Re: Cabbagegate
gardenchat@hort.net
  • Subject: Re: Cabbagegate
  • From: J* B* <j*@gmail.com>
  • Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2010 08:44:13 -0600
Oh good God.  I used to live close to that area of Georgia when I was
in junior high and high school.  I can totally believe this.  Amazing,
isn't it?  Boggles the mind...


On Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 8:44 PM, james singer <inlandjim1@q.com> wrote:
> Everybody's seen this, right?
>
>> AOL News
>> (Sept. 15) -- His neighbors call it "Cabbagegate." And it cost Steve
>> Miller a lot of green. The Clarkston, Ga., man was fined $5,200 for growing
>> too many vegetables in his backyard.
>>
>> Miller had been growing legumes for 15 years, selling them at local
>> farmers markets and giving them away to friends, before he was cited by the
>> Dekalb County Code Enforcement office for the first time last September.
>> It's illegal to garden at such a level in the zone where he lives. Miller
>> tried to challenge the penalty, but a reprieve was slow in coming, and the
>> fight's not over.
>>
>> "Time went on, but no answers, then I get a letter in the mail with more
>> fines," he told AOL News. "Didn't get an answer back from the county until I
>> started getting notices from code enforcement in October, and before I knew
>> it I got a subpoena to go to court."
>>
>> After a long legal battle, Miller successfully rezoned his land. But
>> despite that victory, the county is still fining him for all of his illicit
>> vegetables, and even for hiring workers to weed the fallow land after he
>> stopped working it.
>>
>> Miller runs a relatively large operation for a backyard gardener -- about
>> one and a quarter acres in production with crops like celery, tomatoes,
>> lettuce, Swiss chard, beets, cilantro, carrots and, of course, cabbage. He
>> peddles his harvests at farmers markets, but doesn't always turn a profit.
>> And it's far from his main occupation. Miller is a landscaper by trade.
>>
>> "It's not my source of income, it's my passion," he said. "If it were my
>> main source of income, I'd have to sell my house."
>>
>> Miller had no idea that growing vegetables on his land was illegal -- in
>> fact, he purchased the plot because he knew people had grown vegetables for
>> profit there in the past.
>>
>> While many food activists cite urban agriculture as crucial to
>> establishing locally sourced food systems, zoning laws present challenges.
>> What distinguishes outlaw tomato plants from a legitimate commercial
>> operation is not always clear. Some, like Miller, become unwitting
>> violators.
>>
>> "There's a fine line between urban agriculture and backyard gardening,"
>> said Michael Wall, communications director for Georgia Organics. "Since this
>> is an emerging issue, there are going to be some gray areas.
>>
>> "Most of the time," he continued, "it's the laws that need updating."
>>
>> In Georgia, as across the country, many municipalities are making
>> compromises to encourage new, productive land uses. Earlier this year, New
>> York's underground apiarists scored a victory when the city agreed to make
>> beekeeping legal, and allowances for backyard chickens have been enacted in
>> many cities, such as Seattle and New Haven, Conn.
>>
>> Sometimes, however, it takes a case like Miller's to motivate change. He's
>> glad that the county was able to help him rezone his land, but still stung
>> by giant fines he incurred.
>>
>> The county refused to comment as the case is still pending, the Atlanta
>> Journal-Constitution reports.
>
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-- 
Jesse R. Bell

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