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  • From: "Trudie Redding" <trrredding@gmail.com>
  • To: "'permaculture'" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Detroit's proposed urban farms face hurdles
  • Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2010 09:22:33 -0600

I don't live there, nor do I have all the info, but right away, I thought of
the land grab idea, I had heard on the radio of large organizations that
want to have large farms, hey "large" is a part of the problem, let this be
a cooperative where each farmer who labors gets the benefit of his work
Big business has already ruined Detroit how many times?
--
Trudie's gmail
trrredding@gmail.com
Please use this email address for any personal messages


-----Original Message-----
From: permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Brent McMillan
Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2010 12:56 PM
To: permaculture
Subject: [permaculture] Detroit's proposed urban farms face hurdles

Posted: Nov. 13, 2010
Detroit's proposed urban farms face hurdles
Detroit officials hesitant to OK large projects

By JOHN GALLAGHER
Free Press Business Writer

To farm or not to farm? That's Detroit's question.

A city already filled with tiny community gardens so far has balked at
allowing larger-scale commercial farming inside the city. Several such
farm projects have been proposed for more than a year, but as 2010 winds
down, they still await city approval.

Some of the would-be urban growers are letting their frustration show.

"There's always another layer of the onion we have to peel, and quite
honestly I don't understand it," said Gary Wozniak, director of the
proposed RecoveryPark project, which would initially farm about 20 acres
on Detroit's east side. "Every time they overcome another hurdle,
there's another hurdle."

Dan Lijana, a spokesman for Mayor Dave Bing, said urban agriculture is
just one of many ideas the city is weighing as part of Bing's Detroit
Works plan to reinvent the city.

"Mayor Bing continues to be receptive to all ideas for economic
development, including commercial urban farming," Lijana said. "While no
announcement is imminent, conversations and progress continue."
Detroit commercial urban farms unlikely to get off the ground until at
least spring 2011

As last spring's growing season began, 2010 looked like the year when
Detroiters would undertake bold experiments in large-scale commercial
urban agriculture in the city.

But as 2010's growing season ends, not one of four such projects on the
table last spring has broken ground yet.

Some of the projects now hope to get in the ground next spring, but even
that is uncertain. City of Detroit officials are struggling to
understand the implications of urban agriculture within city limits.
Among the concerns holding up approval are worries about noise and
pollution, a lack of zoning for growing food in the city, and questions
over who benefits from any economic gain.

Gary Wozniak, project director of RecoveryPark, a nonprofit venture that
hopes to begin large-scale farming on Detroit's east side soon, is
frustrated by the delays in winning approval for his project.

"I think the problem is the city doesn't want to make a decision, quite
honestly," Wozniak said this month. "Every time we think we've reached a
certain plateau, we get another excuse.... We should be taking risks. We
should be looking at this as opportunities."

Dan Lijana, a spokesman for Mayor Dave Bing, said the city will not be
rushed as it considers projects like RecoveryPark.

RecoveryPark would initially farm about 20 acres near Warren and Chene
on the east side, on vacant land owned by Detroit Public Schools. But
the project still needs approval from the city, and city approval is not
yet forthcoming.

Meanwhile, Detroit businessman John Hantz had proposed his Hantz Farms
project in early 2009, hoping to farm some 2,000 acres of vacant
city-owned land. As of this fall, he was reportedly going to get about
100 acres of city-owned vacant land on the east side near the Indian
Village district to begin commercial farming.

But with Bing's ambitious Detroit Works project to rethink the city
still in its early stages, no decision is expected now on Hantz's
proposal until next spring at the earliest. A spokeswoman for Hantz
declined to comment.

In another project, New York City activist Majora Carter had sought a
Kresge Foundation grant to establish a farmers cooperative in Detroit
that would produce jobs and revenue for the city. But Kresge turned down
her application pending some decision from the Bing administration on
commercial farming.

In a fourth project, the nonprofit Greening of Detroit has purchased 2.5
acres near Eastern Market to operate a farm and training facility to
teach community gardeners how to turn their small, local farms into
revenue generators. But bureaucratic delays at various levels have
delayed groundbreaking from this year to next.

Dan Carmody, president of the nonprofit Eastern Market Corp., supports a
more localized food system, but he said some delays are understandable,
given the complexities of the issues.

"It's a new kind of industry, and there are some growing pains
associated with it," Carmody said.

Wozniak is project director for a drug rehabilitation agency called SHAR
that is undertaking RecoveryPark. The project would put recovering
addicts and other distressed individuals to work growing crops and
processing food.

In a city with an estimated 40 square miles of vacant land, Wozniak
said, the city ought to be willing to experiment with a relatively small
project like RecoveryPark.

"Everybody's doing all these projects in other cities," Wozniak said.
"They're all looking at Detroit. They're all looking for us for the
ideas we're going to create, and we're not creating any."

Small-scale, volunteer community gardens already exist all over Detroit.
But city officials cite various issues that need to be overcome before
they can approve larger-scale commercial farming in the city.

For one thing, there still is no zoning classification for growing food
inside the city. Officials also are worried that Michigan's Right to
Farm law, which protects rural farmers against the encroachments of
suburban sprawl, might be used by businessmen like Hantz to avoid
regulation by the city after initial approval is given.

Then, too, many of Detroit's nonprofit community gardeners are urging
the city to reject Hantz's proposal, viewing for-profit farming in the
city as exploitation and a land grab. Critics worry that ordinary
citizens won't benefit if profits go mainly to wealthy business owners.

Whatever the reasons, the delays are leaving Wozniak and others frustrated.

"We've asked the city for no money, no tax breaks, no resources other
than access to land," he said. "And we don't care if we buy it, lease
it, if it's deeded to us, if it's in a trust. Let us try something."

Contact John Gallagher: 313-222-5173 or gallagher99 @freepress.com

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20101113%2FBUSINESS04%2F11
130373%2F1318%2FProposed-urban-farms-face-hurdles&template=fullarticle

posted by:

Brent McMillan, Steward of Woodhaven
Avilla, IN USA

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