Residents Invited to Attend Urban Agriculture Meetings

PRESS RELEASE
June 5, 2012

Contact: Larry Rich, City of Long Beach Office of Sustainability, 562.570.5839
For immediate release

Residents Invited to Attend Urban Agriculture Meetings


Residents are invited to share their thoughts on raising backyard livestock, and potential changes to the City's laws on chickens, goats and bees in residential areas.    

The first public meeting will be held on Monday, June 11, at 6:30 pm at the Long Beach Community Action Partnership, 3012 Long Beach Blvd. The second meeting will be held on Thursday, June 14, at 6:30 pm at the Whaley Park Community Center, 5620 E. Atherton St. The same content will be discussed at both meetings.

Public feedback gathered at these two meetings will be presented to the City Council’s Environmental Committee, which is scheduled to consider the matter on Tuesday, June 26.  The City's current ordinance allows livestock in some areas of Long Beach, but not in others.  The Environmental Committee is considering an ordinance that may standardize the City's livestock ordinance throughout the City, and create new standards for allowing chickens, goats and bees in residential areas.

For more information, contact Larry Rich, City of Long Beach Office of Sustainability, 562.570.5839.

Hi Long Beach urban agriculture agvocates,

From Donna at Long Beach Grows. If you are interested in keeping backyard chickens, bees or goats I suggest you attend this meeting.

Our lease for the farm is also up this night on the City Council agenda. We are #16 on the list so bring a snack. See you on the steps of City Hall-
-Sasha Kanno

Hi Long Beach urban agriculture agvocates,

This is a final reminder that your help is requested at tomorrow's Environmental Committee meeting to be held October 18th starting at 3:30 PM at City Council chambers, 333 W Ocean Boulevard.

The City of Long Beach will be addressing the suggestions made by Long Beach Grows and by the city’s Sustainable City Commission and Office of Sustainability, to allow urban agriculture, including small scale animal husbandry and beekeeping, without the current restrictions imposed by our municipal code.

Let's fill the house! with PRO URBAN AG supporters and speakers!

Please try your best to attend, even if it means rearranging your busy schedule. Although it is not required, each member of the audience who wishes to speak is usually given 1-2 minutes to do so.

In addition, whether or not you plan to attend, please it would be very helpful if you could send your supportive comments to your City Council representative as well as to each member of the Environmental Committee.
The Chair of the Environmental Committee is Dr. Suja Lowenthal: district2@longbeach.gov, Suja.Lowenthal@longbeach.gov
The Vice Chair is Patrick O’Donnell: district4@longbeach.gov, Patrick.ODonnell@longbeach.gov
The third city council member of the committee is James Johnson: district7@longbeach.gov, James.Johnson@longbeach.gov
 If you don’t know who your City Council representative is, you can find that information here: http://www.longbeach.gov/council/default.asp
I would appreciate being cc'd on your emails: donna@longbeachgrows.org

A set of Talking Points was provided in a previous email. If for some reason you didn't receive that message and wish to see it, please let me know.

Thanks again for your support. I look forward to seeing you this Tuesday, that's tomorrow.

Best wishes,

Donna Marykwas
Long Beach Grows
Growing a more sustainable future
www.longbeachgrows.org
donna@longbeachgrows.org
1-562-912-3364

Long Beach Urban Agriculture Examiner
www.examiner.com/urban-agriculture-in-long-beach/donna-marykwas

The next California Gardens tour is scheduled for Saturday, October 15th, 10am-12pm

The next California Gardens tour is scheduled for Saturday, October 15th, 10am-12pm. The tour will be the kick-off to monthly California Gardens Tours to be held every 3rd Saturday of the Month. These tours will be led by volunteers, and each tour will focus on a different aspect of the property (history, wildlife, plants, developments, etc). If you are interested in leading an upcoming tour, please email Grace Lorentzen at gracelorentzen@netscape.net.

This month's tour will be led by:
-Grace Lorentzen, 7th District Resident
-Mary Parsell, El Dorado Audubon Society

Plenty of parking and meeting location will be in the lot along Orange Ave., just south of 28th St (between Spring St. and Willow St.).

"The need for recreation opportunities and open space continues to grow in northern, central, and western portions of Long Beach," said Councilmember Johnson. "California Gardens is an opportunity to develop 40 acres of City-owned land into a natural oasis the whole region can enjoy. The proposed park at California Gardens is located at the highest accessible point in Long Beach, offering a 270-degree view of the Pacific Ocean to Palos Verdes to the mountains and Downtown Lost Angeles. After more than 100 years of City ownership, the time has come to start opening this property to the public to enjoy this natural open space in the middle of our city."

The monthly tours are open to the public and are are free of charge.  Contact the 7th District office if you have any questions: (562) 570-7777 or district7@longbeach.gov.

Link to the Facebook event page:
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=269686493063430

Please feel free to forward this email to family, colleagues, and friends.


Ed Aramburo
Office Manager/Scheduler
City Council 7th District
Councilmember James Johnson
Phone: (562)570-7777 Fax: (562)570-6954
Website I Facebook

Farm and garden tour

Thank you James Johnson, 7th District City Councilman for your support for our small farm as well as the restoration of the entire parcel. If you have not toured the gardens this is a perfect opportunity to do so. If you can't make it don't worry, we will be having an open house for the farm real soon.

If Long Beach has a final frontier, it could be here. A 56 acre undeveloped property surrounded by the City of Signal Hill, but mostly owned by the City of Long Beach, Willow Spring Gulch (aka California Gardens) is a little known nexus of many things: geology, history, water, wildlife, oil and moving forward, opportunity.

Join Councilmember James Johnson as he leads a tour to explore and learn about the rich history of this incredible property, and share ideas on developing the Willow and Spring Gulch into the 3rd largest park in the City of Long Beach. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes and clothing!

Entrance is located at 27th St. and California Ave. Willow Spring Gulch is located behind Sunnyside Cemetery. Plenty of parking available on 27th St.

To RSVP, please call (562) 570-7777 or e-mail us at district7@longbeach.gov.