Posted on 12/12/2017 1:45:22 PM PST by Red Badger
Hermine Ricketts and her husband Tom Carroll may grow fruit trees and flowers in the front yard of their Miami Shores house. They may park a boat or jet ski in their driveway. They may place statues, fountains, gnomes, pink flamingoes or Santa in a Speedo on their property.
Vegetables, however, are not allowed.
Ricketts and Carroll thought they were gardeners when they grew tomatoes, beets, scallions, spinach, kale and multiple varieties of Asian cabbage. But according to a village ordinance that restricts edible plants to backyards only, they were actually criminals. They didn’t think they were engaged in a Swiss chard conspiracy or eggplant vice, yet they were breaking the law.
Florida’s 3rd District Court of Appeal upheld Miami Shores’ ban on front-yard vegetable gardens in a recent decision, so the couple will take their case to the Florida Supreme Court. They argue, on behalf of gardeners everywhere, that the village’s restriction is unconstitutional and an infringement on their property rights.
Hermine Ricketts and her husband Tom Carroll may grow fruit trees and flowers in the front yard of their Miami Shores house. They may park a boat or jet ski in their driveway. They may place statues, fountains, gnomes, pink flamingoes or Santa in a Speedo on their property.
Vegetables, however, are not allowed.
Ricketts and Carroll thought they were gardeners when they grew tomatoes, beets, scallions, spinach, kale and multiple varieties of Asian cabbage. But according to a village ordinance that restricts edible plants to backyards only, they were actually criminals. They didn’t think they were engaged in a Swiss chard conspiracy or eggplant vice, yet they were breaking the law.
Florida’s 3rd District Court of Appeal upheld Miami Shores’ ban on front-yard vegetable gardens in a recent decision, so the couple will take their case to the Florida Supreme Court. They argue, on behalf of gardeners everywhere, that the village’s restriction is unconstitutional and an infringement on their property rights. Never miss a local story.
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“That’s what government does – interferes in people’s lives,” Ricketts said. “We had that garden for 17 years. We ate fresh meals every day from that garden. Since the village stepped its big foot in it, they have ruined our garden and my health.”
Ricketts and Carroll did not face jail time for brandishing green thumbs, but they did face $50 daily fines after the village amended its ordinance in 2013. They had to dig up their garden – which won’t grow in their north-facing backyard because of a lack of sun. But they have continued to fight Miami Shores in court with help from the Institute for Justice, a national non-profit libertarian law firm.
“This decision gives local governments tremendous leeway to regulate harmless activities in the name of aesthetics,” said Institute lawyer Ari Bargil. “It gives government the power to prohibit homeowners from growing plants in their front yards simply because they intend to eat them.”
The court ruled that Miami Shores has the right under its code to control design and landscaping standards to protect the appearance of the village and preserve “property values and the enjoyment of property rights by minimizing and reducing conflicts among various land uses.”
Village Attorney Richard Sarafan argued that while it’s popular to blame big, bad government for being intrusive, municipalities must safeguard their zoning authority lest they open a Pandora’s box of unsightly exceptions. Without any arbiter of taste, residents could get stuck living next to a polka-dot house with pigs taking mud baths by the garage and an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile on the swale. The couple’s front yard was filled with pots and cluttered with stakes that belonged in the backyard where they chose to have a swimming pool instead, the village said.
“It’s all about conformity. Miami Shores wants to be a mini Coral Gables,” Ricketts said of another tidy, upscale South Florida city known for strict zoning regulations that at one time included a ban on pickup trucks in driveways at night. “What is the definition of edible? I can go into any front yard and find something edible because every plant has an edible part.
“Miami Shores claims to promote green living. What could be more green than walking out your front door and picking what you’ve grown rather than driving to the store and buying what has been trucked in, in quantities that contribute to food waste?”
Bargil also objected to the court’s conclusion that “it is rational for government to ban the cultivation of plants to be eaten as part of a meal, as opposed to the cultivation of plants for ornamental reasons.”
Ricketts called the village short-sighted for encouraging the cultivation of “useless grass.”
“By killing gardens we are also killing bees and butterflies, the pollinators of our food supply,” she said.
The court said that residents who don’t like the village ordinance can petition the Village Council to change it or vote for council members who will change it.
But in the meantime, the village has uprooted a source of sustenance and joy for Ricketts, 62, and Carroll, 59.
Their case is part of the Institute for Justice’s National Food Freedom Initiative, which includes litigation on behalf of home bakers in Minnesota,Wisconsin and New Jersey, a skim milk producer in northern Florida, raw milk farmers in Oregon and craft brewers in Texas.
When home associations go bad
Homes associations are meant to keep neighborhoods from turning shabby and to maintain property values. But when homeowners don’t follow their strictly enforced regulations, they may be fined, end up in court or even lose their homes. Here are their horror stories. Neil Nakahodo & Kris Knowles Kansas City Star
Tom Carroll and Hermine Ricketts stand in their front yard in Miami Shores on Nov. 19, 2013. They had maintained a vegetable garden in their front yard for 17 years but had to dig it up as they faced code enforcement fines. The Village’s zoning code was revised in May 2013, and the code regarding front-yard vegetable gardens was changed from “vegetable gardens are permitted in rear yards” to “vegetable gardens are permitted in rear yards only.” The couple sued the Village. Florida’s 3rd District Court of Appeal recently upheld the Village decision, so the couple said they will take their case to the Florida Supreme Court.
Tom Carroll and Hermine Ricketts in their front yard in Miami Shores in 2013. They had to dig up their vegetable garden as they faced code enforcement fines. Florida’s 3rd District Court of Appeal ruled that Miami Shores has the right under its code to control design and landscaping standards. Miami Herald file photo
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-shores/article189273944.html#fmp#storylink=cpy
What about pot?
Gardening Ping!..................
Nope!.................
I used to live in Miami Shores. These people are non-conformists. Similar to earth-mothers.
Plant pots are OK.
Pot plants may be a problem in most States.
Easy solution- just tell the fascist that the produce is being grown to throw at politicians who believe they are dictators
Why would this garden not be grandfathered into compliance.
I assume they can grow flowers with no problem.
I’d grow artichokes, which is a flower, and tell the city to stuff it...............
Know of any other ‘flowers’ that are edible?.............
so the residents are a bunch of mental asylum/strait-jacket qualified liberals? Figgers’..
Yea... Half the problem is their cluttered yard. The other half is they are a mixed race couple. We just can’t have this in our stuck up neighborhood........ That’s why I hate neighborhoods. The associations are always run by busy bodies that think they are important.
“These people are non-conformists.”
OH MY GOD!! Stamp that crap out fast before it spreads!! Next thing you know people will think they are individuals and form opinions!
HOAs utterly suck. Basically you are electing the local military retiree who wants the childlike life existence of life on the military base for everyone.
I would find all the edible flowers I could and grow them. Artichokes, Capers, etc. Then tell the city to go stuff themselves.............. https://www.southernliving.com/food/entertaining/edible-flowers
Yes, and so are watermelons, cucumbers and cantaloupes..................
Gavones grow vegetables in their front yard.
I can’t believe they didn’t know the rules going in. Their option is to get the ordinance changed. Doubt that’s possible. Personally I don’t want rows if corn or soybeans in my neighbor’s yards either. Neither do I want a jungle of flowers that aren’t taken care of or a lawn that’s not mowed. If I want to do this things I’ll go buy a farm. I bought where I did because I knew the rules when I signed the papers.
Broccoli, cauliflower, artichokes are FLOWERS..................
They would have more of my sympathy if they didn’t have that big ugly papaya, which tastes like vomit. The irony is it’s legal in the front yard.
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