15-0310 v3.0/Holy Cross/Chickens And Bees

QUESTION

As part of our urban agriculture requirement, we're focusing on animal husbandry by keeping beehives and chicken runs on our site.

For the bees, we are incorporating plants intended for "bee consumption" in our landscaping. We're wondering:

How exactly we count these plants towards the required square footage
Whether you have a pre-approved list of such plants or we should provide documentation to back up our choices
How plants with dual agricultural purposes are counted (for example, we are planting citrus trees near beehives to provide access to blossoms, but will also be able to harvest oranges and lemons).

For the chickens, we are debating between concentrated chicken runs with coops, and enclosed coops with chickens left free to roam the whole site during the day. How would we count the latter scenario, understanding that we can't count the whole site, but only counting the coop would underrepresent what's actually there?

ANSWER

1. It is acceptable to allocate a proportion of your planting to the sustenance of any livestock on site, including wildflowers for bees. The project team must make the case that the allocated area (for bees or chickens) is sized and planted appropriately for its function. The square footage of that "appropriately sized space" counts toward your Urban Agriculture requirement.

2. The Institute does not have a pre-approved list of plants intended for bee consumption. The team must briefly and clearly explain their non-edible plant choices in their documentation.

3. It is acceptable to double count - but not triple count - plants with dual agricultural purposes. To be double counted, any plantings that provide sustenance for bees or other livestock must also be harvested and used for human consumption. See 'Allowable Area', v3.0 PPH p. 21-22.

4. You may count the area of both the chicken coop and any run you provide for the chickens. If the chickens are allowed free roam of the entire site, calculate the Urban Agriculture area based on what would be necessary if the chickens were in runs.

See the 3.0 Place Petal Handbook (PPH p 21-22) for information on all the above.

Post ID 2726