Re: Cabbagegate
gardenchat@hort.net
  • Subject: Re: Cabbagegate
  • From: P* E* <g*@gmail.com>
  • Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2010 18:11:45 -0600
I hadn't heard that but stuff that assinine makes my poor head want to
explode.  ugh.

On Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 11:20 AM, Johnson, Cyndi D Civ USAF AFMC 95 CS/SCOSI
<cyndi.johnson@edwards.af.mil> wrote:

> I could actually agree with the county on certain aspects, especially
> the unpermitted workers. We've had issues in my neighborhood with a
> person running a welding shop even though the zoning doesn't permit it.
> His employees park in other people's yards and there have been thefts
> close by there, we don't have the problem on other streets. There are a
> lot of complaints with the county about him though.
> I am not sure I agree with one of the news reports which says "Urban
> gardeners also tend to use ecologically friendly growing methods, much
> like Miller, who grows his veggies organically." Haven't there been
> studies that home gardeners who choose to use non-organic methods are
> not so good at applying them at the recommended rates? Although I
> suppose if you're growing on that scale you know what you're doing,
> unlike the beginner who has 3 tomato plants and drowns them in
> fertilizer and Sevin dust.
> But still, once he got it rezoned the county should just drop the suit.
> Maybe they need money like most other bits of government.
>
> Cyndi
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-gardenchat@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On
> Behalf Of Jesse Bell
> Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2010 6:44 AM
> To: gardenchat@hort.net
> Subject: Re: [CHAT] Cabbagegate
>
> 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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>


-- 
Pam Evans
Kemp TX
zone 8A

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