The neighborhood drama started with a simple crop of tomatoes.
In 2007, Brooke Salvaggio took over the 2.5 acres surrounding her grandparents' house on Bannister Road in southern Kansas City and turned it into Bad Seed Farm. This spring, with husband Dan Heryer adding his expertise to the urban operation, the organic farmers decided to expand their cornucopia, including a new planting of tomatoes in the front, side yard.
But the blushing fruit happened to be within view of a neighbor who didn't take kindly to the cultivation.
Phyllis Forbes, who owns the property next to the Bad Seed, complained to the neighborhood association about the allegedly unsightly development. Soon, Heryer and Salvaggio were in the crosshairs of city officials -- and urban farmers across the area were holding their breath.
Tonight could be the first step to making Kansas City far more friendly to local food producers.
On July 22, two investigators from the Kansas City Planning and Development Department visited the Bad Seed on complaints that Salvaggio and Heryer were selling vegetables and hosting a farmers' market at their Bannister Road farm. The two officials also took issue with a small sign the couple had erected on their property, that, the inspectors said, required a city permit.
The Bad Seed farmers promptly took down the sign and tried to explain that they sell their produce at their funky little shop in downtown Kansas City, not from the production site. In fact, they often turned away potential buyers who showed up on their doorsteps because such visitors interrupted their already busy work schedule. The only exchange that did go on were the few members of the farm's CSA -- Community Supported Agriculture -- program, who picked up their weekly subscription boxes from the Bannister Road farm.
Still, a week later, Heryer and Salvaggio got three violations in the mail. According to the city, Bad Seed is considered a home business because it shares its site with a residence. And, according to investigators, the farmers were running afoul of the city codes that govern such operations. "They said that the Home Occupation Business code restricted the presence of any physical evidence of the business activities outside of the home," Heryer explained to me in an e-mail. "To the City, this meant the plants themselves. So, at that point, we were afraid that they would shut down our entire farm and that this would make urban farming illegal in Kansas City."
Katherine Kelly, director of the Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture, knew such an interpretation of the city codes could put other urban farmers in danger of being shut down. She wasn't heartened when she looked through the violations pending against the Bad Seed. "Some of them were just patently ridiculous, so it really started looking like codes was kind of throwing things at them because of other interests, with the intent of harassing them to shut them down," she says. "I can't speak to whether that was codes' intent, but I think that's what it felt like to Dan and Brooke."
So, with a pro-bono lawyer backing their case, the Bad Seed farmers took their concerns to City Hall, meeting with half-a-dozen officials, including Tom Coyle, director of the Planning and Development Department, in early September. The city was persuaded to drop the violations, Heryer says, but with some nagging conditions. No longer can CSA customers pick up their veggie boxes at the Bad Seed Farm -- they'll have to drive to the downtown storefront. Even more challenging, though, Heryer and Salvaggio aren't allowed to have any volunteers or apprentices help them tend their bountiful beds -- even if the workers are doing it for free.
"What that means is, they can't have friends over to drink beer and sit in the field and do some weeding," Kelly says. "They can't have a volunteer day, where people come out and spend a few hours helping them in garden, learning about agriculture. Even though they're not getting paid, they're helping the economic activity of the farm."
And that puts a serious crimp in the Bad Seed's mission.
"If we continue to farm at that site next spring, we could not expand our production beyond its current scale without volunteer help," Heryer says. "That will also restrict us from participating in Growing Growers and educating young people on how to manage a farm."
Luckily, Bad Seed's battle with City Hall exposed how current laws can make life difficult for urban farmers. And city officials seem willing to change them. In the past month, Heryer says, five city council members have either toured the farm or expressed their support for the Bad Seed. Right now, the city is in the middle of a lengthy review of the development codes and Coyle tells me he is "more than eager to hear from community members on the issue of urban agriculture."
Community members are coming together at Bad Seed (1909 McGee St., Kansas City) tonight to discuss that very issue. Starting at 6 p.m., the group will begin examining city codes and brainstorming how they could be more helpful to urban farms. And this isn't restricted to gardeners and growers -- if you eat food, this issue effects you too.
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Hopefully Kansas City will realize that we are going back to very natural and healthy roots by supporting urban farmers.
What they are doing is good for the enviornment, both globally and locally. It is good for the people of Kansas City because fresher means more nutrients.
Lets hope that their neighbors decide to support 2 young people working hard to start a business for themselves, instead of tearing them down.
I for one would be honored to live next door to any of our communities urban farms!
These laws need changing. In our economic and environmental climate, local food trumps a cranky neighbor's complaints X10000. Keep us posted, PLOG.
If they let them grow their veggies, where does it go from there? Pretty soon people are going to be raising cows and chickens in their back yard and butchering them behind the woodshed. And who knows, maybe *gasp* hunting deer in JOCO. God forbid that all the little children see that the food doesn't come from the store all wrapped in plastic or stored in cans.
Two-and-a-half acres isn't much. When I drive by the place it isn't visable from the road. (I have seen the biggest damn chickens ranging in a front yard nearby. I mean raptor big! Mmmmm, chicken & noodles).
If I was a neighbor I'd be glad to see somebody producing food for the local dinner table. I guess it is the screaming of all the vegetables as they are plucked from the vines which is really annoying.
Maybe they can partner up with a local 4-H club?
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