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http://scienceblo gs.co m/casaubo nsbo o k/2012/02/29/facing-the-zo ning-mo nster/

Taming the Zoning Monster

Po sted by Sharo n Astyk o n February 29, 2012

For the last several years Ive been working on the invention of Urban and Suburban Right-to-Farm Laws and have had some notable successes including a legal conference on the idea and a few municipalities that have implemented them. This is one of the reasons I think this is so incredibly important zoning presumptions simply cant be allowed to prevent people from using less and meeting their own needs. Over the last 50 years, f ood and zoning laws have worked to minimize subsistence activities in populated areas. Not only have we lost the culture of subsistence, but weve instituted legal requirements that make it almost impossible f or many people to engage in simple subsistence activities that cut their energy use, reduce their ecological impact, improve their f ood security and improve their communities. In some cases, these laws were instituted f or f airly good reasons, in many cases, f or bad ones that associate such activities with poverty. Scratch most of the reasons f or these things both f or zoning laws and HOA policies, and youll f ind class issues under their surf ace in the name of property values. T here are ostensible reasons f or these things, but generally speaking, they derive f rom old senses of what constituted wealth T hey stem f rom the notion that what constituted wealth was essentially having things that dont do anything of economic value, but show that you can af f ord not to do f or yourself . It is important to remember that many things we think are ugly because of their class associations are not inherently ugly that is, a lush garden is not inherently more ugly than a lawn (quite the contrary), nor are colorf ul clothes on a line inherently unattractive. What we f ind beautif ul has to do with our culture and our training, otherwise how could anyone have ever f ound a 800K McMansion beautif ul? Among the basic subsistence activities consistently legislated against by towns, cities and housing developments are: 1. Clotheslines instead of dryers. Reason: Looks poor. Might suggest you cant af f ord a dryer. Plus, you might see underwear that isnt your own. T his is a major cause of sin. 2. No livestock, but large pets are acceptable. Reason: Ostensible reasons are health based, a f ew even broadly grounded in f act, T hey ignore, however, that carnivore manures are almost certainly more dangerous than any other livestock manure, and health issues are at least as prevalent f rom pets. T he same is true of considerations of size, noise, etc barking dogs the size of ponies are permitted while three quiet hens are not. T he real reason is that pets are broadly a sign of af f luence, since they cost us money, while livestock are a sign of poverty, because they provide economic benef its. 3. No f ront yard gardens. Reason: T he lawn is a sign of af f luence you have money, leisure and water enough to have a chunk of land, however tiny, that doesnt produce anything.. It creates in many neighborhoods a seemingly contiguous but basically sterile, of ten chemically toxic and seeming public greenspace that is actually privatized and not very green. Gardens, on the other hand, have dirty wildlif e and bugs in them, and might grow f ood, which is bad because it implies you cant af f ord it even if you cant. 4. No rainwater collection. Reason: T his is mostly in dry places in the Southwest, f or f ear that the tiny amount of available rainwater might not reach people who cant af f ord to pay f or it, or strangely believe that water that lands on their roof might belong to them, and who would like to have gardens anyway. A f ew other municipalities do it f or f ear of west nile disease because they seem never to have heard of screens or

mosquito dunks. Oh, and barrels look like you cant af f ord to water your lawn with sprinklers, even when it is raining. While western riparian water rights are an issue, research has shown over and over again that rainbarrels increase net water access and that lost water in storm surge that could have been collected in rainbarrels is a net gain. Fortunately, many cities are f inally getting over this one. 5. No commerce that isnt white collar. Reason Class. Telecommuters who can make money out of their homes all they want, or upscale white collar prof essionals with home of f ices are generally permitted in residential zoning.. T his means people who want to sell f ood, do hair, f ix things, cannot hang a discrete sign selling their biscuits or of f erin their services. T his is deemed ugly and bad and it is a visible reminder that people might not have enough money to keep warm burning it, and might need to earn some. Now I realize Im being a little bit unkind. People have real concerns no one should have a 200 hog pig f arm move in next door in a suburban neighborhood, or a junkyard on their block. But thats not whats at issue here hanging the laundry is not a slippery slope to your neighbor building a quarry or running a whorehouse. It is perf ectly possible to permit all these activities and have a beautif ul, pleasant f amily neighborhood. We can see the f undamental injustice of this in laws that outlaw even tastef ul gardens or small tastef ul signs that say eggs on them. A town that tries to keep its traditional colonial historic or small town f eel without actually allowing any of the characteristics of traditional, colonial, historic or small town lif e is creating a sterile Disneyland as well as destroying long term environmental, economic and f ood security. T he reality is that clothes on the line arent empirically ugly. Neighborhood cats carry more diseases than backyard poultry. If you can put a political sign on your lawn, you should be able to put a sign that says f resh baked goods on it hell, f ood security is political! T hat means that these laws cant be allowed to stand. And that means that one of the f irst things you or your community, your transition group or your neighbors can do is to push to change your zoning laws or your neighborhood covenants. Rather than changing them one by one, the idea of scale-appropriate right to f arm laws f or cities and suburbs can help work through this huge project of enabling us to get what we need in place f or the f uture. T hat means you need to get involved. Go to the town meetings. Get to know you zoning board. Talk to your neighbors. Strategize can you f ind some people who want chickens to get together with? Find out what the objections are and address them if people are af raid of bird f lu, remind them that bird f lu is largely a problem of industrial production. If people think that lawns are beautif ul and f ood gardens are ugly, show them otherwise. Show them that other towns are doing it remind them that Seattle allows chickens and Charlottesville VA allows miniature goats, and civil unrest or collapse of property values is not associated with either. If the law wont help you, consider whether you are willing to consider civil disobedience. Unjust laws need to be overturned you dont have to go to jail to be T horeau, sometimes you just need to plant some kale. But bef ore you do that, do know the price you may have to pay make sure you are willing to pay it. Someone with courage who is willing to pay a price may have to go f irst and if you have the willingness to be the one to f ight that battle, well, all honor to you. T he reality is that some of the zoning restrictions and covenants will f ade as times get tougher, but we really cant af f ord to wait f or things to be really bad to get our chickens because it will likely to be harder to come by diverse stock then. We cant wait to grow f ood until were already hungry. We cant wait to collect water until our well is dry. It is worth f ighting these battles right now particularly since many of them truly are rooted in ugly prejudice against the poor, and rejection of an agrarian past we need to reclaim. Most Americans couldnt get much more separate f rom our roots, so it is sort of silly to spend time showing that were not f rom our agrarian past weve noticed. Bit by bit, people are bringing clotheslines and f ront

yard gardens back, and making them cool again. But we cant wait f or that to happen because the reality is that many of us will be poor, and the utility of these activities will be needed to sof ten our poverty. We cant wait until everyone sees a garden f ull of f ood as beautif ul and lush. Instead, weve got to make sure that even those who still think it looks old f ashioned and dirty dont get to control something so basic as our f uture anymore.