Couple Sues Over Their Front Yard Garden
One Florida couple wants their vegetable garden in their front yard – and they’re willing to fight for it. Tom Carroll and Hermine Ricketts say a new town ordinance preventing them from having their vegetable garden in front of their house is against their rights…and they’re going to court over it.
Carroll and Ricketts claim they first dug up their garden in 2013 after officials threatened to charge them $50 a day for having it following the ordinance Miami Shores passed banning front yard gardens like theirs. The couple claims that ban violates the Florida Constitution in several ways, including improper limits on their private property rights and violation of the equal protection clause by singling out vegetables over other plants.
Representation for the town of Miami Shores points out “there certainly is not fundamental right to grow vegetables in your front yard” and reminds Carroll and Ricketts that they can grow the garden in their backyard. So far, no ruling has been made.
Source: ABC News