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Old 01-07-2014, 09:59 PM
 
Location: White House, TN
6,480 posts, read 6,138,581 times
Reputation: 4577

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Linda_d View Post
Some people just like to push the envelop because that's the way they are, out to prove that they can do whatever they want no matter what the ordinances or HOA rules say. This guy sounds like one of those guys.

If you don't like the rules, buy or rent somewhere else.
And this justifies a $130,000 fine because...?
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Old 01-07-2014, 10:09 PM
 
3,963 posts, read 5,677,478 times
Reputation: 3711
Quote:
Originally Posted by arctic_gardener View Post
Why do we accept this system as correct? Why do we let ourselves be dictated by some arbitrary code of what makes a house appreciate or depreciate in value? If I'm buying a home, I couldn't care less what the neighbour's houses and yards looked like. As long as I knew they weren't drug-dealers or psychopaths, I really wouldn't care. Why do we allow property prices to be influenced by the appearance of neighbouring properties?

I don't see anything rough or junky-looking in his garden. I see a beautiful, lush vegetable garden. If I were buying a home in his area, a glimpse of his garden would encourage me in my purchase.
I know right? They are imbeciles.
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Old 01-08-2014, 01:06 AM
 
2,964 posts, read 5,435,835 times
Reputation: 3867
I'm not 100% sympathetic to complaints that it's an eyesore, and I certainly don't think he should lose his home out of stubbornness, but...this is not gardening.

Anyone who gardens knows (with our joints and backs) that gardening is by definition an intentional human labor. Gardening is not accidental. What this guy's doing is foraging. Just logically, if he removed the tree stump he could plant more. That's valuing your space. Letting vegetation rot by itself instead of methodically cutting and composting speeds its reuse. That's valuing your time. Fostering growth rather than forcing plants to compete with weeds is building their value to you.

Nature is wise. But nature doesn't wisely make us suffer cold in the winter and heat in the summer. We intervene for ourselves for comfort. Letting a "garden" do its own thing might be "natural" but it's not an adult way of providing for yourself, if that's his statement.
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Old 01-08-2014, 01:10 AM
 
1,161 posts, read 2,438,265 times
Reputation: 2613
It wasn't one fine but multiple fines that went unpaid and accumulated over the years, probably along with interests on the unpaid sums.

I'm sure the city would be happy to negotiate or even waive the fine if he cleaned up the garden.

Quote:
Originally Posted by wawa1992 View Post
And this justifies a $130,000 fine because...?
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Old 01-08-2014, 01:42 AM
 
Location: Poshawa, Ontario
2,982 posts, read 4,084,782 times
Reputation: 5622
Quote:
Originally Posted by Infamous92 View Post
Seriously? These people must be bored. Eyesores are abandoned buildings, overgrown and filthy vacant lots, dead trees, overflowing garbage, etc. where I live, but a garden? I wish.
That mess could not be defined as a "garden" no matter how many bongs you smoked before judging it.

Quote:
Don't like the garden? Don't look.
I doubt you'd have that attitude if your house was next door to his and your resell value was taking a nosedive because of him. If this clown wants to slack and refuse to perform even the bare minimum to upkeep his property, the city has every right to fine him for it. Every jurisdiction I know of has a property standards bylaw that would prevent someone from ignoring yard work to the extent this guy has. If he doesn't like it, he should have looked into the bylaws before doing something so foolish - or moved to the country where people are a lot less likely to care.
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Old 01-08-2014, 01:43 AM
 
Location: White House, TN
6,480 posts, read 6,138,581 times
Reputation: 4577
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallybalt View Post
It wasn't one fine but multiple fines that went unpaid and accumulated over the years, probably along with interests on the unpaid sums.

I'm sure the city would be happy to negotiate or even waive the fine if he cleaned up the garden.
They levied him $300 per day. That's $109,500 per year. Is it really 365 times worse to leave the garden out for a year instead of cleaning it up immediately? Not to mention, the whole idea of punishment for this man is not good. His neighbors didn't like his garden because it wasn't "normal"? Are bugs they've never seen before any worse than bugs they have seen before? Unless he's harboring man-eating super Venus fly traps in that garden, there's no reason to levy a fine worth more than a Mercedes S Class on him. Live and let live - it's the only correct philosophy. Unless the garden is dangerous, it's not worth punishing someone over.
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Old 01-08-2014, 02:32 AM
 
13,389 posts, read 6,396,282 times
Reputation: 10022
Most suburban areas I've lived in would have mowed that mess down by now and sent him the bill.

Maybe once the rats and snakes take over HIS house he'll try something else.
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Old 01-08-2014, 02:33 AM
 
Location: Ohio
15,701 posts, read 16,986,475 times
Reputation: 22090
His "garden" is a nasty mess and is an eyesore, IMO.

I would not want that mess next to my house.

I wouldn't have a problem with a garden that was neat and well tended.....perhaps with a flower border around the edges, etc.

Some CD members have posted pictures of beautiful gardens that I wouldn't mind seeing in a front yard.
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Old 01-08-2014, 03:51 AM
 
Location: Cody, WY
10,420 posts, read 14,547,335 times
Reputation: 22016
Mr. Law has produced some extraordinary results which follow the design parameters of Permaculture. Nothing is going to waste; everything either provides food and other useful plants or he returns it to his miniature environment. If a significant number of people would emulate Mr. Law we would see either an end or stong amelioration of Florida's water problem. This is the rational future which seems ironic because American homes once had yards like this; the craze to copy British formal gardens didn't arrive until about 1830.

If I lived in the same climate I'd be thrilled to pick the great produce resulting from this sort of gardening. How many Americans have ever tasted a vine-ripened banana? I'd wager that's the only sort Mr. Law ever eats.

Had the OP posted this on the Self-Sufficiency and Preparedness subforum I'm sure that reactions would have been far more positive than what I've seen here. Apparently to many garden enthusiasts here gardens should all look artificial. But formal or formal-looking gardens are the antithesis of Nature.
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Old 01-08-2014, 08:00 AM
 
2 posts, read 2,729 times
Reputation: 15
Lets see how much of his garden is left if after a run on it by his neighbors after a disaster. Those complaining are always the unprepared.
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