Presentation to Long Beach, CA Sustainable City Commission December 1, 2010

Permit Backyard Urban
Agriculture in Long Beach
Why bother? - a short list
To eat the freshest, most nutritious, affordable organic food as local as possible.
To ensure your own food security and independence.
To provide safe wholesome education and entertainment for your family.
Why get chickens? - for fresh nutritious home-grown eggs from healthy happy
hens,
instead of from dirty crowded battery hens.
Why get goats? - for a ready supply of fresh organic goat milk from healthy
happy goats instead of from dirty crowded battery cows, and
for goat milk yogurt, goat milk kefir, goat cheese, etc. (with just a little more
effort).
Weed abatement. Chicken- and goat-powered composting. Ready-made organic
fertilizer.
Novella Carpenter & Nigerian
Commercial Birds MY BIRDS San Francisco is doing it! Dwarf lap goat at her Oakland, CA
Ghost Town Farm
Seattle is doing it!
SF Mayor mandated a census of ALL possible arable space including backyards &
rooftops.
SF allows 2 female goats per city lot, with no lot size restrictions or setbacks. For more information
Seattle allows up to 3 small animals outright, dwarf goats included, on all lots
in all zones. Seattle allows up to 3 fowl outright, on all lots in all zones.
Donna Marykwas
Seattle allows up to 3 potbelly pigs (up to 150 lbs. each) on all lots in all zones. donna@longbeachgrows.org
SF is more densely populated than LB, but is embracing backyard urban
agriculture: SF’s population was 808,976 in 2008 on 46.7 square miles of land www.longbeachgrows.org
area (17,322/sq.mi.); Seattle’s population was 598,541 in 2008 on 83.87 square
Grown by Carol Morison, the miles of land area (7136/sq.mi.); LB’s population was 492,682 in 2008 on 50 www.foodsecurity.org
only commercial grower willing square miles of land (9854/sq.mi.) (Wikipedia).
to have her birds filmed for
Food Inc. Isn’t Long Beach as progressive, inclusive & diverse as San Francisco & Seattle?

Long Beach chicken laws Long Beach goat laws
LB code permits 20 non-crowing fowl, but the setback restrictions essentially LB code bans owning goats south of Anaheim St. and east of the LA River
take this right away. In reality, code enforcers say that only one bird is allowed, flood control channel. Goat owners in other parts of LB can keep only 1
still with restrictions! lonely goat, but the setback restrictions make this unlikely. But the code
Will one egg a day feed a family? provides provisions for permitting dangerous animals, including lions, tigers,
& bears, oh my!

Agriculture,
including livestock farming,
was the foundation of Long Beach’s
history and early economy.

Food Security

Affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate*
food for all people at all times
(As deﬁned by the USDA National Institute of
Food and Agriculture)

* As determined by the individual, not by the
government or by others.

Community Food Security
The Community Food Security Coalition (www.foodsecurity.org) states
that, “at a basic level, CFS is about making healthy food accessible to
all, including low-income people. It’s about making nutritious &
culturally appropriate food accessible, not just any food. It is about
promoting social justice & more equitable access to resources, &
building & revitalizing local communities & economies. It’s about
supporting local, regional, family-scale, & sustainable farmers &
businesses. It’s about empowering diverse people to work together to
create positive changes in the food system & their communities... and
much more.”

Food Security

=Health Security =Energy Security =National Security
USDA, Nat’l War Garden Commission, Food Administration

Current rural/urban divide
threatens food security
1910, LA county was the most productive
agricultural county in the country.

1955 was the last time LA county could feed
itself.

Now, most people living in “the city” are
disconnected from the source of their
nourishment.

City Folk
misunderstand
chickens
URBAN CHICKENS, ANIMAL WELFARE & SUSTAINABLE LOCAL FOOD
SECURITY. Most commercial-grown chickens are raised in dirty crowded
conditions that can foster disease. Even if you personally don’t eat eggs
or other animal products, by supporting small-scale backyard poultry
growers you help minimize the other type of animal husbandry.
Homegrown chickens are grown with love & respect & the eggs &
manure that they provide are free of hormones, antibiotics & other
drugs & chemicals. Their shells are stronger & since the birds
experience natural sunlight & are allowed to scratch for their natural
diet, the eggs are nutritionally superior.

City Folk
misunderstand
goats
URBAN GOATS, ANIMAL WELFARE & SUSTAINABLE LOCAL FOOD
SECURITY. Most milk consumed in the US is from CAFO cows raised in
dirty crowded conditions that can foster disease. Even if you personally
don’t drink milk or consume other animal products, by supporting small-
scale backyard goat enthusiasts you help minimize the other type of
animal husbandry. Whether or not the goats are raised for their milk,
they will be treated with the same love & respect bestowed upon “man’s
best friend.” Throughout the world, there are more people & more
cultures who drink goat milk than there are who drink cow milk. Goat
milk is more nutritious and less allergenic than cow milk. Once a doe is
in milk, she can remain in milk long after her babies are weaned, so two
or three Nigerian Dwarf does can provide a family with milk year round.

City Folk
misunderstand
goats

MYTH: Goat milk doesn’t taste good.
TRUTH: Fresh goat milk tastes similar to cow milk, unless the doe
has access to a stinky buck.

SOLUTION: Male goats kept as pets should be neutered. Bring
does “to the country” for buck service when re-breeding is
necessary to keep them in milk.

City Folk
misunderstand
chickens
CHICKENS and SUSTAINABILITY. Re: COMPOST. Chickens can be put to
work, to weed, de-grub & condition the earth prior to planting & to
facilitate your composting efforts. They will eat and thus compost your
fruit & veggie kitchen scraps, they will keep what’s left of the compost
pile churned, shred & well-aerated, they will eat the unwanted grubs,
maggots & rollie pollies. All this keeps the birds well fed for a fraction
of the cost of keeping them locked up in a coop with only commercial
chicken food to eat.

City Folk
misunderstand
chickens & goats

CHICKENS, GOATS and SUSTAINABILITY. Re: FERTILIZER. Chicken
manure, chicken litter and goat manure provide an excellent source of
fertilizer & added organic material that can be applied directly to the
vegetable garden or landscape plantings. (Chicken manure beneﬁts from
composting to reduce plant burn.) By contrast, dog & cat waste should
not be used as fertilizer due to the intestinal parasites that might be
present & passed on to us if not properly & thoroughly composted.

City Folk
misunderstand
chickens
CHICKEN-POWERED EDUCATION. Chickens make great pets for people
who are allergic to dogs, cats & other more common domestic animals.
Yes, chickens ARE domestic animals, having been domesticated for over
12,000 years. Raising chickens provides numerous opportunities for
wholesome entertainment & education of our children (& adults),
including opportunities to learn about animal behavior, animal
development, animal husbandry, organic food production, food
economics, food security, recycling, environmental stewardship, global &
personal sustainability & more.

City Folk
misunderstand
goats
GOAT-POWERED EDUCATION. Goats make great pets for people who
are allergic to dogs, cats & other more common domestic animals. Yes,
goats ARE domestic animals, having been domesticated for over 10,000
years. Raising goats provides numerous opportunities for wholesome
entertainment & education of our children (& adults), including
opportunities to learn about animal behavior, animal development,
animal husbandry, organic food production, food economics, food
security, recycling, environmental stewardship, global & personal
sustainability & more.

The New City Schools Farm is on a quarter-acre lot in
the heart of the city at 15th & LB Blvd. This appears to
be part of the same location where the former LB
Ostrich Farm was located circa 1907-1910.

City Folk
misunderstand
chickens

CHICKEN-POWERED ECONOMY. A beneﬁt of facilitating residents to
keep chickens in the city (rather than discouraging them with intolerant
municipal code) is the additional potential revenue for local stores that
sell hardware, lumber, garden & pet supplies & services. In addition, a
chicken-friendly Long Beach might attract tourism, as has been the
case in other cities. One example is Raleigh, N.C. which holds an annual
tour of urban chickens and their coops.

Goat-powered economy
San Francisco
CityGrazing.com

City Folk
misunderstand
goats

MYTH: They are farm animals so need more space than a typical urban
home can provide.
TRUTH: They don’t need any more space than other domesticated
animals, such as dogs.
SOLUTION: Goat owners realize that part of their yard will be set
aside and devoted to the goats. But we don’t mandate that people have
a certain amount of yard space for their 4 great danes. So we shouldn’t
mandate space requirements for the same # of goats.

City Folk
misunderstand
goats

MYTH: Goats will be a threat to public safety.

TRUTH: John Kiesler of Animal Control recently said that there were
over 500 dog bites in Long Beach last year. How many goat bites were
there? Have you ever heard of a goat that killed someone? How about a
pit bull?

City Folk
misunderstand
goats

MYTH: They are mean and ill-tempered.
TRUTH: They have a bad rap. They are the victims of urban prejudice.
Many cultures equate the goat with the horny devil. Truth is they are
gentle and affectionate. But they are goats. They might butt you if they
are in a playful or stubborn mood.
SOLUTION: Use your common sense; don’t turn your back on them. Even
Heidi learned this lesson. Be gentle with them and they will be gentle
with you. Socialize them early and often. If necessary, dehorn to prevent
accidental, but certainly not intentional, injury. However note that the
goats at Centennial Farm all still have their horns!

City Folk
misunderstand
MYTH: Chickens make too much noise.
chickens
TRUTH: Roosters, not hens, crow throughout the day, sunrise to
sunset, more often if trying to 1-up another rooster. Hens are quiet
most of the day & all through the night, the only time they make
any signiﬁcant sound is when they are laying or have laid an egg.
As a hen lays at most 1 egg a day, this amount of noise is
insigniﬁcant compared to other city noises. When they put
themselves to sleep at night, their soft purring is music to the
ears.

SOLUTION: Don’t keep roosters.

City Folk
misunderstand
goats

MYTH: Goats make too much noise.

TRUTH: Goats are not noisy. They are quieter than chickens. At night, and
indeed most of the time, they are essentially silent. It is true that when
you hear a goat vocalize you can immediately tell that it is a goat and
not a dog or cat, but the fact that you can identify it as a goat should
not justify a complaint about the “noise” it makes. Any such complaints
are based on prejudice. Truth is, there are many city sounds that are
MUCH louder than a goat.

City Folk
misunderstand
chickens
MYTH: Maybe a hen is quiet but you can’t get eggs w/o a rooster.

TRUTH: You can’t get “fertile” eggs w/o a rooster. A hen ovulates
(lays an egg) about once a day, w/ or w/o a rooster. It is amazing
how many city folk, including adults, believe otherwise.

SOLUTION: It is difﬁcult to sex chickens when they are
hatchlings. Even if you order just females, you might end up with a
rooster, like Little Prince here. After he started crowing too often,
we gave him to LBCC. We miss him.

The Problem The Solution
City Folk
misunderstand
chickens
MYTH: Chickens will stink up the city.

TRUTH: Their feces is no smellier than that of any other pet. The birds
per se don’t smell. Large-scale commercial poultry operations with
thousands of birds conﬁned in crowded conditions w/o proper ventilation,
poop management, & access to the disinfecting rays of the sun, can stink
due to ammonia buildup.

SOLUTION: Small-scale poultry keeping, including chicken coops
maintained by chicken enthusiasts homesteading in the city, are the
solution not the problem.

City Folk
misunderstand
goats

MYTH: Goats stink.

TRUTH: Only non-neutered male goats (aka bucks) produce a strong
smell. Neutered male goats (aka wethers) and female goats (aka
does) do not. The in-tact bucks stink because of their nasty habits
when they are in rut.

SOLUTION: Don’t keep bucks.

City Folk
misunderstand
chickens
MYTH: Chickens are messy.

TRUTH: No they are not. All animals poop, including the pigeons
pooping in this public drinking fountain. We even found human
feces in our “parkway” once; yuck.

SOLUTION: If people can be entrusted to pick up after the 4 dogs
they are allowed to walk through the neighborhood, people should
be entrusted to manage their own chickens’ manure.

City Folk
misunderstand
chickens
MYTH: Chickens are messy.

TRUTH: No they are not. One report indicates that a typical hen
produces 0.0035 cu ft of manure per day, but that an average dog
generates 3/4 lb of manure per day. Check out this slide for
another comparison.

City Folk
misunderstand
goats
MYTH: Goats are messy.

TRUTH: In-tact male goats in rut are messy for reasons other than their
manure. Females and neutered males are not.

SOLUTION: Don’t keep in-tact bucks. Males kept as pets must be
neutered.

City Folk
misunderstand
goats
MYTH: All that goat POOP will cause problems.
TRUTH: Goat poop is comprised of small, dry, odorless pellets that are
mostly partially digested hay. This is in contrast to dog poop that is big,
smelly, messy, attracts ﬂies, often left on public right of ways. Dog
manure contains higher levels of nitrogen than does the manure of
chickens, goats, & others. Truth is many dog & cat owners fail to pick up
after them, so runoff from city sidewalks, parkways, & lawns is a major
source of nutrient (& microbial) pollution in ground and surface waters.
SOLUTION: Require goat walkers to scoop any public poop. At home,
compost the goat manure or add it directly to your garden.

City Folk
misunderstand
chickens
MYTH: Chickens attract rodents/predators.

TRUTH: Unfortunately, rodents are here to stay in LB; they come for the
easy pickings from trash cans, fruit trees, koi ponds, dog & cat food, wild
bird feeders, gardens, etc.

SOLUTION: Keep chickens, they will eat rodents. Store chicken feed in
animal proof containers. Spike it with cayenne to detract rodents; chickens
can’t taste the heat. Build the chicken run and coop properly to keep the
rifraff out & to discourage cozy rodent retreats.

City Folk
misunderstand
chickens
MYTH: Chickens in the city will create a health hazard, e.g avian
influenza aka bird flu.

TRUTH: On the contrary! “The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu is essentially
a problem of industrial poultry practices...When it comes to bird flu,
diverse small-scale poultry farming is the solution, not the problem.”

REFERENCE: 2006 GRAIN briefing, “Fowl Play, the poultry industry’s
central role in the bird flu crisis.”

City Folk
misunderstand
chickens
TRUTH: “Highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) viruses have NEVER
been detected among wild birds, domestic poultry, or people in the United
States.”

REFERENCE: ...from the current CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/
avian/gen-info/avian-flu-humans.htm
The CDC is the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the US
Department of Health & Human Services.

City Folk
misunderstand
chickens

MYTH: Chickens will create a health hazard, cont.

TRUTH: Reality is, there are more (& more serious) diseases that can be
spread to us from dogs & cats than from chickens. It is important to keep
perspective. The CDC website indexes “dogs, infections from” & “cats,
infections from” but no “chickens, infections from.” Rabies. Cat Scratch
Fever. Toxoplasmosis. Ringworm. Giardiasis. Lyme Disease. Rocky Mountain
Spotted Fever. Flea-Borne Typhus. etc.

City Folk
misunderstand
chickens
Re: CHICKENS, CATS, DOGS & RABIES. In CA, rabies is most often seen in
bats, skunks & foxes, but all mammals are susceptible, including domestic
cats, dogs & humans. Rabies is a very serious viral infection that can be
transmitted to people from the saliva or bite of an infected dog, cat or
other animal. If you are bit by an animal with rabies (w/ or w/o overt
symptoms) & you don’t receive post-exposure prophylaxis, you’ve had it.
Once symptoms appear, rabies is almost always fatal. Chickens cannot get
rabies!

City Folk
misunderstand
chickens

As of June 2010, Ron Arias, director of Long Beach Health & Human
Services, estimated that 72% of the dogs in LB are not registered so
their rabies status is unknown. And what about all of those stray cats?
Now there is a real public health threat.

Chickens cannot get rabies! Rabies is extremely uncommon in goats.

CA plague
City Folk
misunderstand
chickens
Re: CHICKENS, CATS, DOGS &
VECTOR-BORNE DISEASES.
Cats & dogs can bring home ticks
and fleas infected with the microbial
pathogens responsible for such
diseases as Lyme Disease (tick-
borne), Rocky Mountain Spotted
Fever (tick-borne), Typhus (flea-
borne), and plague (flea-borne).

SOLUTION: Get chickens as part of your “no pesticide” vector control
program. They will eat these bugs in your yard.

City Folk
misunderstand
goats
MYTH: Goats will create a public health hazard.

TRUTH: All animals can get sick from infectious
diseases. Compared to the seriousness of the
communicable diseases that dogs, cats and other
people can transmit to us, goats are relatively
innocuous.
SOLUTION: Recommend that goat owners have their animals tested
for the common goat diseases to help prevent goat-to-goat
transmission, preferably before they purchase their goats. If a goat
tests positive for brucellosis, don’t consume its milk raw. LONG BEACH
GROWS will hold classes and workshops to educate the public.

City Folk
misunderstand
chickens

CHICKENS and PROPERTY RIGHTS. Chickens are not a blight on the
neighborhood. They are silent & inconspicuous except for when they lay
their once daily egg. See the pretty chicken coop in the picture? This
would be illegal in Long Beach because the coop is not 50-100 feet
away from the house, even though it is the chicken owner’s own house!
Homeowners should have the freedom to do what is right for their
families without such onerous restrictions.

City Folk
misunderstand
goats
GOATS and PROPERTY RIGHTS. Goats are not a blight on the
neighborhood. They are usually silent & inconspicuous. They are never
vicious nor are they descendants of vicious animals like wild dogs and
wild cats. This is my yard where my 2 goats used to live. The code
currently states that they would have to be 50 feet from this fence
that separates our yard from our neighbors. Yet the neighbors’ very
nasty german shephard is allowed to growl right up against the fence
on the other side. Mean dog; OK. Docile goats; exiled. Homeowners
should have the freedom to do what is right for their families on their
own property without such onerous restrictions.

Commercial birds
City Folk
misunderstand
chickens
Loved birds

Commercial dairy
City Folk
misunderstand
goats

Loved dairy goats

“Chickens suffer from a PR problem.
People think they are dirty, noisy &
smelly. The truth, a few cared for
hens are cleaner & quieter than one
big dog or the three neighborhood
cats that poop in the ﬂower bed.
Plus you get eggs...”

“Goats suffer from a PR problem too.
People think they are dirty, noisy & Long Beach
smelly. The truth, a few cared for GROWS
goats are cleaner & quieter than one
big dog or the three neighborhood LongBeachGrows.Org
cats that poop in the ﬂower bed.
Plus you get milk...”

San Francisco
GOATS. SF allows 2 female GOATS per city lot; no permit
is needed, no speciﬁc regulations, no lot size restrictions
nor setbacks.

CHICKENS. 4 total “other small animals” allowed, including
chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, parrots, rabbits, rats,
guinea pigs, cats etc., 20 ft from any door or window of
human habitation, residential area

PIGS. ?

BEES. ?

SF (808,976 people in 2008; 17,322/sq.mi.) vs LB (492,682
in 2008; 9854/sq.mi.)

Healthy & Sustainable
Food for San Francisco
Mayor Gavin Newsom, July 9, 2009

Issued an Executive Directive mandating a census of ALL unused
land that can contribute to urban agricultural practices including
gardening and farming.

The mandate states ”Food production and horticulture education
will be encouraged within the City and, to the extent feasible,
on City owned land, through urban agriculture including
community, backyard, rooftop, and school gardens; edible
landscaping, and agricultural incubator projects.”

The mandate further states that residents must be allowed “the
opportunity to make healthy food choices and reduce
environmental causes of diet and related illnesses.”

City Folk
misunderstand
chickens &
goats
When asked about the future of home farming of small livestock in the
Bay Area, and whether it’s here to stay, Rebecca Katz, Director of
Animal Control in San Francisco, said “I see it growing, certainly with
vegetable gardens. The Mayor has called for this here in San Francisco
& he had the garden at the Civic Center Plaza for quite some time & he
has asked people to do this & it seems it’s a growing trend, it’s not a
fad. AND AS FAR AS ANIMALS GO THEY ARE GOING TO COME WITH
IT. Like I said, people are coming to take chickens out of our care all
the time, they want fresh eggs.”

Seattle

In September of 2007, Seattle legalized the
keeping of miniature goats by UNANIMOUS vote
of Seattle’s city council.

www.goatjusticeleague.org

Phyllis Shulman
Legislative Assistant to
Seattle Council President Richard Conlin
206-684-8805

Comparing goats to dogs and cats said
“These health issues are way less than cat feces or dog issues, but
it is important to keep perspective. That is why I did the brieﬁng
paper. For example, cat feces is a major polluter of our urban
streams. Dogs attack people and often bark all night.”

Seattle
GOATS. Seattle allows up to 3 small animals outright, dwarf
goats included, on all lots in all zones. Additional animals
permitted on larger lot sizes of 20,000 sq.ft. or more.

FOWL. Seattle allows up to 8 fowl outright, on all lots in all
zones, in addition to the small animals above. Additional fowl
permitted on lots greater than 10,000 sq. ft., one more for each
additional 1000 sq.ft. Setback of 10 ft from neighboring house.

PIGS. Seattle allows 1 potbelly PIG (up to 150 lbs) on all lots in
all zones.

BEES. 4 hives allowed on all lots less than 10,000 sq.ft., 25 ft.
from lot line

Seattle (598,541 people in 2008; 7136/sq.mi.) vs Long Beach
(492,682 in 2008; 9854/sq.mi.)

Portland, OR
GOATS. Over 50 goat owners in Portland. Allowed three or
fewer; no space restrictions apply

13.05.015 “A person keeping a total of 3 or fewer chickens,
ducks, doves, pigeons, pygmy goats or rabbits shall not be
required to obtain a speciﬁed animal facility permit.” Roosters
are not permitted. “If the Director determines that the keeper is allowing
such animals to roam at large, or is not keeping such animals in a clean and sanitary
condition, free of vermin, obnoxious smells and substances, then the person shall be
required to apply for a facility permit to keep such animals at the site.”

Portland allows up to 3 potbelly PIGS (up to 95 lbs. each) on
all lots in all zones.

BEES. Allowed 1 hive per quarter acre.

Portland (582,130 people in 2008; 4335/sq.mi.) vs Long Beach
(492,682 in 2008; 9854/sq.mi.)

New York City
Article 161. Animals. “In addition to domesticated dogs and cats, an
animal may be kept, possessed, harbored or sold in the City of New
York provided that possession of the animal is not otherwise
prohibited by law.”

Article 161. Animals. “Pet animal or small animal means ANY bird,
mammal, reptile, amphibian, ﬁsh, arthropod or other invertebrates
kept as a pet for exhibit, work, companionship or protection by a
person, possession of which is not prohibited by the Commissioner or
any Federal, State or local laws, rules or regulations.

Article 161.09. Animals. “Except on premises abutting a slaughter
house, no person shall yard horses or keep or yard cattle, swine,
sheep or goats w/o a permit issued by the Commissioner. Such permit
shall be issued only for unimproved ares of the Borough of Richmond
used for farming purposes.”

New York City
GOATS. ?

FOWL. Chickens are considered pets under the health Code. Unlimited
# of hens allowed; no roosters. Must be kept clean.

PIGS. ?

BEES. Legalized by unanimous vote 3-16-2010. Must register hive(s)
with NYC DOH.

New York City, most densely populated city in U.S., most densely
populated metro area in the world (~8.4 million people in 2008;
27,540/sq.mi.) vs Long Beach (492,682 in 2008; 9854/sq.mi.)

Minimum speciﬁc restrictions in the code. Instead, NYC offers
recommendations for “Best Management Practices” and leaves it up to
the discretion and best judgment of the individual to ensure that his/
her animals are not a nuisance. EMULATE THIS!

Chicago
GOATS. Yes. There is no speciﬁc prohibition, but slaughtering,
nuisance, sanitation, and humane treatment and housing
ordinances apply.

FOWL. Can have unlimited # of chickens if use only for pets or
eggs; roosters are not prohibited

PIGS. Yes. There is no speciﬁc prohibition, see above.

BEES. Yes.

Chicago, 3rd most populous city in the country (2.8 million
people in 2008; 12,557/sq.mi.) vs Long Beach (492,682 in 2008;
9854/sq.mi.)

Long Beach chicken laws

LB code permits 20 non-crowing fowl, but
the setback restrictions essentially take this
right away.

In reality, code enforcers say that only one
bird is allowed, still with setback
restrictions!

Long Beach goat laws

LB code bans owning goats south of Anaheim
St. and east of the LA River ﬂood control
channel.

Goat owners in other parts of LB can keep
only 1 lonely goat, but the setback
restrictions make this unlikely.

Long Beach
wants change
Here is a sample of what people are saying in support of Urban
Agriculture in Long Beach.
“Any city that allows its residents to have pit bulls & cockatoos should
not dictate measures preventing its residents from keeping chickens &
goats.”
“Most people’s children make more noise than goats & chickens.”
“We need to be able to feed our families fresh food.”
“I currently live in Burbank, but plan to retire in Long Beach, & have
been planning & dreaming about having chickens, large vegetable garden,
maybe bees.”
“So grateful for your efforts for reform in Long Beach.”

Long Beach
wants change
Here is what I have to say and have said.

“It seems that drug dealers have greater protections than urban
farmers growing their own food for their personal consumption & for
the safe wholesome education & entertainment of their family &
friends.”

“Just came back from a restaurant/bar on the LB beach. The people at
the neighboring table had a big pitbull mix at their feet. So LB allows
dogs at the outdoor patios of restaurants, but I can’t have two 50 lb
goats in my own side yard! Something is amiss.

Long Beach code challenge to urban agriculture
Current. ☹ LB Municipal Code 6.16.010 re “Livestock Running At
Large-Distance from Habitation” places a 100 ft restriction on the
distance between the location of livestock, including goats, on
private property and the residence(s) of neighbors unless the
neighbors give exception. ☹ This setback excludes virtually all of
LB residents. ☹ Small and relatively innocuous livestock (e.g.
Nigerian Dwarf goats, Pygmy goats, sheep) are equated with large
and messy livestock (e.g. ox, steer, bull, cow, hog, etc.) and
subject to the same restrictions. ☹ It shouldn’t be subject to the
neighbors’ approval/whim or your popularity. It should be either
permitted or not. Otherwise “confusing, inconsistent, will foster
state of misinformation and mixed messages. Consistent,
comprehensive policy across the city will encourage and support
consistent best practices and care.”
Proposed. ☺ No setback restriction. There is no setback for the
neighbors to have dogs. Goats are less of a menace. ☺ Reclassify
goats (and similar small animals) as pets, not livestock, and lift
the livestock restrictions. ☺ Remove all neighbor “Opt in/out”
clauses throughout the code.


Current. ☹ LB Municipal Code 6.20.130 re “Goats–Location” sets a
boundary restricting goats from South of Anaheim and East of
the LA River ﬂood control channel. ☹ This boundary seems at
best arbitrary; there is no signiﬁcant difference in the lot size on
one side of Anaheim or the other; if anything, the lots are less
crowded South of Anaheim, not moreso.

Proposed. ☺ Follow Portland, OR’s and Seattle’s and San Francisco’s
lead. No lot size or zone restrictions! Leave it up to the discretion
of the owners.

Long Beach code hinders urban agriculture

So what is the history behind the Anaheim boundary?

☹ Was it to discourage “non-white” minority groups from settling in the
heart of white Long Beach?

The data on the next slide suggests so.

Long Beach code hinders urban agriculture
Per a 1958 report, most of LB’s ethnic minorities lived in the part of
town north of 10th Street, south of Signal Hill, west of Orange Ave. and
east of Atlantic Ave.

Until the 1960s, there were covenants against renting or selling
property in various parts of the city to non-Whites. African American
people initially settled near Anaheim St. and MLK Blvd.

The city’s 2009 Historic Context Statement, Ethnographic Context
section, states “In the late 19th and early 20th centuries...a growing
number of settlers were attracted to the inland areas north of the
beach. Consisting of dairies, cattle ranches, poultry farms, orchards,
grain ﬁelds, and agriculture - including beets, beans, barley, cabbage,
and alfalfa - the area became the communities of Signal Hill, Zaferia,
Bixby Knolls, and Belmont Heights. Some of these areas became
associated with ethnic minorities, including Mexicans, Chinese, Japanese,
and African Americans.” For example, Zaferia was “a rural community
located near the intersection of Anaheim Street and redondo Avenue,
housing a large Mexican population” of sharecroppers who worked at
Rancho Los Alamitos.


Current. ☹ LB Municipal Code 6.20.140 re “Goats–Number” limits
one’s possession to one live goat. ☹ One goat is a lonely goat.
Goats are social animals needing the company of other goats. ☹ A
lonely goat is a stressed goat. ☹ A lonely goat is more likely to
vocalize in complaint.

Proposed. ☺ Follow Portland, OR’s and Seattle’s and San Francisco’s
leads. Portland allows 3 dwarf/mini/pygmy goats. Seattle allows 3
dwarf/mini/pygmy goats. San Francisco allow 2 goats (full sized or
dwarf/mini/pygmy).


Current. ☹ LB Municipal Code 6.20.150 re “Goats–Distance from
Dwelling” like code 6.16.010, places a 100 ft restriction on the
distance between the location of goats on private property and
the residence(s) of neighbors unless the neighbors give
exception. The same arguments against 6.16.010 apply here.

Proposed. ☺ No setback restriction. There is no setback for the
neighbors to have dogs. Goats are less of a menace. ☺ Reclassify
goats (and similar small animals) as pets, not livestock, and lift
the livestock restrictions. ☺ Remove all neighbor “Opt in/out”
clauses throughout the code.


Current. ☹ LB Municipal Code 6.16.080 re “Breeding Prohibited”
places a restriction on the production of offspring of any
animal. Dairy animals such as Nigerian Dwarf goats must be bred
in order to produce milk.

Proposed. ☺ Lift the breeding prohibition so that goat owners can
bring their female goats on conjugal visits. ☺ Follow Seattle’s
lead; nursing offspring may be kept without a license until they
are weaned, no longer than 12 weeks from birth.


Current. ☹ LB Municipal Code 6.20.160 re “Rabbits or Goats –
Enclosure Sanitation” mandates the daily removal of the goat
manure. However, the goat manure is valuable organic material
for the garden. Plus, the properly managed practice of deep-bed
composting of the manure in situ beneﬁts the goats in other
ways, such as maintaining warmth in cooler weather.

Proposed. ☺ Instead of mandating this unnecessary and
undesirable burden, adopt non-speciﬁc verbage characteristic of
NYC’s code, which offers recommendations for “Best Management
Practices” and leaves it up to the discretion and best judgment of
the individual to ensure that his/her animals are properly cared
for. Again, Long Beach Grows is willing to offer educational
classes and workshops. Plus neighborhood relationships will
improve when neighbors must talk it out amongst themselves
rather than acting as code informants.

Current. ☹ LB Municipal Code 6.20.030 re “Fowl–Distance from
Dwelling” places a 50-100 ft restriction on the distance between
the location of fowl (any more than 1 bird, which requires 20 ft)
on private property and residential buildings. ☹ This setback
excludes virtually all of LB residents. ☹ There should be no
setback from one’s own residence. ☹ The birds are not a sound
nuisance nor public health/public safety threat (certainly
compared to dogs and cats). The primary issue is they stir up the
dirt, thereby creating dust. This can be minimized if the ground is
sprinkled regularly.
Proposed. ☺ Speciﬁcally exclude any setbacks from applying to
the owner’s own residence. ☺ Take Seattle’s lead. Reduce the
setback to a maximum of 10 ft from neighbor’s residence. Offer
recommendations for “Best Management Practices.” Long Beach
Grows is willing to offer educational classes and workshops. Plus
neighborhood relationships will improve when neighbors must talk
it out amongst themselves rather than acting as code informants.

Current. ☹ LB Municipal Code 6.20.070 re “Fowl–Enclosure
Sanitation” mandates that the bird manure must be removed
daily. It is common knowledge among poultry scientists that the
properly managed practice of deep-bed composting of the manure
in situ is more safe and sanitary than its daily removal. The
practice of deep-bed composting manure provides nutritional
benefits to the birds, warmth in colder weather, and actively
reduces fly infestation.
Proposed. ☺ Instead mandating this unnecessary and undesirable
burden adopt non-specific verbage characteristic of NYC’s code,
which offers recommendations for “Best Management Practices”
and leaves it up to the discretion and best judgment of the
individual to ensure that his/her animals are properly cared for.
Again, Long Beach Grows is willing to offer educational classes
and workshops. Plus neighborhood relationships will improve when
neighbors must talk it out amongst themselves rather than acting
as code informants.

MiniGoat Brieﬁng Paper prepared by
Phyllis Shulman, Conlan’s ofﬁce, Seattle

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Public Health Analysis, Seattle

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Seattle’s Goat Ordinance, Final Version

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DONNA MARYKWAS
donna@longbeachgrows.org

Founder & Director, Ph.D., Biochemistry,
Long Beach Grows Molecular & Cell Biology,
www.longbeachgrows.org Cornell University

Long Beach Urban University Professor of
Agriculture Examiner Microbiology, 12 years
http://exm.nr/9GKicS

©2010, D. Marykwas

Presentation to Long Beach, CA Sustainable City Commission December 1, 2010

Presentation to Long Beach, CA Sustainable City Commission December 1, 2010

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