Drop that Head of Cabbage, Mister, and Step Back from Your Cultivator with Your Hands in the Air

Posted By: Dwight Merriam, Robinson & Cole, LLP

DeKalb County, Georgia, can teach us all something about zoning enforcement.   The zoning enforcement authorities cited Steve Miller for growing too many vegetables on his 2-acre lot in a residential zone.  Actually, it’s not that he was growing the vegetables; it was that he was selling them at an off-site farmers’ market, you see, because that makes it a commercial activity.  Isn’t there some federal law about transporting zucchini over county lines for the purpose of illegal sale?

Says Miller: “It’s a way of life, like it’s something in my blood,” County Cites Farmer For Too Many Vegetables.

He ultimately got his property rezoned to allow the illegal veggies, but he’s still in the hole $5,000 in fines.

Our crack investigative team tracked down the actual citation:

Courtesy http://www.care2.com/news/member/812642344/2369780

Here is that miscreant, Steve Miller, in a head shot you’re likely to see soon on the post office wall.  I mean, look at him – would you trust him with a site plan approval or even a 2-foot side yard variance?

Courtesy of The Covered Dish, (“A Guy, A Garden And An Anti-Veggie Zoning Code,” http://www.atlantamagazine.com/blogs/covereddish/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10140961

And here’s the evidence, clear proof of his illegal activities and egregious flaunting of the rule of law:

Here is even more damning evidence unearthed by WSB-TV.  The county peppered Steve Miller with its proof of the violation.

WSB-TV

The crime scene is here (I’m surprised they didn’t have the SWAT team with those police helicopters and their powerful lights at this harrowing event…):

And finally, from our friends at bing.com after getting the exact address from 411.com, we have this shot of the unspeakable horror:

You can bet your prize winning pole beans that if there is a CSI Atlanta they’ll be able to help nail the next crazy man who thinks he can get away with this kind of crime, right in front of the neighbors.  Actually, the neighbors apparently like it: “When he moved here and I found out what he was doing I said, ‘Steve, you’re the best thing that ever happened to Cimarron Drive. And I still say that,” said neighbor Britt Fayssoux. http://www.wsbtv.com/news/24979774/detail.html



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Posted in Land Use
Tags: code, dwight merriam, fine, garden, Land Use, plant, violation, zoning