I hate Long beach ca

[GardeNerd]

Sorry for the double post.

 

[GardeNerd]

Don' t forget to come to the Enviromental Committee meeting today, June 26. The three City Council members on the panel will consider the existing ordinances and proposed changes and decide whether or not to advance the changes to the entire council. We need all the public support we can get. Thanks!

The committee meets at 4 p.m. in City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd. Long Beach

 

[devora]

Long Beach folks, get movin' and make some change:

"If you are a resident of Long Beach this is perhaps the most chance you may get to make an impact on modernizing Long Beach's Chicken and Bee keeping laws (See details below). It seems that those apposing these changes already started collecting signatures on their own petition.
Even if you are not interested in keeping chickens or bees, this impacts the environment in which we grow our food and encourages the path to have friendlier laws toward sustainability.
Here are few things you can do:
1- Sign the petition in support of Urban Agriculture here http://www.longbeachgrows.org/LongBeachGrows/Long_Beach_Grows_Please_sign_our_petition.html

2- Write and/or call the members of Long Beach City Council's Environmental Committee to voice your support of urban agriculture in Long Beach BEFORE their meeting on Tuesday 6-26-2012.

• The Chair of the Environmental Committee is Dr. Suja Lowenthal: [email protected], [email protected], 562-570-6684

• The Vice Chair is Patrick O’Donnell: [email protected], [email protected], 562-570-6918

• The third city council member of the committee is James Johnson: [email protected], [email protected], 562-570-6139

3- Tell a forward thinking friend and make an effort to educate yourself and others. Chickens do not make any more noise than dogs. Roosters will not be allowed even if the new ordinance is passed. Chicken crap is actually beneficial and does not stink the same way that cat or dog crap does. Chickens are normally contained and kept in a backyard not a front yard. Chickens naturally go to roost at night in their coop. This practice does not encourage coyotes any more than leaving food for cats and dogs outside does. This type of information maybe normal knowledge to you however there are plenty of well meaning people out there who do not know this and are afraid.

4- Show up at the meeting (4 pm). Urban agriculture will be among the issues discussed next Tuesday at the committee meeting chaired by Suja. Council members will review amendments to the City's current ordinance defining where, when and how chickens, goats and bees may be kept in backyards. As of now this is the third item on the meeting agenda for that day. Please take sometime now to study the map and directions so you do not get lost at last minute.

Current and proposed policies on the keeping of backyard chickens, goats and bees:

Chickens

Current
~ Up to 20 may be kept at least 50 feet from 1 and 2 family residences or 100 feet from multi-family (3+) residences or hotels
~ 1 chicken may be kept as pet at least 20 feet from any dwelling

Proposed
~ Up to 4 may be kept without required distance from neighboring residence
~ 5 to 10 may be kept at least 25 feet from neighboring residence
~ 11 to 20 may be kept at least 50 feet from neighboring residence
~ 5 or more must obtain one-time permit from Animal Care Services

Goats

Current
~ No more than 1 may be kept at least 100 feet from neighboring residences
~ May not be kept south of Anaheim Street

Proposed
~ 2 female pygmy goats (only) may be kept without required distance from neighboring residences
~ Must be licensed annually by Animal Care Services
~ Milk products produced are for personal consumption only

Bees

Current
~ Hives must be kept at least 100 feet from neighboring residences and public ways (streets and alleys).
~ Must be kept 10 feet above ground

Proposed
~ Up to 5 hives may be kept at least 5 feet from property line
~ If a hive is less than 15 feet from a property line, a flyway barrier of at least 6 feet high must be maintained around the hive
~ Hives must be registered with Los Angeles County Department of Agriculture

For questions on the above current and proposed changes, contact Larry Rich, Sustainability Coordinator, 562-570-5839 or [email protected]."

GOOD LUCK LB!!!

 

[GardeNerd]

Well, the environmental committee voted 2 to 1 to have the city managers office draft an ordinance for review and discussion and bring it back for the next committee meeting in September. This still isn't moving forward to the city council yet.

 

[MissChristy]

The meeting tonight went okay. I guess I was wrong about Dr. Lowenthal, as she seemed pretty on-board.
Patrick O'Donnell, however, seemed bored and annoyed and definitely seemed like he was on the other side of the fence. At one point, he was asking about the backyard breeding of chickens (which would be impossible without breaking the law anyway, since roosters aren't allowed).
At another point towards the end of the discussion, he made a remark about not wanting to start changing the wording of the ordinances just yet, as it is too difficult for the citizens of Long Beach to comprehend legal speak. There were some women against, but the overwhelming majority of people who came to the meeting were there to show support.
I think Dr Lowenthal said the issue would come back up at the next meeting, in September.

 

[big mami]

Here's a great article in the Long Beach Press Telegram about the proposed changes:
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_20886089/residents-want-long-beach-allow-livestock
I used to live in Long Beach and am rooting for all of you in LB!

 

[GardeNerd]

Latest news on Long Beach Environmental Committee's consideration of ordinance changes regarding the keeping of goats, bees, and chickens:

November 27, Tuesday, at 5:00 pm: The Environmental Committee of the City of Long Beach's City Council will be meeting at City Council chambers to once again discuss urban agriculture. Although the item is on the agenda, per Broc Coward, 2nd district councilmember Suja Lowenthal's Chief of Staff, "Staff informed our office that they will not be making any recommendations to the committee at this point as they are still researching the topic. Staff plans on giving an update to the committee and sharing a draft community survey.

Eventhough there won't be time set aside for public input, if you are local, please come out and show your support of urban agriculture. Thanks!

 

[GardeNerd]

Not much was accomplished at Tuesday's meeting, according to my friend Roberta. Unfortunately, I was unable to make it due to illness. She said the discussion was about a proposed community survey that looked several pages long. Not sure who the survey would go to. The survey asked about what people thought about different set backs, etc. In the end the committee asked for the same thing that they did last time which is draft language for the new ordinances dealing with chickens, bees and goats. Survey presentation was postponed. Only about 10 supporters of Urban Ag made it to committee meeting.

 

[GardeNerd]

Please take the city council's survey on whether or not the city of Long Beach should relax chicken coop set backs and other urban agriculture codes. It can be found at the 5th district council person, Gerrie Schipske's, blog or linked on her facebook page. It is also linked below.

http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e6pt8fj2ha5ik54q/a0176ha701gfr/greeting


Edited: Someone told me the link isn't working for them and it says "you have already completed this survey." If you get that wording, try going to 5th District Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske's public facebook page or twitter pages. Both have posts on Dec. 1 with links to take it. On FB the survey isn't very noticable if you aren't looking for it. It is just a small post titled Urban Ag Survey

here is a link to the twitter post https://twitter.com/GerrieSchipske

Thanks

 

[GardeNerd]

Here is a link to the Urban Ag Survey that should work
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact...LRDNaidUmhPd5dujCsI-ELQUZ3f6G3QdfeUCP6VrACxA=


And here is a link to the results so far: http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e6pt8fj2ha5ik54q/results

The LB Report wrote up a summary of the last LB Environmental Committee Meeting proceedings on Urban Ag Click Here for the article at LBReport

Please pass the survey along to any of your friends and family that live in Long Beach.