An American farmer has been fined 5000 dollars for growing vegetables on his own farmland (Atlanta: employment)

[french paris]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEPuJcIy_44


thoughts ?

[cwkimbro]

I don't really have any problem with what this guy is doing and he clearly had no problem getting rezoned. It would be nice if Dekalb Co. dropped the charges if no harm was done.

However, I wouldn't quite characterize this as "an American farmer has been fined... for growing vegetables on his own farmland"

This area is a a densely populated county in metro Atlanta. This area is suburban in character and he was growing vegetables not on farmland, but on residential property in a residential area that was not zoned for farming, nor was it zoned to be a place of employment.

I think it is alright for people to grow vegetables in their own yard, but when it gets so big that it is part of a small commercial operation I do think the property owner should have gone through the rezoning process in the beginning. This would give a chance for neighbors to complain, affect on neighboring property values to be considered, or effects on creating a small employment center in an otherwise residential area.