Property Rights TREND. Local Ordinance: Prohibits Plants Higher than 10 inches. What?!

Where: New London, CT home to the Kelo v. City of New London of U.S. Supreme Court fame

The ordinance: Section 302.4 of the New London Property Maintenance Code

What garden items are prohibited by Section 302.4?

• “all grasses, annual plants and vegetation,” that are more than 10 inches high.
• except for trees, shrubs, and “cultivated flowers and gardens” 

The offending yard:  Has a “maintained” and “contained” bamboo garden for more than 30 years, longer than the ordinance has been in existence

The penalty: $13,500 in fees and civil penalties with talk of blight statutes being triggered

Reason | New London, Connecticut, Prosecutes Local Artist for Bamboo It Deems a Blight