This is a bill to restrict the RTF protection in Detroit so that we don’t have “pigs right next door to somebody trying to raise a normal family”. To me that means that without this bill, RTF would protect the rights of the “pig raising family” if the pig was being raised as a farming activity. Insert chicken and it appears that both Virgil Smith and Joe Hune are of the belief that raising backyard chickens and selling some their poultry product would be an activity protected by RTF even if in contravention of a local ordinance. Maybe contact them?
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2011/11/state_legislator_looks_to_amen.html
But according to that article Virgil Smith wanted urban farms in Detroit to be regulated by the city - so not protected by MRTFA. In fact I think that this was later resolved by adding a rule to GAAMPS to essentially keep cities with over 100,000 residents from being able to claim MRTFA protection. I don't think this is the direction we want to go in!
But that article also reminded my about the Michigan Farm Bureau - so I went to their website and searched "right to farm" (which is what I do a lot these days) and found an article about Snyder and Bill Schuette in the run up to the last election. Bill Schuette is now the Michigan Attorney General, but at one time he was the Director of the MDA, and supported MRTFA. VikkiP, was he the MDA Director at the time that you were fighting your case, with support from the MDA?
Just trying to figure out who the players are at the state level, and what their positions are ...