News

Michigan stay-at-home order extends greenhouse & nursery ban

Michigan’s Governor extended the statewide coronavirus stay-at-home order, including the forced shutdown of plant nurseries and greenhouses.  Governor Gretchen Witmer’s original order expired Monday, but Executive Order 2020-42 now bans many activities until May 1^st.

Although the order contains exceptions for food and agriculture, the same order specifically names garden centers and plant nurseries as non-essential areas that must be closed or have products removed.

The Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association and Michigan Farm Bureau have been asking Witmer to reconsider the restriction, without success.

• 

  Hundreds of thousands can be in close contact buying fast food and lottery tickets but I can’t get vegetables to plant in my garden governor needs to think about were this virus is coming from

  Reply
• 

  This is incorrect, any greenhouse under 50,000 square feet can still be operated and sell product.

  It’s right in the executive order you link to,
  “For stores of less than 50,000 square feet of customer floor space, limit the number of people in the store (including employees) to 25% of the total occupancy limits established by the State Fire Marshal or a local fire marshal.

  For stores of more than 50,000 square feet:

  Limit the number of customers in the store at one time (excluding employees) to 4 people per 1,000 square feet of customer floor space. The amount of customer floor space must be calculated to exclude store areas that are closed under subprovision (2) of this subsection.

  Close areas of the store—by cordoning them off, placing signs in aisles, posting prominent signs, removing goods from shelves, or other appropriate means—that are dedicated to the following classes of goods”

  You can read it yourself, 11.d
  https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/0,9309,7-387-90499_90705-525182–,00.html

  Reply