City Councilor Voices Concern for Resident Property Rights

The Inver Grove Heights City Council discussed the first reading of an ordinance amendment that would allow community gardens to be grown in residential and public or institutional zoning districts at Monday’s council meeting. 

Community gardens are not legal in Inver Grove Heights under the current ordinance.

The council carried the amendment consideration, with a 4-1 vote.

Councilor Bill Klein was the sole voice of opposition, consistently speaking against the amendment, on the grounds that he felt it imposed unnecessary restrictions on aspiring community gardeners.

“It’s their property, and that’s the point,” said Klein. “It’s the moral erosion of property rights.”

In attendance at Monday’s meeting was Paul Tuschy, a member of .  Several members of Grace Church are interested in starting a community garden and a church representative initiated the city conversation surrounding the issue last summer.

“The more community gardens we allow people to have on their properties, the better,” said Tuschy.

Past opportunities for resident input regarding the ordinance have been met with a community response in favor of the amendment.

The council also discussed several specifics related to the ordinance. Mayor George Tourville noted the importance of considering the possibility of a neighbor who is opposed to community gardens in the context of the ordinance. The mayor mentioned the issue of safety as it relates to community gardens as well.

Councilor Rosemary Piekarski Krech discussed the potential aesthetic unpleasantness community gardens could cause and the possibility that the gardens might attract vermin.

 “Not all gardens are created equal,” said Piekarski Krech.

The council voted in support of a version of the ordinance amendment that included recommendations from the city Planning Commission. These recommendations advise the removal of a section of the amendment requiring all street-facing gardens to be surrounded by fencing.

Klein, however, did not waver from his initial stance.

“It’s a violation of property rights,” said Klein. “What are we doing getting involved in this?”