garden fruits and vegetablesSome Planned Unit Developments (PUD’s), where owners have a fenced or enclosed back yard, prohibit the owner from using the land for agricultural purposes.  Why?  Some of the issues associated with growing your own food within an HOA include:  If the owners are on shared community water meters, more water may be used by those growing fruits and vegetables; maintenance of the size and height of fruit trees; and the impact on neighbors if pesticides are used in the gardening process.

Assembly Bill 2561 has been introduced and it would void any provision of the governing documents of an HOA that prohibits or unreasonably restricts the use of a backyard for personal agriculture.  This bill would also allow an owner to produce food for off-site donation.  The initial version of the bill was not restricted to back yards.  Owners would have been allowed to use front yards to grow fruits and vegetables for both personal and commercial use.  However, the bill has been modified to restrict agricultural production to the back yard only.  This bill has bi-partisan support.