Minneapolis gardeners may soon need permits for boulevard plots

Friction point: Some boulevard gardeners call the permit requirement — and the $50 fee that might come with it — an unnecessary barrier to a small-scale balm for environmental harms and high food prices.

What they're saying: Since last fall, city officials have argued the application process will help ensure boulevard gardens don't harm nearby trees — or block a fire hydrant or disability parking space — and that fees are needed to cover the new program's cost.

State of play: City staff offered to waive the fee for the first two years, but Council Member Aurin Chowdhury said on social media she plans to bring an amendment to drop the permit requirement for planter beds.

How it works: The current proposal would add edible plants to the list of vegetation that's allowed in the boulevard without a permit. (Currently, it's only flowers and grass.)

• The city would require a permit for any planter boxes, hedges, landscaping rocks and certain types of mulch in the boulevards.

• Vegetation couldn't grow higher than 3 feet above the curb, and gardens would be subject to other limits on their dimensions and placement.

Zoom in: As currently written, the city would automatically waive the permit fee for a raised-bed garden in the "Green Zones" — parts of North Minneapolis and the Phillips neighborhood with polluted soil that's not safe for vegetable gardening.