Who knew a Victory Garden could have you facing defeat? A Michigan woman is looking at the prospect of 93 days in jail because she planted vegetables in planters in her front yard and refused to abide by the town elders' interpretation of the planning code, WJBX reports.
The town ordinance says that front yards have to be planted with "suitable, live, plant material." The woman feels it qualifies.
"It's definitely live. It's definitely plant. It's definitely material. We think it's suitable," she told FOX.
The city planners say that her garden doesn't count. "If you look at the definition of what suitable is in Webster's dictionary, it will say common," Oak Park City Planner Kevin Rulkowski told FOX. "So, if you look around and you look in any other community, what's common to a front yard is a nice, grass yard with beautiful trees and bushes and flowers."
However, in looking up "suitable" on Merriam-Webster.com, neither the word "common" nor any word approximating it appears in the definition.
First they gave her a wanring, then a ticket, and now she faces a misdemeanor for violating the City of Oak Park's planning code. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for July 26.
Obviously the thing to do is change around what is "common." All the neighbors in her area should show their support and start their own gardens in their front yards. If enough people join in, then the city will have to start going around fining people who only plant those "weird" grass and bushes in their yard.
Oak Park Woman Faces 93-Days in Jail For Planting Vegetable Garden [MyFOXDetroit] (Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)
Rob picked up on this the other day... here's more info.
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