Gardens in the Front Yard, Chickens in the Back Yard, and Living Lawnmowers: A Report on Urban Farming

(1)

Gardens in the Front Yard, Chickens in

the Back Yard, and Living Lawnmowers:

A Report on Urban Farming

Erin Hartigan

Assistant County Attorney Lake County

Sarah Taitt

Assistant County Attorney Osceola County

(2)

Urban Farming in a Nutshell



Urban farming – Growing plants or

raising animals within and around

urban areas



Popular interest in urban farming



Impacts – How local government is

responding

(3)

Land Use Controls in U.S. –

Roots in Elizabethan England

 1 cottage per four acres of land

 _{An Act Against the Erecting and Maintaining of Cottages,}

(4)

Early American Land Use Controls

 Laws of the Indies, 1573

 First known land development regulations in America

 Guided development throughout the entire period of Spanish rule

(5)

Land Use Controls in the U.S.

In the American colonies, public entities (provincial land office, chartered company, or town) frequently regulated:

• Building height and building material

• Drainage of wetlands

• Removal of nuisance vegetation destructive to

(6)

The Rise of Zoning

 1898-Massachusetts restricts building height around Copley Square to 90 feet

 Williams v. Parker, 188 U.S. 491 (1903)

 1910-Los Angeles prohibits brickyards in certain areas

 Hadacheck v. Sebastian, 239 U.S. 394 (1915)

(7)

The Equitable Building

The Equitable Building in

New York

 38 stories with no setbacks

(8)

1916 Zoning Resolution



1916-New York enacted the

country’s first

comprehensive zoning

code

 Separated city into zones

 Established height and setback controls



Remained in effect until

1961

(9)

(10)

(11)

Standard Zoning Enabling Act

 1921 advisory committee on zoning

 Appointed by Secretary of Commerce (and later president) Herbert Hoover

(12)

(13)

Euclidean Zoning



Village of Euclid v. Ambler

Realty

 272 U.S. 365 (1926)



Zoning is constitutional

exercise of police power



Zoning extends and

(14)

Benefits of Euclidean Zoning

 Separates incompatible uses  Predictability re. potential uses  Objectivity, ease of determining compliance

(15)

Criticisms of

Euclidean Zoning

 Lack of flexibility  Sprawl development  Automobile-dependent  _{Extreme segregation of} uses

(16)

Mixed Use Development

 Blends different uses within close proximity

 Return to traditional pattern of development

(17)

Benefits of Mixed

Use Zoning

 Allows supportive uses to co-exist

 Reduces urban sprawl

 Pedestrian and bicycle friendly

(18)

 Merges incompatible uses

 High construction costs

 Lack of affordable housing

Criticisms of Mixed

Use Zoning

(19)

(20)

Link to Major Economic Downturns



World War I, Depression, and

World War II



Federal government

encouraged Americans to

grow their own food



Some 20 million “victory

gardens” were planted

during World War II

(21)

Return to Rural Farming



After each crisis passed,

farming returned to rural

area

(22)

Right to Farm

• Development pressure

(23)

Right to Farm



Right to Farm Acts (RTFA)



_{Nuisance protection for agricultural activities}



_{Florida passed a Right to Farm Act in 1979 (}

F.S. 823.14)

(24)

(25)

Social Movement



Changing attitudes toward

food production

 Local v. Commercial

 Organic v. Chemical

(26)

Economic Downturn



The Great Recession



Self sufficiency

(27)

Health and Environment



Health



Food Deserts



100% Natural



_Environment



Efficient use of

resources



Reduced pollutants

(28)

(29)

Zoning for Urban Farming



Regulate use based on intensity, not type

 Reduce restrictions on agriculture as primary or ancillary use



Establish zoning controls

 _Setbacks  Buffers

 Size and number limitations

 Hours of operation

(30)

Gardens

 Household gardens

 Community gardens

(31)

Household Gardens

 The growing and cultivation of fruits, flowers, herbs, vegetables and/or ornamental plants by the owner or occupant primarily for personal use.

(32)

“Illegal Front Yard Garden:

Canadian Couple’s Kitchen

Garden Targeted by

Authorities”

Huffington Post, July 19, 2012

“The Battlefront in the

Front Yard”

The New York Times, December 19, 2012

(33)

“Oak Park Woman Faces Jail Time for Growing

Vegetable Garden”

(34)

College Park, Orlando

 Code enforcement violation for “failure to maintain ground cover on property”

(35)

(36)

(37)

“Escambia Once Again Looking at Chicken Ordinance”

NorthEscambia.com, March 28, 2013

“Pasco County commissioners consider

allowing backyard chicken coops”

Tampa Bay Times (tampabay.com), May 21, 2013

“Lake delays decision on allowing backyard chickens till fall”

(38)

“Chicken ban: Orange County clucks at coop proposal”

- Backyard coups [sic] OK in city, not allowed in county jurisdiction

WESH 2 News (wesh.com), August 6, 2013

“Manatee County to consider allowing Backyard Chickens”

Bradenton Herald (bradenton.com), March 19, 2013

“Backyard chickens rule roost in Tampa, not the county”

Tampa Bay Times (tampabay.com), July 24, 2013

(39)

Some FL Jurisdictions Recently Addressing Urban Chickens

CURRENTLY PERMITTING CURRENTLY PROHIBITING

City of Orlando Hillsborough County Pinellas County City of Hollywood

Escambia County Orange County

Hernando County City of Tampa City of Sarasota Manatee County Osceola County City of DeBary

(40)

(41)

“DeBary letting family

keep backyard chickens”

Daytona Beach News-Journal (news-journalonline.com), November 7, 2012

• _{Family with chickens cited by Code Enforcement}

• 175 residents & family’s attorney came to Council meeting to

ask for special exception to Code

(42)

Interesting/Noteworthy Provisions

in Urban Chicken Codes

• _{Required education}

• _Roosters

• Free range v. cooped

• _{Neighbor consent}

(43)

Noise &

Odor

• _{Chicken clucking} “commonly compared to human conversation – both register around 65 decibels.”

“Illegal Fowl” by Jaime Bouvier, 42 ELR 10888

• _{Odor – ensure proper}

ventilation of coops and regularly clean

(44)

Backyard Chickens:

What to Know,

Things to Consider…

• _{Chickens are social animals}

• _{“Pecking order” is real}

• _{Egg production depends on breed}

and season

• _{Coops should be predator-proof}

(45)

(46)

“Goats are the New Chickens”

(47)

“San Diego City Council

Approves Backyard Chickens,

Goats and Bees”

KPBS Radio News (kpbs.org), February 1, 2012

“Move over chickens and bees;

goats could be bound for

St. Louis”

(48)

“Group seeks to allow

goats and pigs

in Lexington

neighborhoods”

Lexington Herald-Leader (www.kentucky.com), February 15, 2012

“The Chickens and Goats Next Door:

an Oakland Snapshot”

SPUR – Ideas and Action for a Better City (spur.org), December 5, 2011

“Denver City Council eases way

to own chickens, goats at home”

(49)

Backyard Goats:

What to Know,

Things to Consider…

• _{On avg. 2 goats can provide as much as a}

half gallon of milk per day.

• Year-round milk requires planning!

• _{Milking – 2x/day task, milking equipment,}

pasteurization

(50)

Living Lawn Mowers

• Cleveland’s “Mow Goats” Pilot Program – 4 goats ‘mow’/prune

vacant lot in 2 hours; manure taken to local community gardens.

News Channel 5 (newsnet5.com), June 12, 2012

• _{City of Chicago awarded contract for max $100K to company that will}

use goats, sheep, llamas, burros to ‘mow’ 120 acres at O’Hare Airport.

NBC Chicago (nbcchicago.com), August 13, 2013

• _{“Oakland and its urban ‘fire goats’” – Oakland City Council designates}

Wildfire Prevention Assessment District funds for goat grazing.

(51)

Cited for Use of Mowing Goats…

• _{July 2013: in Knox County,}

TN, homeowner used 20

goats to eat kudzu on his

property; cited by Code

Enforcement.

(52)

Other Urban Farming Trends ~

Bees & Fish

(53)

Florida Honey Certification and Honeybee Law

Chapter 586, Florida Statutes

• _{State preemption}

• Authority to regulate, inspect and permit managed honeybee colonies

• Establish rules regulating the placement and location of honeybee colonies

(54)

Reasons for State

Preemption

(F.S. 586.10)

• Florida honey industry has annual worth of $13 million (and allows for approx. $20 mil. in increased fruit/veg production via managed

pollination services).

• _{Bee survival threatened – “colony collapse disorder”; reasons unknown.}

• Florida beekeepers must register with the Department, undergo inspection and renew certification annually.

(55)

Aquaculture/Aquaponics

 Aquaculture is the cultivation of marine or freshwater

food fish, shellfish, or plants under controlled conditions.

 Hydroponics is growing plants in nutrient-enriched water instead of soil.

 Aquaponics is the integration of aquaculture with

hydroponics, in which the waste products from fish are used to fertilize hydroponically growing plants.

(56)

Florida Aquaculture Policy Act



Chapter 597, Florida Statutes

 Aquaculture is agriculture



_{Florida Fish and Wildlife}

Conservation Commission

 Issues permits for aquaponic food

production

 _{No permit needed for personal use}

(57)

Urban Farming Regulation Tips



Avoid overcomplicating



Act proactively, not reactively

(see: City of Orlando)



Involve local community and stakeholders

(58)



Short term

 Is Urban Farming a lasting trend?



Right to Farm

 Protection for urban farming?



Quality of Life

 How will nuisance laws evolve?

(59)

“When tillage begins, other arts follow.

The farmers, therefore, are the

founders of human civilization.”

Daniel Webster, Remarks on Agriculture

Erin Hartigan

Assistant County Attorney Lake County

(352) 343-9787

ehartigan@lakecountyfl.gov

Sarah Taitt

Assistant County Attorney Osceola County

(407) 742-2200

sarah.taitt@osceola.org