[Scpg] Detroit's proposed urban farms face hurdles

Sat Nov 13 11:58:04 PST 2010

Posted: Nov. 13, 2010
Detroit's proposed urban farms face hurdles
Detroit officials hesitant to OK large projects

By JOHN GALLAGHER
Free Press Business Writer

To farm or not to farm? That's Detroit's question.

A city already filled with tiny community gardens so far has balked 
at allowing larger-scale commercial farming inside the city. Several 
such farm projects have been proposed for more than a year, but as 
2010 winds down, they still await city approval.

Some of the would-be urban growers are letting their frustration show.

"There's always another layer of the onion we have to peel, and quite 
honestly I don't understand it," said Gary Wozniak, director of the 
proposed RecoveryPark project, which would initially farm about 20 
acres on Detroit's east side. "Every time they overcome another 
hurdle, there's another hurdle."

Dan Lijana, a spokesman for Mayor Dave Bing, said urban agriculture 
is just one of many ideas the city is weighing as part of Bing's 
Detroit Works plan to reinvent the city.

"Mayor Bing continues to be receptive to all ideas for economic 
development, including commercial urban farming," Lijana said. "While 
no announcement is imminent, conversations and progress continue."
Detroit commercial urban farms unlikely to get off the ground until 
at least spring 2011

As last spring's growing season began, 2010 looked like the year when 
Detroiters would undertake bold experiments in large-scale commercial 
urban agriculture in the city.

But as 2010's growing season ends, not one of four such projects on 
the table last spring has broken ground yet.

Some of the projects now hope to get in the ground next spring, but 
even that is uncertain. City of Detroit officials are struggling to 
understand the implications of urban agriculture within city limits. 
Among the concerns holding up approval are worries about noise and 
pollution, a lack of zoning for growing food in the city, and 
questions over who benefits from any economic gain.

Gary Wozniak, project director of RecoveryPark, a nonprofit venture 
that hopes to begin large-scale farming on Detroit's east side soon, 
is frustrated by the delays in winning approval for his project.

"I think the problem is the city doesn't want to make a decision, 
quite honestly," Wozniak said this month. "Every time we think we've 
reached a certain plateau, we get another excuse.... We should be 
taking risks. We should be looking at this as opportunities."

Dan Lijana, a spokesman for Mayor Dave Bing, said the city will not 
be rushed as it considers projects like RecoveryPark.

RecoveryPark would initially farm about 20 acres near Warren and 
Chene on the east side, on vacant land owned by Detroit Public 
Schools. But the project still needs approval from the city, and city 
approval is not yet forthcoming.

Meanwhile, Detroit businessman John Hantz had proposed his Hantz 
Farms project in early 2009, hoping to farm some 2,000 acres of 
vacant city-owned land. As of this fall, he was reportedly going to 
get about 100 acres of city-owned vacant land on the east side near 
the Indian Village district to begin commercial farming.

But with Bing's ambitious Detroit Works project to rethink the city 
still in its early stages, no decision is expected now on Hantz's 
proposal until next spring at the earliest. A spokeswoman for Hantz 
declined to comment.

In another project, New York City activist Majora Carter had sought a 
Kresge Foundation grant to establish a farmers cooperative in Detroit 
that would produce jobs and revenue for the city. But Kresge turned 
down her application pending some decision from the Bing 
administration on commercial farming.

In a fourth project, the nonprofit Greening of Detroit has purchased 
2.5 acres near Eastern Market to operate a farm and training facility 
to teach community gardeners how to turn their small, local farms 
into revenue generators. But bureaucratic delays at various levels 
have delayed groundbreaking from this year to next.

Dan Carmody, president of the nonprofit Eastern Market Corp., 
supports a more localized food system, but he said some delays are 
understandable, given the complexities of the issues.

"It's a new kind of industry, and there are some growing pains 
associated with it," Carmody said.

Wozniak is project director for a drug rehabilitation agency called 
SHAR that is undertaking RecoveryPark. The project would put 
recovering addicts and other distressed individuals to work growing 
crops and processing food.

In a city with an estimated 40 square miles of vacant land, Wozniak 
said, the city ought to be willing to experiment with a relatively 
small project like RecoveryPark.

"Everybody's doing all these projects in other cities," Wozniak said. 
"They're all looking at Detroit. They're all looking for us for the 
ideas we're going to create, and we're not creating any."

Small-scale, volunteer community gardens already exist all over 
Detroit. But city officials cite various issues that need to be 
overcome before they can approve larger-scale commercial farming in 
the city.

For one thing, there still is no zoning classification for growing 
food inside the city. Officials also are worried that Michigan's 
Right to Farm law, which protects rural farmers against the 
encroachments of suburban sprawl, might be used by businessmen like 
Hantz to avoid regulation by the city after initial approval is given.

Then, too, many of Detroit's nonprofit community gardeners are urging 
the city to reject Hantz's proposal, viewing for-profit farming in 
the city as exploitation and a land grab. Critics worry that ordinary 
citizens won't benefit if profits go mainly to wealthy business 
owners.

Whatever the reasons, the delays are leaving Wozniak and others frustrated.

"We've asked the city for no money, no tax breaks, no resources other 
than access to land," he said. "And we don't care if we buy it, lease 
it, if it's deeded to us, if it's in a trust. Let us try something."

Contact John Gallagher: 313-222-5173 or gallagher99 @freepress.com

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