that - they've been around all of my life,” he said. “I think the community is quite successful and we're thriving.”

C. Jennings breakey / The Western Front

Lynden’s well-groomed lawns sparked rumors that became an urban legend that grass must be kept below two inches, Mayor Jack Louws said.