Landlord group warns Section 3 of H.537 could create conflicts, urges clearer rules on tenant gardens

Angela Zajkowski, director of the Vermont Landlords Association, told the House committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, & Forestry that Section 3 of H.537, which addresses tenants' rights to grow vegetables, should be clarified to protect landlords from property damage and to provide alternatives to eviction.

"I think it's important that people have access to food and have the ability to provide food for themselves and their families," Zajkowski said, but she added the bill as drafted "has the potential to create some conflict where it doesn't need to be." She said she would focus her remarks on Section 3 because that portion directly affects the landlord-tenant relationship.

A committee member read aloud the bill language that says a landlord "shall permit a tenant to grow a vegetable garden in portable containers approved by the landlord in the tenant's private…