Peak Oil Task Force Report - City of Bloomington - State of Indiana

11. Remove or reduce legal, institutional, and cultural barriers to farming within
and around the city, and open institutional markets to local food.
• Increase the number and scale of community garden plots;
• Promote local food to Monroe County Community School Corporation,
Bloomington Hospital, Ivy Tech, and IU;
• Make solar access for passive energy capture and food production a limited
right of all city homeowners; and
• Amend the City’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO).
The City Council took an important step forward in fostering urban
agriculture with its recent amendment to the UDO to allow community
gardens and urban agriculture in residential zones of the city. Urban
agriculture allows the growing of food crops through plant cultivation and
includes such activities such as: gardens (front, back and/or side yard),
edible landscapes, rooftop gardens, berry patches, and other activities. This
amendment does not permit animal husbandry. The UDO should be further
amended in the following ways:
Urban gardening and community gardens should be permitted in all
zones of the city, not just residential zones;
At present, livestock are only permitted in Residential Estate [RE]
zones of the city. Animal husbandry should be permitted in all
residential zones and appropriate non‐residential zones. Residential
zones might be limited to smaller animals such as chickens, goats,
rabbits and bees while bigger lots should be permitted to harbor any
livestock; and
The only exception to the city‐wide prohibition against animal
husbandry is the “chicken ordinance.” The ordinance allows residents
in RE and RS zones to keep no more than five hens if all their adjacent
neighbors waive the general prohibition against chickens in these
zones. Furthermore, the ordinance requires a prospective chicken
harborer obtain a permit and pay a fee. Permits are only good for one
year and are conditioned upon an inspection by the City’s Animal Care
and Control Department. Not only does this create significant hurdles
for residents wishing to raise chickens, but it also creates a significant
administrative burden for the City. As more and more residents turn
to growing and raising their own food, the burden will only increase.
The City should eliminate its protracted waiver, permitting, fee and
inspection system and permit all citizens in residential zones to keep
chickens. The enforcement of the provision should shift to a
complaint‐based system where problems of noise, odor, and other
nuisance are addressed only after they arise.
Report of the Bloomington Peak Oil Task Force 193