Off the Grid News – by Daniel Jennings
Columbiana, Ohio, is the latest city to debate the legality of gardens, even if the two sides can’t agree on what is up for discussion.
Resident Tony Dolan claims that the right to garden on a homeowner’s property is at stake. The Columbiana city council at one point considered a proposal that would have restricted gardens to back yards, although that language was struck.
“It has been frighteningly apparent that we in this city have given our freedoms up in ways that we never really saw coming,” Dolan wrote at the Columbiana for/against Chickens Facebook page.
Mayor Bryan Blakeman claims the gardening ordinance is being considered because, technically, gardening currently is banned.
“Right now, if there is not something expressly in this code that says that you can have one, you technically can’t,” Blakeman told the Salem News.
The newspaper likewise reported that “if something is not permitted it is prohibited.”
But at least one councilmember is siding with the gardeners.
“People have been growing gardens for as long as I can remember in Columbiana, and have never had a problem,” Councilman Dick McBane said.
McBane also expressed concern about the argument that if something isn’t permitted, it’s prohibited, the newspaper reported.
“I think we are over-using this and using it as a convenient way to try to stop something,” he said.
The city’s planning commission considered banning front-yard gardening because it attracts wildlife – something that could create traffic problems on roads, commission member Tucker Cope Jr. told the newspaper.
Vegetable gardening is not the only activity facing restrictions in Columbiana; the city council is considering an ordinance that would make roosters illegal.
“City Council is only considering allowing chickens, hens only and no roosters,” McBane wrote at the Columbiana for/against Chickens Facebook page.
Columbiana, located south of Youngstown, is but the latest city where front-yard vegetable gardens have generated controversy. The Miami Shores, Fla., council banned such gardens, and a court upheld the law.
© Copyright Off The Grid News
Well than
Is that city’s government in the “code”?
These people better wake up
And shuck these devils from their counsel seats or they can forget about even leaving their homes ( which by the way I’m sure isn’t in the code)
Is breathing in the code?
Because if it’s not, then according to the Mayor, everybody in Columbiana is going to have to stop breathing.
Who am I kidding?
They probably have all kinds of breathing rules written into the code.
Yep. here it is.
Ordinance #48563-7 subsection D paragraph 3:
Rules of Breathing and or Inhalation and Exhalation as defined in section 54 subparagraph 9.
Any person(s) (person(s) heretofore mentioned to be considered property) found to be having or causing or exhaling bad breath will be subject to a fine of 200 dollars. Degree of bad breath to be determined by the ticketing officer.
Any person(s) to be found to have chronic halitosis will be subject to public flogging and will be force fed Certs until their intestines explode.
Whistling is only to be permitted between the hours of 2 and 4 pm. Any person(s) found to be whistling during un-permitted whistling hours will be subject to waterboarding.
Nose whistling is strictly prohibited.
Any person(s) found to be choking, gasping or coughing will be subject to immediate quarantine. Length of quarantine to be determined by how long it takes for quarantined person(s) to starve to death.
Any person(s) found to have larger than normal lungs will be subject to single lung removal surgery. Size of lungs to be determined by arresting officer. Single lungs removed will be sold for spare parts. Any monies gained from sale of lung are the sole property of the Council of the City of Columbiana.
(just jokin)
kill the mayor and grow larger gardens
Now there is a sustainable way to fix this problem but it might have to include a few on the other committees too to actually work and in many more cities as well. This might not end peacefully because the ballot box has been a total dismal failure!
Liberty grows where tyrants are planted
Welkom to Amerika
Those code only apply to those that are United States Inc. citizens and those who consent.. The major and the man and [wo]man have forgotten who the public servants are and who the employer is… The created cannot be more powerful than the creator.. Easy peasy…
If the people voted those petty dictators into office they can recall the little minded creeps and let them scratch (like a rooster) for a living. At least require them to take a course in basic human rights. Growing food is a prerequisite to Life; the Liberty to grow broccoli even if George Bush does not like it, and the pursuit of Happiness at least includes picking a ripe tomato warmed by the sun from a vine you planted and nursed and eating it right on the spot. A well-tended garden is a thing of beauty and a joy to all who behold its simple magnificence..
Powers are derived from the People NOT handed down from the government.
The war of Northern Aggression [aka The Civil War] partially settled the fact that all lesser governments must conform to the Federal Constitution
Read the 9th Amendment to refresh your memory
The Ninth Amendment (Amendment IX) to the United States Constitution addresses rights, retained by the people, that are not specifically enumerated in the Constitution. It is part of the Bill of Rights. Wikipedia
Amendment X – The United States Constitution
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
.
The Cock Blocking Ordinance.