Mayor mows farmer's newly planted orchard adjacent to his house, farmer makes it a wetland instead: 'It's huge, it's beautiful, it's wet'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Mar 25, 2024 6:00 PM EDT

If you live adjacent to an upstart public official, there's a good chance you're going to run into problems, especially when they believe in loose applications of the rules when it benefits them—despite their otherwise pedantic outlook on regulations. Of course, you're going to run into even more problems when you're managing your agriculturally zoned land in unconventional ways, turning to relatively newfound ecological means of managing pests rather than dumping hundreds of gallons of pesticides on the property to keep pests at bay.

This mayor overstepped when he ordered the city maintenance crew to come and mow this agricultural plot after determining that the grass was too long. Unfortunately, that "long grass" was actually a meticulously planned prairie ecosystem that had been constructed to support a newly planted orchard of trees. Without even giving the land managers or owners notice, the city mowers came through and laid waste to the entire thing, mowing down everything that had been planted: grass, trees, and anything else that lay in their path. (Someone get the tree lawyers involved.) Instead of trying to replant and start from scratch, the staff biologist responsible for the project changed tactics and converted the land directly adjacent to the mayor's house into a wetland.

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  • 01
    "It's huge, it's beautiful, it's wet."
    via Sara Cottle
  • 02
    Posted by u/ErnestlyFreaky The city wanted us to get rid of native grass, so we built an urban wetlands! It all goes back to the summer of 2021. I started working as a biologist at an urban farm, planning and constructing polyculture systems to research food production. I developed A plan for noxious weed control and started to construct the systems over the course of a two years.
    via u/ErnestlyFreaky
  • 03
    During this time we had some back and forth with the city council, who didn't understand the nature of our agriculturally zoned property. After several meetings and lots of work over 2 years, we'd finally made a lot of progress and reached an agreement with the city by the summer of 2023. Part of the agreement was to mow ditches and the small yard of our properties farm house.
    via u/ErnestlyFreaky
  • 04
    I'll remind you the property is zoned as agriculture. So we have no obligation to follow residential ordinances. About halfway through the summer at the end of July, the city came on to our property and mowed are entire native pasture and what was soon to be an orchard of already planted baby trees.. When we talk to them, they noted ordinances against tall grass and state noxious weed laws as a justification. The later of which is ironic because they interrupted our system of invasive plant cont
    via u/ErnestlyFreaky
  • 05
    So now in order to remove all the invasive plants from my property and comply with all the ordinances. None of which have anything to do with water! I have created a massive urban wetlands. It's huge, it's beautiful, it's wet. It's compliant to every law and ordinance. It's mine and the city mayor who lives next door to my farm can enjoy it just as much as I enjoy it living five miles away. So now I have a wetlands to research instead of a prairie, and I love it!
    via u/ErnestlyFreaky
  • 06
    Rachel Silver My mom had an urban property with an unusually large yard. She turned the whole thing into a garden. It was mostly raised beds with paths between them. There were berries and vegetables, over a dozen different kinds of mint, herbs and medicinal plants. There was also a pair of mature dogwoods, an arbor with some flowering vine (I forget what, but it had small blue and white flowers), a central walk lined with espaliered fruit and nut trees and a small pond with a waterfall and a bu
    via u/ErnestlyFreaky
  • 07
    She registered it as a Wildlife Habitat with the National Wildlife Federation. I don't know what she got out of that other than a nice sign for her yard and a certificate suitable for framing. But she was incredibly... let's go with "miserly", with both her money and her time, so I assumed it was worth the hassle. ETA The local paper did a piece about her yard when she got the certification. It was the entire front page (and half the second) of the Saturday local section, with lots of pictures.
    via u/ErnestlyFreaky
  • 08
    If you think about it, anything you can do to bring public attention to your property is to your benefit. You're doing important work, and a lot of people would be supportive if they were aware of it. If the city tried to do you dirty, those people would unleash the rage of the internet. So maybe lean into that. Develop a social media presence for the farm. Make short-form video content about the work you're doing. , you might end up making enough money as a content creator to buy the property o
    via u/ErnestlyFreaky
  • 09
    w1987g "the city mayor" That explains all your problems... 237 Reply Share ... ErnestlyFreaky OP Also, they are mad we restored the historic brick farmhouse from 1914 instead of tearing it down and building a modern house. Lol silly 279 Reply Share BigLeboski26 Good grief some people just tic me off. Good for you restoring an old building like that, how big is it? 56 Reply Share
    via u/ErnestlyFreaky
  • 10
    ferky234 You should sue over the destruction of your orchard. Tree law is a thing and very expensive for the destroyer. 121 Reply Share
    via u/ErnestlyFreaky
  • 11
    PhDAutoMechanic This wouldn't happen to be taking place in a relatively rural county in the middle. of a very central state would it? If so, I remember reading a piece in the local paper about your issues. It made me quite angry at how you were being treated. If not, dang this sounds familiar to some folks I've read about recently. 43 Reply Share ErnestlyFreaky OP That very well could have been me. We are still in a lawsuit for the damages 45 Reply Share ...
    via u/ErnestlyFreaky
  • 12
    Zoreb1 Note: Wetlands are under Federal law so if the city causes problems, refer them to the EPA. 34 Reply Share . . . Main_Horror7651 Thanks to a 2023 Supreme Court ruling, the only wetlands federally protected are the wetlands adjoining rivers, lakes, or another body if water. The rest of the wetlands need state and local protection. Some states are trying to fill the gap left by the ruling, but in a number of areas, people need to contact their state/local representatives to ensure wetlands
    via u/ErnestlyFreaky
  • 13
    juntar74 the city came on to our property and mowed are [sic] ... already planted baby trees. Depending where you live, there are HEFTY liabilities for unauthorized removal of trees. For example, where I live it's "treble the amount of damages." (source) Check your local laws, and if it's worth it, sue the city. They won't forget next time. 11 Reply Share
    via u/ErnestlyFreaky

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malicious compliance public official mayor malicious-compliance-reddit farmer revenge revenge-stories farmers farm
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