Wednesday, May 5, 2010
farms Where Citydesk is Ensnared in a Permitting Nightmare of his Own Making
Posted by Nathaniel Hoffman on Wed, May 5, 2010 at 4:49 PM
At most decent newspapers, any reporter who gets a DUI will show up on the front page the next day. Well this is not quite as bad, but I came home last week to a "NOTICE OF VIOLATION" from the City of Boise. Zoning Enforcement Officer Michael Garner noted that I had constructed a "strange metal fence" without obtaining a fence permit.
He's right; I should have obtained the $13.50 fence permit before constructing my fence post and hog panel trellis around my urban front yard garden. I do feel like the city has a right to regulate fences in city limits, though I didn't anticipate that my fence needed regulation when I was building it.
So I went into City Hall this afternoon to pay up, but then the clerk noted that I was in a historic district and thus would need a Certificate of Appropriateness in lieu of the fence permit. That's $26, by the way, and a 7-page application. Also, standard wooden fences have been pre-deemed appropriate here, but hog paneling is generally considered inappropriate, according to Matt Halitsky, who staffs the city's Historic Preservation Commission and who patiently answered my questions, though he partially obscured his profile behind a partition as we spoke.
So, being the open, honest citizen that I am, I asked about the front yard urban garden referenced above which the suspect fence/trellis complements in a 1950s Ranch meets actual ranch style that I spent the winter designing in my head.
In fact, front yard gardens in historic preservation districts are frowned upon, but I'd have to fill out the app to be sure, Halitsky responded.
- That's not a bad fence, right? That's not even a fence, it's a trellis.
So now my minor fence permit violation has turned into a full scale question of appropriateness, calling into question the viability of the garden that is to be my life's work this summer.
The clerk assured me that a neighbor complained about it ... zoning enforcement does not just drive around looking for violations like this, she assured me. Well, first of all, I wish that neighbor would just come talk to me.
I think I'll fill out the paperwork and see this through as an experiment in being an adult. Just don't tread on my baby arugula, Mr. Boise Commie Man, OK.
Comments (10)
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Fight the good fight, brother! Many have embraced urban gardening/farming but unfortunately there are still a lot of folks who feel that the subdivision look (lawn, two flowering trees, blah, blah, blah) is the standard to which we must all adhere. They are only too happy to rat you out to code enforcement because they would never dream of telling you to your face they are uncomfortable with your yard looking different. After all, it's really none of their business, right?
Nathaniel - Fight the fight. Your fellow urban farmers support your actions. City of Boise needs to pull their head out and support efforts like yours if we are to be viewed as the progressive little gem that we like to consider ourselves to be. Power to the farmer!
This is a fight you can stand behind! You love fighting for justice, and what is more just than feeding your family and friends? And since when is a bright yellow '50's ranch house historic?
Nathaniel, just so you know, the city is also shutting down the Tuesday night market at Edward's Greenhouse. Something about not having the right kind of parking lot. How's that for supporting urban agricultural and the general livability of our city? Now I don't have anywhere to do our CSA pickup :( Katie
It might take some work to shift cultural mores, but you go boy! What could possibly be healthier to have in a neighborhood than a well-tended garden?
We should all be complaining about people blighting neighbors with resource-wasting spreads of Kentucky bluegrass, which is a fine species, but ridiculously inappropriate for residential decoration in this climate.
I was laughing, thinking you should be grateful you don't have a damned HOA like I do. Then I saw Katie's comment and realized that there's a pattern here from our friends at the city. Their affiliation with the Chamber and the downtown association has made them pretty protective and possessive of that yuppie fest they call a farmers market. These markets shouldn't make things more expensive. A little push back is in order. Go get 'em.
This is what happens when other people know what's best for you. I have endless tales of city communism for those who would listen. You don't even realize how grossly you have violated the city sediment and erosion control code yet. That will the the next of of the S.S. to put his jack boot on your doorstep and insist you have no private property rights.
One: Farming is a Hell of a lot more "historic" than most of those pseudo-historical sites they protect. But Republicans are all about having millions of rules to stomp on the rights of a free people. And Republicans are all about Taxes. And Republicans are all about fences--When it keeps the poor out. They seem to love gated communities. Dammit: "Good Fences MAKE Good Neighbors!" Now that is Historic!
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