Monday, July 30, 2012

I'm Against Front Yard Gardens

A Ferguson resident, Karl Tricamo, had been feuding with the city for months over the vegetable garden he had planted in front of his house in the 300 block of Louisa Avenue.

 The city saw the garden as a blot on the landscape and issued Tricamo a citation demanding he uproot the corn, tomatoes, sorghum, peppers and other crops sprouting there and, instead, seed the yard for grass. The garden measures 35 feet by 25 feet.

 With the help of an attorney from the Libertarian group Freedom Center of Missouri, Tricamo emerged victorious when the city's Board of Adjustment voted to throw out the citation against him.

Board chairman Joe Schroeder, cast the lone vote, said the ruling should not be construed as support for Tricamo's endeavor. "The board felt that, technically, he had the law in his favor," Schroeder said. "But I think that all of us on the board agreed that the garden is an eyesore. It goes against common sense, really, to put a garden in the front yard instead of the back." Schroeder said he wondered what Tricamo's yard will look like when the growing season is over.

In a few weeks, Tricamo will pull out the current garden and plant fall and winter crops. When those are finished producing, he will mulch and plant winter wheat.

We don't know how many houses there are in this subdivision (assuming it's in a subdivision), but picture if every homeowner there decided to plant front yard gardens. What would this do to real estate values?

It also makes me wonder what is in the back yard and why not put a garden there.

 Here's some photos of other residences with front yard gardens. Next we may see above ground swimming pools in front yards.  After all, it's very healthy exercise one can get swimming in a pool. I would vote to allow the garden for this year, but not next.


What do you think?  Click on COMMENTS below and tell us.

9 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:34 AM

    I completely support front yard gardens and was thrilled to see that this guy won his fight. Judging by the unusually supportive and civil comments on the PD story, he appeared to have widespread support.

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  2. Anonymous7:14 AM

    Is there anyone in a position of authority anymore who realizes that none of or rights is without limits? There is an old saying that our right to free speech does not give us the right to yell FIRE in a crowded theater.

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  3. Anonymous6:58 PM

    Not in a subdivision. And- if everyone was doing it, it would be the norm and a non-issue.

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  4. Anonymous4:53 AM

    Front yard gardens are a wonderful idea. I think it's great that people are planting wholesome vegetables for their family's consumption. Provided the resident is keeping up the garden only a busy body would put up a stink.

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  5. Anonymous8:57 PM

    That looks like a beautiful, healthy garden.

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  6. I read about this, and I'm all the way in England. They didn't plant in the back because of shading issues from neighbouring trees.

    I am very much in support of this idea, and I would imagine that if someone was hoping to sell the house, they would pull out the vegetables and lay down sod. It's not a huge issue like the siding coming down or guttering waving in the wind.

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  7. Anonymous11:58 AM

    I FULLY SUPPORT front yard gardens. Everyone against them is a shallow self-absorbed meddler who only cares about appearances. That's right, I'm calling you shallow. My front yard garden rocks. More power to Mr. Tricamo. The world needs more of him and less of you self-appointed busy-bodies. Please crawl in a hole and die, Mr. Roberts.

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  8. Anonymous4:00 PM

    It is an unsubstantiated claim that front yard gardens bring down property values. There is no statistical evidence for it. I would never purchase a house in a subdivision that did not recognize proper land ownership rights. In a world with soaring grocery prices and a shortage of food, this kind of limitation on those rights absolute does NOT make common sense.

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