One more way for New Jersey to take your money (Opinion)

For decades, landscapers have been helping homeowners put mulch around their homes to cover ground and create a pleasant view and add to curb appeal.

For decades, mulch has never been, to my knowledge from listening to the largest audience in the state for 10 years, a cause of a house burning down.

But evidence be damned, this is Jersey.

In Jersey, if it moves, walks, talks, or decorates, it's the subject of regulation. The latest regulatory victim is your mulch.

New Jersey will require a minimum of 18 inches of space between mulch beds and combustible building materials starting April 15. So there will need to be at least a foot and a half between the mulch and the wood frame of a home.

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Wait until the cost of inspectors and the fines that you'll pay for having mulch within 18 inches of your home and deck.

This latest move is said to be in your interest of course, saving you from the horrors of a house-destroying mulch fire. The government's position is that wood-based mulch is combustible and may be challenging to extinguish once it ignites.

In an unrelated matter, the government also said that the sky is blue and water is wet.

The answer to problems, let's say you did burn your house down with a wayward tiki or weed torch that caught the mulch and surrounded your home in a wall of flames. Regulation isn't going to replace common sense.

Somehow people are able to live somewhat regulation-free in states like the Dakotas, the Carolinas and other bastions of freedom, and they're doing just fine.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Spadea. Any opinions expressed are Bill's own.

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