2015.02.03 WS Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

INTRODUCTION In recent years the popularity and awareness of urban or "backyard" farming has increased. In 2008 staff started receiving inquiries on this issue and began researching the topic in order to propose potential ordinance changes in an effort to provide guidance to our residents. At that time, the City Council decided not to consider any policy changes. Within the last 2 years the topic re-emerged and the Council decided to create a task force to study the issue and recommend if any changes to City policies or ordinances may be needed. The task force was created in August of 2013 and task force members were appointed on September 10, 2013. The first task force meeting was held September 26, 2013. A total of seven meetings, including a public comment forum were conducted over a period of eight months. This report includes a short description of each meeting with references to each meeting packet. All packets are available from the City of New Brighton website. TASK FORCE MEETINGS The first task force meeting was held on September 26, 2013. The meeting included a background presentation on the urban/backyard farming topic, a discussion on the mission and goals of the group, and a timeline with suggested dates and topics for each task force meeting. For more information on this meeting review the September packet on the City of New Brighton website. Minutes from the September meeting are available in the October packet. The October task force meeting reviewed current City Ordinances Chapter 6 (Animals & Fowl) and 17 (Nuisances), a League of Minnesota Cities memo outlining public and private nuisances, a 2012 chicken ordinance survey of 52 metro area cities, and the group conducted a brainstorming session on the types of issues task force members related to urban/backyard farming. The group also discussed the roles and rules for the public comment forum to be held in November and approved the written comment form. For more details regarding the October meeting please review the October packet and the minutes of the October meeting in the November packet. At the November meeting the task force conducted a public comment forum. The public was invited to speak to the task force on any thoughts or concerns related to urban and backyard farming and their vision of what the task force and the City should do. Over two hundred people attended the forum with 32 people speaking, some more than once. The forum was civil and people were respectful of each other. Video of the public comment forum is available on the City of New Brighton website along with all of the written comments which are included in the January packet. The next task force meeting was in January. Staff recapped the previous meeting topics and reviewed the comment forum and all written comments received from the public. The City Attorney, Charlie LeFevere, was invited to discuss the legal aspects of this issue. City Attorney LeFevere specifically commented on what types of activities the City could regulate, the definition of grandfathering rights and when grandfathering applies. For further information on this meeting please review the January meeting minutes in the March packet.