Public hearing scheduled Nov. 29 for amendment to Molesting Vegetation ordinance

Modifying ordinance necessary to achieve stated goals of Urban Agriculture Activity Plan

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) is hosting a public hearing Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017, 6:15 pm at MPRB headquarters, 2117 West River Road, on a proposed amendment to Ordinance PB2-2, Molesting Vegetation. Individuals who would like to speak to the Board can sign up at the Board meeting before the public hearing begins.

The current Molesting Vegetation Ordinance (PB2-2) reads as follows:

PB2-2. – Molesting vegetation

No person not an employee of the board shall pick or cut any wild or cultivated flower, or cut, break or in any way injure or deface any tree, shrub or plant within the limits of any park or parkway; nor carry within or out of any park or parkway any wild flower, tree, shrub, plant or any newly plucked branch or portion thereof, or any soil or material of any kind. (Code 1960, As Amend., § 1010.030)

MPRB staff recommends the following updated Molesting Vegetation Ordinance, PB 2-2:

New text underlined. Deleted text bold.

PB2-2. Molesting Vegetation

No person not an employee of the board shall pick or cut any wild or cultivated flower, or cut, break or in any way injure or deface any tree, shrub, fungus, or plant within the limits of any park or parkway; nor carry within or out of any park or parkway any wild flower, tree, shrub, fungus, plant or any newly plucked branch or portion thereof, or any soil or material of any kind. These provisions do not apply to MPRB staff and other authorized persons working as part of MPRB approved projects, the general public harvesting fruit or nuts for personal (non-commercial) use from approved fruit and nut tree species outside of excluded areas, nor authorized persons tending or harvesting vegetation within designated urban agriculture areas.  The park board shall maintain a public list of urban agriculture areas and approved fruit and nut tree species that identifies areas excluded from harvesting. (Code 1960, As Amend., § 1010.030)

Background

In 2014, the MPRB  adopted the Urban Agriculture Activity Plan [PDF], which states goals and strategies that necessitate modifying the Molesting Vegetation Ordinance:

Goal Three

Food available on parkland benefits residents, park visitors and the environment.

Strategies

  • Modify park ordinance to allow for public harvest of food produced within designated edible landscapes.
  • Designate park spaces for edible landscapes; grow food-producing trees, shrubs, and perennials suitable for human consumption.
  • Develop policy and procedures for establishment of community gardens within neighborhood parks and tax-forfeited property.

Implementation

Implementing the first strategy under Goal Three from the Urban Agriculture Activity Plan would amend Park Board Ordinance 2-2 to allow for harvesting of vegetation within the park system under certain conditions. These conditions are:

  • Planning division within MPRB will maintain a public list of designated urban agriculture areas, within which cultivation and harvest of a variety of types would be permitted;
  • Forestry Department, in consultation with other departments within Environmental Stewardship, will develop and maintain a list of fruit and nut tree species from which fruit and nuts may be harvested throughout the park system;
  • Environmental Stewardship Division, in consultation with the Planning Division within MPRB, will identify areas within which harvesting will not be permitted under any conditions (those areas exempt from the amendment), and a map of these exempted areas will be created and maintained to accompany the list.

All needed lists, as well as the map of excluded areas, will be developed and published upon final adoption of the ordinance amendment and prior to the amendment formally going into effect 90 days after its adoption.  

Contact

Ellen Kennedy
Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board
Phone: 612-230-6577
Email: ekennedy@minneapolisparks.org