TALLAHASSEE, Fla.-- The Senate next week could approve a measure aimed at preventing local governments from regulating homeowners’ vegetable gardens.
Senators on Thursday took up the bill (SB 82), sponsored by Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, and positioned it for a vote.
The issue stems from a legal dispute between homeowners Hermine Ricketts and Laurence Carroll and the Village of Miami Shores over an ordinance that banned front-yard vegetable gardens.
The couple had maintained a front-yard garden for nearly two decades but uprooted their vegetables when faced with the possibility of fines. They challenged the constitutionality of the ordinance but lost in court.
Bradley said Thursday such a legal prohibition “offends me to my core.”
Rep. Elizabeth Fetterhoff, R-DeLand, has filed an identical bill (HB 145), which has been approved by one House panel.