City of Pittsburgh establishes rules for urban farms

Steve Rapasky, director of the Burgh Bees community apiary on Susequanna Street, poses for a portrait inside the apiary Monday. Rapasky lives in Dormont. Photo by Michael Henninger/Post-Gazette.

Horses and pigs are not considered pets under the city code. Under the new rules, a person with under 3 acres must seek special permission to have either animal.

By Joe Smydo
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
February 08, 2011

Excerpt:

The city of Pittsburgh has new regulations for the increasingly popular practice of urban agriculture, such as the raising of honeybees and chickens, but time will tell whether the rules are the bee’s knees or something to squawk about.

Council approved the guidelines last week. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s office had proposed most of the changes to complement other greening initiatives — and to make sure people and animals peacefully co-exist in city neighborhoods.

Cities across the nation have been adopting urban agriculture guidelines as residents — citing food-security, health and health concerns — become more interested in the practice.

“If you compare it to a wave in the ocean, I think it’s been building and building and building,” said Barb Kline, co-owner of Mildreds’ Daughters Urban Farm, a 5-acre vegetable and flower operation in Stanton Heights.

Some farmers are unsettled at the prospect of new rules and costs. Others don’t yet know how, or if, they’ll be affected.

Read the complete article here.