Canada: Saint-Laurent borough gives green thumbs up for front yard vegetable gardens
“We’re also expanding it to our industrial sector,” explained borough mayor Alan DeSousa, “where we will be able to have rooftop greenhouses in over 1,000 non-residential buildings.”
By Phil Carpenter
Global News
June 23, 2023
Excerpt:
Behind a hedge, next to a sidewalk, hides a secret Marie-Claire Legaré has kept in her front yard for years, something that might’ve upset neighbours or even earned her a citation from the Saint-Laurent borough.
“I’ve been growing them for about seven to 10 years but they were hidden,” she giggled.
It’s a vegetables garden which includes cucumbers and tomatoes.
“So I know they were not totally legal but it doesn’t show that much,” she told Global News.
Now she has less reason to hide. A new borough bylaw allows residents to plant vegetable gardens anywhere on their property, and even build greenhouses in their backyard.
“We’re also expanding it to our industrial sector,” explained borough mayor Alan DeSousa, “where we will be able to have rooftop greenhouses in over 1,000 non-residential buildings.”
She added that when people produce their own food it helps them appreciate what goes into growing what we eat.
Other residents think the initiative is admirable, but some wonder how it might affect neighbourhood aesthetics.
“I think there’ll have to be maybe some rules and regulations in terms of how to maintain it,” Erin Freedin said when she heard the news about the bylaw, “because it could maybe get quickly out of control.”
