CLAYTON — St. Louis County Councilman Dennis Hancock dropped a measure Tuesday night that would have reversed protections for native landscapes in the county.

Hancock, a Republican from Fenton, said he decided to drop the measure after public works employees received training on recognizing native plants and after he spoke with code enforcement staffers.

The councilman said earlier this summer that county inspectors had complained to him, saying the law — intended to protect environmentally beneficial gardens — stops them from mowing overgrown, neglected lawns full of weeds.

Public works Director Stephanie Leon Streeter said training was needed for staff, not a reversal of the law, which permits "the planting and maintenance of planned natural landscaping."

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