Urban agriculture comes to Bloomington

Photo by Carrol Krause. The PVC hoop house shelters carrots and peppers and will serve well into the winter as a season-extender for other crops.

Story and Photos by Carrol Krause
Bloomington Herald-Times
September 5, 2009

The phrases “urban agriculture” and “urban farming” have become more common as people gain awareness of organic growing techniques, permaculture design, and food security. The city of Bloomington recently noted this national trend when it amended its UDO to approve urban agriculture, which it defined as “the growing of food crops through plant cultivation.”

That came about thanks to John Galuska and his wife Alice Dobie-Galuska, who joined others in lobbying the city for the change. Before the amendment was unanimously approved by City Council, it had been unclear whether the city might conceivably restrict a homeowner’s vegetable gardening activities. Now, urban gardeners can breathe a sigh of relief.

John, Alice and their children Toudora and David live on an urban mini-farm, Grown In Town Farmstead. They found their .9-acre lot by means of proactive online shopping.

“We wanted to stay in town, but we wanted a big yard,” Alice explained. “Using Google Earth we looked at different places in town, and John wrote some property owners of large lots and asked if they’d be interested in selling.”

“Every place we’ve ever owned, we’ve had a garden,” said John. “Every year they got bigger and bigger. We moved here because of the size of the lot. Trying to find an acre lot in town that’s affordable is not easy, but we found one, and it worked out.”

See the complete article in The Bloomington Herald-Times here.

See Grown In Town Farmstead website here.

The Urban Agriculture & Community Gardening zoning ordinance “Unified Development Ordinance (UDO-095)

From: John Galuska

The Urban Agriculture & Community Gardening zoning ordinance, “Unified Development Ordinance (UDO-095) , was unanimously approved by the Bloomington City Council, but it has still not yet been officially enacted. I think it will become official in October. The wording of the ordinance can be found at the link below in the pages pertaining to “UDO-095″:

Link.

Mayor’s proclamation on UA and Community Gardening

From: John Galuska

August 11, 2009
PROCLAMATION

“Urban Agriculture & Community Gardening Week”
(August 23-29, 2009)

WHEREAS, the Bloomington City Council voted unanimously to adopt the Unified Development Ordinance on “Urban Agriculture” (Amendment #: UDO-095) on August 5, 2009;

WHEREAS, urban agriculture and community gardening will be added to the list of permitted uses for Residential Estate (RE), Residential Single-Family (RS), Residential Core (RC), Residential Multifamily (RM), and Residential High Density Multifamily (RH) zoning;

WHEREAS, the City of Bloomington acknowledges that affordable and nutritious food is a universal human right;

WHEREAS, the City of Bloomington recognizes the need for strengthening local food networks, promoting local food security, and ensuring that a variety of safe, nutritious, and sustainably-grown food is readily available to city residents;

WHEREAS, the City of Bloomington provides its residents with access to local farmers markets, community gardens, and educational opportunities related to sustainable food production;

WHEREAS, the City of Bloomington recognizes that increasing the amount of fresh, nutritious, and sustainably-grown food in our region will have a positive impact on our local economy while reducing energy consumption and the production of greenhouse gases;

WHEREAS, the City of Bloomington wishes to ensure that the region maintains the natural resources, land base, agricultural infrastructure, skills sets, and cultural knowledge necessary to provide its residents with a healthy local food system;

WHEREAS, the City of Bloomington recognizes the importance of allowing its residents to participate in and to help preserve our region’s unique culinary and horticultural heritage;

WHEREAS, the City of Bloomington acknowledges the common law right of its citizens to engage in the safe, sustainable small-scale cultivation and harvesting of crops/food within the city’s limits;

WHEREAS, the City of Bloomington recognizes that forms urban agriculture and community gardening support local food security, create job opportunities, reuse and recycle urban “waste” streams, reduce pollution, increase local biodiversity, provide wildlife habitats, support the use of underutilized greenspaces and vacant lots, make connections between growers and consumers, create new relationships between neighbors and stakeholders, educate residents of all ages, and provide beneficial social and recreational opportunities for residents;

NOW, THEREFORE, I Mark Kruzan, Mayor of Bloomington, Indiana do hereby proclaim August 23-29, 2009 as “Urban Agriculture and Community Gardening Week” in Bloomington, Indiana and encourage community members to seek out information on urban agriculture and take part in city’s community gardening opportunities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have here unto set my hand and caused to be affixed the Seal of the City of Bloomington this _____th day of ______2009.