The city of Flint, MI is promoting urban agriculture and urban ecology as means to transform Flint’s urban blight into an aesthetically pleasing, functional, and sustainable metropolitan landscape. Read the article…
The side bar on the article had some interesting arguments that we should consider for our own municipalities here in central Ohio.
Flint Journal extras Regulating Urban Agriculture
Chickens and goats Why allow: Provide eggs, meat and dairy products. Inexpensive, high-quality manure compost replaces expensive synthetic fertilizers. How to regulate: Limit numbers and require permits for each animal. Require pens Require setbacks from property lines Restrict roosters Require notification and approval of neighbors Neuter male goats De-horn goats
Hoop Houses
Why allow:
Extended growing season for extra production. Allows gardeners to prepare seedlings. Can grow cold-hardy varieties in winter without additional heat source.
How to regulate:
Specified setbacks from property lines and streetfront
Specific height and size limits for each zoning district
Require fencing or shrubs as a buffer to adjacent properties
Bees
Why allow:
Necessary to pollinate crops. More beekeepers needed to bolster honeybee populations decreased by an unknown cause in recent years. Produce honey and other valuable products.
How to regulate:
Limit number of hives
Require setbacks from property lines
Specify minimum lot sizes
Require a permit
Producing Food for Sale
Why allow:
Creates income for gardeners. Offsets costs to produce fresh, safe food. Local production guarantees local availability. Reduces environmental impact of food production by reducing fuel and transportation costs.
How to regulate:
Require fences or landscaping as buffers between houses and garden.
Allow market gardens in certain zones such as multiple-family, commercial, industrial or urban garden districts.
Source: Genesee County Land Bank, Ruth Mott Foundation Applewood and Michigan State University Extension.
