H.537 passed the House on March 20 and is now in the Senate Committee on Economic Development.

By Roxy Vanderhoff, for the Community News Service

“To grow food is a Vermont right,” longtime South Burlington resident Cher Feitelberg told the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency and Forestry on Feb. 24.

Feitelberg was testifying in support of H.537, a bill that would give renters and condo owners the right to grow vegetable gardens. 

Feitelberg said when she’s visited other countries, there’s food, not just flowers, growing outside of people’s houses. She said H.537 would mirror the beauty and biodiversity of front yards that she’s seen while travelling. 

“We’re talking about changing a lot of things, including culture,” she said. 

Sponsored by Rep. Martin LaLonde, D-Chittenden-12, the bill would allow tenants to grow vegetables in portable containers so long as they agree to maintain them. Landlords would have a say in where the garden is placed and could charge the tenant for the extra water and electricity needed to grow the plants, the bill says.

The bill would also give vegetable-growing rights to residents in condo associations. The plots would be limited to “areas designated for exclusive use of the unit owner,” the bill says. Homeowner associations would still be allowed to review the plans but not intentionally delay the approval process.

Feitelberg said the bill would require homeowner associations, which have a reputation for strictness, to ease up on some of their regulations. 

She also cited accessibility as a reason to pass H.537. There is a shared garden plot where she lives, equipped with 18 spots for 77 residents. For those who have a spot, it’s difficult to access the gardens, with the only watering source being too far for most residents to safely use. 

“Out-the-door gardening allows people with those kinds of issues to grow food very conveniently and safely,” she said. 

Rep. Michelle Bos-Lun, D-Windham-3, said the bill would provide rights that don’t exist under current law. 

“The idea of this bill is that people should have the right to grow vegetable gardens, and as homeowners you have the right to grow vegetable gardens, but as renters you don’t necessarily,” she told the Senate Committee on Economic Development on March 31 after crossover.

Angela Zaikowski is the director of the Vermont Landlord Association and an attorney who specifically deals with cases related to renter and landlord rights. She agreed that people should have access to food but expressed some concerns about the bill.

“It has the potential to create some conflict where it doesn’t need to be and perhaps create some challenges for both housing providers and renters,” she told the committee on Feb. 25. 

Zaikowski said that she doesn’t see a need for H.537 because renters can already ask their landlords if they are allowed to grow on their property. 

“I don’t see a lot of disputes or conflicts regarding that,” she said, later adding, “It’s usually a discussion that landlords and tenants have if it’s something the tenant wants to do. If the properties are able to support it and it makes sense, they work out the details of that between themselves.”

Zaikowski also argued that landlords wouldn’t be able to move the planters because they would be on the tenant’s property.

“Their recourse is to send a violation notice, which under Vermont law currently is a 30-day notice, and then if there’s not compliance, to start an eviction case in the court, which is about a six month process,” she said.

H.573 is still being discussed in the Senate Committee on Economic Development and would take effect immediately upon passage.

Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship