There was a really interesting video (can't remember the title) that went into Google's captcha specifically, and found that it really isn't designed to detect bots. It's designed to detect a unique digital fingerprint that can be used by advertisers.
So, you can use a really simple mouse script to click the checkbox automatically with no issue, but as soon as you use a VPN you get served with the photo games. It doesn't care if you're a robot, it cares if you're a valuable ad target.
I don't agree with the fines but it's also a little more complicated than that, apparently the plants were starting to over grow the sidewalk. Naturalized gardens are fine but there needs to be some effort put in to not obstruct public infrastructure.
I do agree the bylaw needs to be changed though. How is one supposed to grow a natural garden while also removing specific plants designated as weeds? They're part of nature...
Generally though, this is just some Burlington shit. Karens all the way down.