Couple Banned From Growing Vegetables On Front Lawn
Well this is just ridiculous. Apparently, the village of Miami Shores in Miami has asked a couple to dig up their vegetable garden of 17 years because it violates a zoning ordinance, the Miami Herald reports. Which is just to say, vegetables on front lawns are "inconsistent with the city's aesthetic character."
According to the Miami Herald, Hermine Ricketts has been growing okra, kale, lettuce, onions, and Asian cabbage for 17 years in the front yard. Recently, however, Miami Shores village leaders decided to ask her to tear it out, or face a fine of $50 a day.
"The Village Code, for decades, has permitted vegetable gardens in our residents' backyards, but for aesthetic purposes and otherwise, vegetable gardens are not permissible in the front yards," a village statement read. And while vegetables are banned in the ordinance, flowers, fruits, and pink flamingos are not.
So what's the next step for Ricketts and her husband Tom Carroll? Sue the village... for $1. And, of course, the right to grow a vegetable garden.
The couple's attorney Ari Bargil, with the Institute for Justice, is arguing that "the right to grow and harvest your own food on your very own property is certainly part of that right to acquire, possess, and protect property," which is an inalienable right. Watch a cute animated video breaking it down, below.