Prohibiting the regulation of certain residential gardens by state agencies and local governments

GENERAL. This bill prohibits a state agency or local government from adopting or continuing in effect any regulation that prohibits an individual from establishing, maintaining, or benefiting from a residential garden located on residential property owned or leased by that individual. Any such regulation is void and unenforceable. Under the bill, “residential property” includes real property consisting of not more than two family dwelling units. RESTRICTIONS. In order to be protected from regulation, a residential garden must meet certain requirements. The garden must be used to produce vegetables, herbs, fruits, flowers, pollinator plants, leafy greens, and other edible plants and must be part of a yard attached to an occupied residential property. The garden food must be produced and harvested primarily for the benefit of the individual who owns or leases the residential property or the members of the individual’s family, household, or guests. APPLICABILITY. The protection from regulation does not apply in a number of circumstances including to the use of residential property if the state agency or local government is a titleholder or leaseholder, or if the management of the residential property is governed under a contract with the state agency or local government. The protection does not apply if the garden food is produced for purposes of sale. The protection does not apply to a number of state regulations in effect that govern organic food production, including a number of regulations administered and enforced by the department of agriculture and land stewardship relating to seeds, fertilizers and soil conditioners, or pesticides (although certain local government preemption statutes exist for these items), or to the control of noxious weeds. The protection does not apply to a plant that is growing in an easement or ditch, that obstructs traffic, or that invades neighboring property. Finally, the protection does not apply to a number of plant species, including a plant used to produce a controlled substance or used to produce a medical or psychological substance; to a plant that may cause damage to another plant or an animal, or that obstructs water flow or poses a public health threat; to a practice that constitutes a public or private nuisance; or to a regulation that does not target the use of a residential garden, even though the regulation may impact upon the garden’s use.