Michigan Right to Farm Law, what does it mean?

[CaraBear]

okay - here it is...

like and share!

www.facebook.com/BYChickenKeepersofMI

 

[CaraBear]

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/08/st_charles_man_crusades_for_ri.html

 

[Stc-Gromit]

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/08/st_charles_man_crusades_for_ri.html

Hey!! I know that dude..

 

[CaraBear]

After some research today, I've come up with this list of michigan cities with chicken ordinances....can I have some feedback? comprehensive? are there mistakes? additions?

• Ann Arbor (permit required)
• Boyne City
• Charlotte
• Chelsea
• Coldwater
• East Lansing
• Fenton - still being debated -
• Ferndale (permit and 150 feet from dwelling)
• Fremont
• Grand Rapids (100 feet from any dwelling)
• Hazel Park
• Kalamazoo
• Lansing (10 feet from property line, 40 feet from adjacent dwelling)
• Madison Heights
• Milan
• Muskegon (as pet, and kept as long as no complaints)
• Northville (30 feet from property line)
• Norton Shores (must have 2 acres, can have up to 50, 200 feet from dwellings)
• Portage
• Portland
• Redford (coop 30 feet from adjacent property line)
• Southfield (coop 175 feet from neighboring dwelling)
• Springfield
• Traverse City
• Troy (must have 3/4 acre lot)
• Warren, MI (300 feet from any dwelling)
• West Bloomfield
• Ypsilanti

Also - who had the list of folks that were working with their cities to get ordinances, or are currently in litigation, etc?? wingless, was that you? I'd love to post that on the Backyard Chicken Keepers facebook page as well...

 

[wingless]

CaraBear, you might take a look to see if this thread has any information not already on your list:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-can-you-raise-chickens-and-where-can-you-not

Thanks for the info!

 

[blackswan]

New MDARD director has ag in her blood

Jamie Clover Adams
For someone who's spent so much time dealing with bumpy political issues behind the scenes, Jamie Clover Adams is smooth.

Not politician-smooth, but an easy-going, farm-girl kind of smooth.

Exactly what one might expect from a farm kid from Ionia County who knows agriculture and has proven she can hold her own with the experts, both political and agricultural. And not just because she knows theory and political wrangling. She also knows the feel of dirt under her nails, and she believes it will serve her well as the new director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD).

"I think agriculture experience and 4-H in your background helps you stay grounded," she said before taking over as MDARD director July 9. "It teaches you that everyone puts their pants on one leg at a time. It teaches that it's not all about the person driving the combine, but it's all the parts working together that makes a machine run."

Clover Adams is no stranger to getting in the operator's seat, though. She was director of the Kansas Department of Agriculture from 1999-2003.

This is an excerpt from
http://www.michiganfarmbureau.com/farmnews/transform.php?xml=20120715/mdard.xml


The important sentence here is
I think agriculture experience and 4-H in your background helps you stay grounded," she said before taking over as MDARD director July 9.

So, if MDRAD has a new director making these types of starements, I can only assume she may be a resource.

 

[CaraBear]

*fingers crossed*

I read an article today that a southeast Michigan city had some 4-H kids (I think the kids were from lake orion...) come to the city council meeting and talk about their chickens and caring for them etc, when the vote for a chicken ordinance was coming up - ordinance passed UNANIMOUSLY.

 

[wingless]

blackswan, I agree with you. I really like the Jamie Clover Adams I've seen at the Ag Commission meetings; she appears to be smart and open-minded. But she does have a lot to consider - the RTF law, the mission of MDARD, her colleagues at MDARD, the governor and his policy goals, the long-term health of agriculture in Michigan - and us.

I think our goals are clearly consistent with the law, the mission of MDARD, and the health of Ag in Michigan - I wouldn't be fighting this battle if I didn't. But maintaining RTF as it was written is certainly not consistent with the wishes of the MDARD that she inherited, and now leads. That is a tough situation. And I have no idea what the governor thinks.

And then there is the issue of the Attorney General's office, which she said is looking at the changes to the 2012 GAAMPS language. If I understood her correctly, the issue on the table is whether those GAAMPS apply to EVERY city of over 100,000, or only those that specifically ask for relief from RTF for their cities. This seems like a side issue to me, because there are so many other things wrong with that 2012 language - but it does appear that she is waiting to hear the results of this decision before going forward.

I wish some more of you could get to an Ag Commission meeting. They are long and ponderous - but also really eye-opening. RaZ, do you also think it was worth the effort?

The next one is not in Lansing, but on the west side of the state, in Coopersville on September 12th. Schedule for that and all remaining meetings is here: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdard/2012_Commission_Meeting_Sch_369246_7.pdf

 

[wingless]

Even more important, perhaps, than attending the Ag Commission meeting, would be attending the meeting on the 2013 GAAMPS.

That one is coming up in a couple of weeks - August 22 in Lansing. Details here: http://michigan.gov/mdard/0,4610,7-125-1572_28248-282958--,00.html

If you can't go and speak, I strongly encourage you to voice your opinion in a written statement. Changes proposed to the 2013 GAAMPS undermine RTF protection for anyone not living in agriculturally zoned areas - which I think includes most of us. In fact, the 80 percent of the state that is not officially agricultural will lose RTF protection if these proposed changes pass and are upheld. Here is the info on where the meeting is, and who to contact if you prefer instead to send written comments:




[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The GAAMPs Public Input Meeting will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, August 22, 2012, in the Forum Conference Room at the State of Michigan Library and History Center located at 702 West Kalamazoo Street, Lansing, MI 48915.

[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Written comments may be submitted to MDARD's Environmental Stewardship Division, P.O. Box 30017, Lansing, MI 48909 and postmarked no later than August 22, 2012, or sent via e-mail to [email protected] by 5 p.m. on August 22, 2012. MDARD will forward all comments received by the due date to the respective GAAMPs Task Force Chairpersons for consideration prior to final review and adoption.[/FONT][/FONT]

 

[wingless]

Holy cow, MDARD has a Facebook page, and they posted their position on RTF there late last month, in response to an RTF inquiry. We've heard their position from multiple people who have spoken with them, but we now have it in writing. Here it is:

Michigan Department of Agriculture The department supports farms of all sizes; however, not all locations are suitable for the keeping of farm animals - including livestock and poultry. The Right to Farm Act does not affect other state or federal laws. Additionally, the Right to Farm Act only pre-empts local ordinaces that conflict with the Act or GAAMPs. Basically what this means is that if an area is not locally zoned for agriculture, then it is not suitable for the keeping of livestock or poultry under the GAAMPs. This is really a local ordinance issue and the department encourages you to sit down with your local township officials/supervisor to discuss their zoning ordinances. There are many communities who have amended their local ordinances to allow for these types of activities. For more information on the Right to Farm Act, visit www.michigan.gov/gaamps

MDARD GAAMPS Redirect
www.michigan.gov
July 31 at 4:14pm ·

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Note that what they say in the sentence beginning with "Basically..." is what will be true if the 2013 GAAMPS passes, but is not presently true. It is shocking that MDARD doesn't know or care about the difference, and states this as if it is already a fact. Gordon Wenk said the same thing to me after the July Ag Commission meeting.

Also offensive and harmful that they think they have the authority to single handedly change the law to exempt anyone from RTF, rather than making changes to the GAAMPS to keep up with scientific advances to protect the environment and public health, which is the only authority they were given. And that, only at the request of local units of government.