Currently, Roswell’s Unified Development Code defines what a garden is (kind of) and specifies where one can’t be placed.
Roswell Unified Development Code
Article 9
9.7.8. Garden
A. Defined
A plot of ground where herbs, fruits, flowers, or vegetables are cultivated for personal or group use, consumption or donation. Includes a rooftop garden or green roof.
B. Use Standards
Where a garden is allowed as a limited use, the garden may not be located in the primary street or side street yard. This use standard is not intended to restrict flowers planted or grown for aesthetic reasons for household use only.
Too Vague?
So what is a “plot of ground?” Is it a contiguous space? Can Roswell residents plant dozens of vegetables around the perimeters of their yards? Can they line the sides of their driveways with aesthetically pleasing decorative containers or tomato cages? Are trellises allowed in the front yard if they are not part of a garden “plot?” What about the decorative edging of sidewalks or driveways with plants that are not flowers (e.g., root vegetables that show shoots, such as carrots or radishes)?
I’m going to assume that Roswell City Council members do not have a problem with Roswell residents planting some vegetables in their front yards, and that code enforcement officers wouldn’t cite a Roswell resident for having a few tomato plants in his or her front yard.
But at what point do X number of vegetable plants become a garden?
And, why not allow the type of frontyard gardens pictured on the front of this website?