Since this question went over like a lead balloon on Reddit I thought I'd ask here.
Virginia now allows for maryjane to be grown at home. However, the statute says it must not be visible from the street and must be behind a fence so that children can't access it.
My neighbors now have a few plants. Whatever, their business. My husband and I cannot partake because of our jobs. Their plants are in pots in their yard next to ours. No fence and totally visible from the street. They can't move them to the backyard because it isn't sunny enough.
Now why does this bother me? I'd actually like to sell or rent out this house in the next year or two and I just don't think families with young children would move in. Therefore, this is a threat to my property value.
How do I approach the neighbor about putting up a fence? I hate confrontation. Also, do I have to disclose that the neighbors are growers to the next family?
Why is it wrong to want people to follow the law?
There's nothing wrong with wanting people to follow the law, but your detailed concern seems a bit unnecessary IMO. If your objective is really just that you want the neighbors to follow the law, then you should either speak to them about it directly or report it to the code enforcer. If it's truly just a concern of compliance, then the other details of your original post are not relevant.
Worrying about how this might possibly affect you
potentially selling your house a year or two from now is, I think, why you're getting so much pushback. In two years, they may have moved out, stopped growing the plants, changed the law, etc. And, even if things were exactly the same when you go to list your house, I really don't think this is going to have a huge impact on your resale. The majority of buyers are not going to even notice or care that a neighbor is growing a few legal plants in pots in their own yard.
The fact that you think you need to disclose to potential buyers that your neighbors are "growers" honestly seems bizarre to me. Either you are way overthinking this or you are more judgmental about your neighbor's marijuana use than you claim to be in your posts. Do people normally disclose random information about their neighbors in their real estate listings? To be clear, we are talking about a
maximum of four plants (that are completely legal) and, even if neighbors are violating the code, it's a
civil penalty of no more than $25 (for not taking precautions to prevent unauthorized access by persons younger than 21 years of age). That seems less significant than an unlicensed dog or an HOA violation, which are other common offenses no one would even consider "disclosing" about their neighbors when selling their home.