An Atlanta-area man is facing fines of up to $5000 for growing too many vegetables on his land.
Steve Miller (not Steve Miller of classic rock fame), has had an organic vegetable garden on his property for years. He grows food for himself and has even sold some of his bounty at local farmers markets.
He received his first citation from code enforcement back in January and has since incurred $5000 in fines. The tricky thing here is that after citations in January and February, Miller got his property rezoned to allow his garden. The county is still suing him for the fines related to the earlier charges.
Here is an interview with Miller and his attorney from WSBTV:
The question I have is how did code enforcement find out about Miller’s garden in the first place? Code enforcement isn’t in the habit of randomly dropping in on properties – did someone complain?
Have you guys run across zoning laws that prevent large-scale gardens? I know many areas have laws restricting things like backyard chickens, but this is the first case I’ve heard involving edible plants.
Source: WSBTV
Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by wheatfields
Becky Striepe
Hi there! I'm Becky Striepe, a green crafter and vegan foodie living in Atlanta, Georgia with my husband and two cats. My mission is to make eco-friendly crafts and vegan food accessible to anyone who wants to give them a go.
187 Responses to Georgia Man Fined for Growing Vegetables
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As a code officer, he either had a complaint lodged or perhaps a city employee (maybe a code officer) may have run across him outside of work and caught wind of his garden. If he was in our town, we would have only gone after him if he was using it as a business and didn’t have the c.o. or paperwork done for it. If he wasn’t zoned, we would have cited him and given him the chance to apply for a zoning change or obtain a special use permit. If that was achieved, then we would have most likely let the fines go to the side if he wasn’t a jerk about the process…sometimes that will work against you, lol. This is too much, if he went and made it right you don’t need to fight him for the other stuff. I know many think that if it’s on your land, it’s your business…I agree to a point. City ordinances are there many times for a reason, probably for stuff that you wouldn’t dream someone would do. I see it every day. You would rather have some rules than none, believe me. However, if you don’t like it, move out of the city, my parents did.
You actually think it’s funny that you are willing to use your pretended authority to make things more difficult for someone? What the hell kind of person are you?
And this while Atlanta shuts down firehouses and cop-shops to save money…yeah they NEED the $5k. COUGH IT UP SCOFFLAW!
A recent survey by a newspaper here in New Zealand reported the 60% of households over here maintain some sort of vegetable garden.
In my cynicism I immediately thought “Cue Monsanto, Dupont et al.”
This story is about corporate machinations in the area of public policy. A trend that is not limited to the US but is shown in the recent wikipaedia leaks on US retribution against EU states resisting Monsanto GMO introduction in Europe.
This is asinine, as most governmental enforcement is. As long as it is YOUR land that you purchased LEGALLY with YOUR MONEY, and you are NOT doing anything ILLEGAL, you should be able to do ANYTHING YOU F’N WANT ON THAT LAND, and TO HELL with what anybody else thinks!!!
if you really think you “own” the land then try not paying your taxes on that land…then you’ll find out who REALLY owns the land…
@Growing Vegetables: Hello pot, meet Mr. Kettle. As someone living in the US, I am always amazed at how ridiculous the laws in The Nanny State are. Google “Jo Yeates Bristol”. An MP wants to have EVERY MALE in Bristol DNA tested in order to solve a murder case. Yeah… that’s not tyrannical at all, right?
As someone living in th UK I am always amazed at how petty and almost tyranical some of the laws and their enforcement is in “the land of the Free”
Uhh, have you ever looked at some of your laws? And some of the things that people there get arrested for?? Ours may not be perfect, but it is still better than that rat hole. Or are you just upset you missed the boat?
Really? The UK is the ultimate nanny state. From alcohol regulations to closed circuit surveillance, the UK is a leap ahead of the US when it comes to government intervention in everyday situations.
I agree. the “nation of laws” can be as oppressive as any dictatorship. Our gov’t has been filled with evil hearts with evil intents for a long time. we claim evolution but, we degenerate daily.
Growing Vegetables, what happens if someone comes to steal your vegetables in the UK, or rape your daughter? You have to stand and watch it happen, then report to the police. Ha ha ha ha ha. You can’t even defend yourself unless you want to be charged with a crime.
Reading the comments here is confusing.
The right is against government takeover and government tyranny, so they want the laws strictly enforced, no matter how absurd they may be.
And they get angry when the left tries to explain that having more laws, more strictly enforced, is not the way to oppose government tyranny.
Days like this I’m reminded of the old Quaker joke, “Everyone’s insane except for me and thee, and I’m not so sure about thee.”
Max Penn,
it’s not just the Dem’s killing America. Both parties are doing an equally fine job. Congress has allowed the outsourcing of jobs to Mexico,China etc for decades. They have allowed large multi-national corporations to literally write legislation, staff the Federal Reserve, staff the FDA and AG dept’s. It’s a total sell out of the country to the highest bidder by our so called leaders. Both parties are identical. It’s like a monster with two heads. Don’t matter which head you vote for….same monster. We have become a fascist country. America is now Amerika.
Thanks for some sanity, Mauiman.
I’m sorry, but Congress did not “allow” outsourcing of jobs so much as essentially force them. Worthless laws that don’t actually have any benefit, like minimum wage, have forced companies to outsource to keep their costs down. Every time minimum wage goes up, expect all your living expenses to go up to cover that cost (defeating to purpose of minimum wage). Even worse, those who are paid above minimum wage are paid relatively less, and so they get hurt too. Federal minimum wage is now $7.25. There are also many jobs out there that, frankly, are not worth that much. But by forcing companies to pay higher wages than a job is worth, it devalues the dollar.
If you want politicians to be less greedy, than support limited government. Money follows power, and corruption/greed follows money, so stop corruption and greed by minimizing the power the government has.
I couldn’t agree more. 7.25 an hour is WAAAAY too much too pay someone. After all why pay them 7.25 when I could pay them 3.00 per hour? Thats all people are worth. That way I can keep people as slaves while I make sure I make millions per year.
Get a fucking grip moron minimize the death grip corporate america has on us. Its not government its idiots like you voting against our best interests.
Government isn’t evil. Corporations Are.
Try making a living off 7.25 cents an hour dickhead
Sean, in essence, Matt is correct… the line of thought is correct. Big Government is to blame for all the regulations that choke businesses, to force them overseas… it’s a chain effect, much like if you take something out of a biodiversity environment, you affect the entire chain, so eventually, it collapses. People don’t like wolves, so they wanted them eliminated out of Montana, Wyoming, etc, because it affected their hunting abilities… people couldn’t hunt the wild game, because the wolves kept the population down. Well, when the wolves were removed, either by killing them, or completely relocating them, the wild game proliferated so much that they ate the new growth of trees that it denuded them! Therefore, the trees could not reproduce themselves. And the entire area became affected… the chain effect of removal of the wolves affected the whole biodiversity of the region!
I have traveled extensively. I just went to Mexico for the first time, for more than 2 days. Mexico has no minimum wage law. The waiters wage was equivalent to 5 USD a day. An individual will always be at a disadvantage compared to an organization in wage negotiations, because of information asymmetry, negotiation ability, and ability to wait.
I don’t get it- “K”s are fascist? Do you know what fascist means? Fascism is a far-RIGHT leaning political philosophy. To call a Liberal government fascist is not only unhelpful, but rather uninformed. Unless you use an extra “K”- then it’s alright.
Fascism evolved from the German Socialist Party, and incorporates some aspects of both far right and far left. It is not strictly speaking far-RIGHT. People who break things down into left and right do no justice to the political spectrum as it would be more accurately measured on a 2 or 3 axis field then a simple left or right 1 axis measurement
The government has become the enforcer for big business and should be treated as such.
Our holidays are ruined. No one even goes out for New Year anymore. The ability to do what you want on your own land has been curtailed. It’s okay for police to sneak into your driveway and plant gps devices on your car. Your right to buy guns is slowly and relentlessly being taken away. It’s difficult to buy anything with cash anymore. We are taxed, fined, fee’d and nagged into submission. Weez just sharecroppers now boys, just shut-up and push dem broom.
can’t even talk freely anymore. My comment wasn’t posted.
Sorry about the delay in approving comments, Bob. I’m the only mod and was spending some Sunday time with my family.