Rep. Sonya M. Harper

Filed: 2/24/2020

 

 


 

 


 
10100HB4704ham001LRB101 17129 BMS 70207 a

1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4704

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 4704 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Right
5to Garden Act.
 
6    Section 5. Findings. The State of Illinois finds that the
7right of a property owner to create and maintain a garden on
8his or her own residential property, whether it be for produce,
9flowers, herbs, fungi, or grains, and when done so for one's
10own consumption and enjoyment, should not be infringed upon by
11the State or any unit of local government.
 
12    Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
13    "Garden" means a piece of property wholly located within a
14person's residential property that is used to grow produce,
15flowers, herbs, fungi, or grains for one's own consumption and

 

 

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1enjoyment.
2    "Residential property" means real property on which there
3is a dwelling unit with accommodations for 4 or fewer separate
4households and occupied, or to be occupied, in whole or in
5part, by the mortgagor; however "residential property":
6        (1) is limited to the primary residence of a person;
7        (2) does not include an investment property or
8    residence other than a primary residence; and
9        (3) does not include residential property taken in
10    whole or in part as collateral for a commercial loan.
11    "Season extension techniques and devices" means any low or
12high tunnels and membrane structures constructed according to
13the United States Department of Agriculture's best practices
14utilized for season extension, wind break, or insect and shade
15netting in the growth and cultivation of food crops.
 
16    Section 15. Regulations of gardens on residential
17property. The State or a unit of local government may not
18regulate gardens or the use of season extension techniques and
19devices on residential property. However, this does not
20preclude the State or a unit of local government from adopting
21statutes or regulations pertaining to: restrictions on water
22use during drought conditions; existing or future adoption of
23property set-backs; maximum lot coverage; utility safety;
24fertilizer use; control of invasive species; a substance
25regulated under the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, the

 

 

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1Industrial Hemp Act, or the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act; or
2any other regulation that does not have the effect of
3prohibiting gardens.
 
4    Section 20. Home rule. A home rule unit may not regulate
5gardens on residential property in a manner inconsistent with
6this Act. This Section is a limitation under subsection (i) of
7Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution on the
8concurrent exercise by home rule units of powers and functions
9exercised by the State.
 
10    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
11becoming law.".