Farmer Fined $5,000 for growing crops on own land

[Simply Blessed]

 

DeKalb county man is in court for growing too many vegetables on his own land. Unbelievable!

[DonsCountryGal]

That's absolutely ludicrous!! What right does ANYone have to say how many crops you can or can't have? Just what is their 'logical' reasoning? What he is doing is such a blessing to so many and he truly enjoys doing it. It falls within the phrase "in pursuit of life, liberty and happiness"!!

 

May God bless him, and may He tightly bind TPTB!!

[themartianchick]

I think that the issue is that he is running an agricultural business in an area that is not zoned for it. He was wrong for ever operating the business on such a scale with the zoning that the area had. For his business to be illegal, it is likely that his property is zoned Residential A or B.

 

As a member of a zoning board, though, I have never seen a municipality go after the person once a zoning change or variance has been approved. They do have that right because his operation was illegal before the zoning change. I would liken it to someone who drives without a valid license and gets a ticket. They straighten out the licensing issue, but they are still liable for the ticket because they did do something illegal.

 

If this man was hiring employees (legal or otherwise) then he must have had a fairly large operation for a 2 acre site. This wasn't his private organic garden. It was a business. If his intention was to operate a farm, then he really should have checked the zoning prior to moving there. You cannot assume that because you think that you have enough room to do something on your land, that it is actually legal to do so.

 

Municalities are going after ALL infractions now, no matter how minor in an effort to keep money flowing into their coffers. This is why so many police officers are issuing tickets for very minor infractions.

[Dave Digs Dirt]

Agree with martianchick - not only is this a very old story but it has since been widely discredited on the web. So please don't buy into it.

 

The facts behind it put it in a much more positive perspective in terms of the rights of his neighbors, his customers, and his 'employees'.

 

The issue was not that he was growing on his own land but that he was running a business doing it and violating local zoning and business practice codes. He was given ample opportunities to follow the local business and hiring permit codes and bring his business into line, just as all of us have to do in business, but he chose to ignore them. Thus the fine.