Outlaw gardeners, city find common ground
By Susan Sherring, Ottawa Sun
First posted: Wednesday, July 08, 2015 10:19 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, July 08, 2015 10:24 PM EDT
Let's face it.
Making fun of the city -- and its many and varied bylaws -- is like sport for many of us.
Fun -- and so darn easy.
So when word went out that the city was forcing a Kanata couple to take down their front-lawn vegetable garden because one ornery neighbour had complained, well, Twitter went wild.
But unfortunately, sometimes the truth gets in the way of a really great story.
And here's the truth: Part of the vegetable garden is on city property. The city believes the wooden enclosures used to contain the garden are a safety hazard because they butt up right beside the sidewalk.
So the couple has two choices -- move the garden closer to their home and off the city's easement -- or take away the wooden enclosures.
It's a position that seems hard to argue with.
Here's another truth: Shannon Lough is a very reasonable woman, and, given the exposure this story is getting, she's now second-guessing her initial tweet, which alerted everyone to her garden's plight.
Having received national media attention, she's just about ready for the story to go away.
Lough bought the house with her partner, Will Needham, in September, and she's still hoping to save the garden on which he has been working so hard.
Uncertain about exactly what the issue was with the garden, she phoned bylaw Wednesday and clarified the situation -- learning about the city's concerns with the wooden enclosures.
She's not 100% convinced they pose a danger, but she appreciates parents might be worried about their little ones going down the sidewalk as they learn to cycle. And she'd never knowingly do anything that might hurt someone.
Speaking to chief bylaw officer Roger Chapman, the two have agreed to meet Friday afternoon.
"He seems pretty reasonable; he was really nice," she said.
And she admits, she really had no idea that part of what she thought was her property is actually the city's.
"I know, everyone thinks I'm an idiot," she jokes, "but you know, not everyone knows that. People are shocked to learn that -- for them it's just common sense. So maybe this story will help educate others like myself."
For Lough, part of the problem for the garden is that the plants aren't directly in the earth on her front lawn. Instead, the plants are in boxes -- made out of the wooden enclosures.
She worries if the wood isn't there, the soil will just spill out when the rain comes.
But she's comforted in part by her conversation with Chapman.
"He was just so kind, he seemed very reasonable," she said.
Chapman said much the same thing about Lough.
"She seems very reasonable," he told the Sun on Wednesday -- both killing what appeared on the surface to be a great, fun City Messes Up Again story.
Chapman is upbeat a compromise can be found.
"She's willing to move the wooden structure. She's worried if we remove the back part of it, the soil will erode in the ran and wash away the garden. I think we can find something that will work, so I told her I'd come out and have a look at it," he said, suggesting another, more acceptable material could be used that would save the garden.
"She seemed to be receptive to that," he said. "We haven't come to any sort of formal agreement, but we'll work together."
***
It's interesting to note of course, that as the vegetable garden story took off, the city on Wednesday extended the timeframe for the infamous rooftop Holstein atop an Orleans food boutique Cheddar Et Cetera -- which also was once threatened by the strong arm of the city's bylaw department.
The cow contravened a rooftop sign bylaw and it looked like it would have to come down.
A little bit of common sense prevailed -- some bad puns were used -- and the cow still stands!
At this latest council meeting, yet another extension for the cow's sign life was given.
But yes that, too, was a great story.
http://www.ottawasun.com/2015/07/08/...-common-ground
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