Disappointed in Y-Towns NON-commitment to THEIR OWN 2010 plan (Youngstown, Green: fit in, apartments)

[DIOBLIZZ]

We came to Youngstown by chance and found a place where we felt that we not only could have a home but be a part of what is the growing movement for the "greening" of America. We brought energy, joy, enthusiasm and compassion.
Youngstown was a place that we were told that a "New City" was being born, and the resurrection of an American dream, and our dreams could soon become a part of the viable Youngstown plan.

We settled into this property after being told that "Animals were no problem" by a Youngstown person of authority, and our dreams were well within reach. We were directed to take the few simple steps to change the zoning status from Apartments, to Residential / Agricultural. We looked at it as an opportunity to enhance and nurture the land around us. Ohio reads as a place that encourages an agricultural presence and we were bringing this ability to develop and continue such an agricultural charisma. With great enthusiasm we followed those steps and proposed our plan to bring LIGHT agriculture onto the 4 acres that is deeded with our home, plus purchasing an additional 5+ acres adjoining our lot, and preparing to take steps to retain a property that was in the Youngstown Lien Forward program of an additional 8 acres behind us. (17 Acres total)

The City Planning Board denied our request to make the necessary zoning re-classification when certain neighbors brought up a concern of rats becoming present with our animals, concerns for how we were going to control our animals in a suburban like area, and concerns regarding odor. I fully understood their concerns, and I understood that if they never lived around farms and animals, they would be questions that someone would ask.

I designed a website Home (www dot justajourney dot freehomepage dot com)

I went into great detail to explain what our proposed plan was and tried to make it clear that I was not asking permission to bring in 100 head of cattle. I was asking for permission to house my two personal horses on the property, plus our six dairy goats.
I explained how we had plans to keep both vegetation barriers, an outside safety fence and individual pasture fence to secure the animals. I showed plans and photos of the great distance that we were planning on keeping the animals away from the neighboring property. I showed photos of how secluded our property was, and how the property around us is being wasted by only being used as a dumping ground for tires and garbage.

We became an asset to the area during our short stay here in Youngstown. We have the startings of an Eastside Animal and Garden Youth group. We have members just waiting to see if the group is going to be able to be formed, but sorry to say, it doesn't look like it will ever go forward. (on this subject, if anyone is interested in being the leader of such group, please contact me and I'll give you the members waiting to get things started) Myself, and my family spent a great deal of time volunteering to help the area children with animal education, and many children we found were never given the opportunity to learn any form of agriculture. We were trying to show them that there is a future out there besides sidewalks and parking lots. There is green grass, gardens, and animals, both domestic and wildlife. I'm hoping that someone has it in their hearts to continue where we have to leave off.

Today we were told by the Ohio Health Department that they also denied our proposed plan for the animals because "Neighbors don't want animals around". We were told that for us to be permitted to have our animals within city limits both the City Board and the Health Board must accept it, and we've been denied by both.

After the Planning Board hearing we were to have a Public Hearing where we had members from many City Agencies were planning to attend in support of our efforts. We were never given that opportunity to have a Public Hearing, the neighbors made the decision and no one of authority is willing to "come forward" to make things right. The whole subject just keeps getting tossed around as no one wants to "rock the boat".

Youngstown - they claim that they want the City to change, they want caring people to bring stability into a crumbling and tumbling town. They want to go "Grey to Green", and even a festival is scheduled to show how good things are getting.

The Youngstown 2010 Plan - "Green, Food, Agriculture, Helping Families, Giving Children Opportunities, Clean Environment",
I read all of those words in the written plan, and our proposed plan was to take run-down, over-grown trash filled acres of land, grow gardens, donate garden space for the community, encourage the children to get involved and teach them how to be compassionate for living creatures, but the misconception of these terrible stinking animals breaking loose and chasing people down the street, and stabbing them with their horns, or kicking with their hooves are just that...Conceptions... of people that are uneducated regarding animal husbandry and agriculture.

How can Youngstown sit down and write this well thought out plan, accept grants and donations in large numbers, invite people to help the city improve it's image, then turn the help down because the "Neighbors" are misunderstanding? The City won't listen to anyone besides the neighbors who are not educated in the field of Agriculture and ignore the professionals that have already came forward and have explained that our plan WILL fit into their "New Image Plan".

Why has Youngstown led us on this wild goose chase? ( it state it nicely) damaging not only our dreams, but others who believed that the City had true interest in a Greener, Better, and Safer City, and not just interest in making it sound good on paper and grabbing the grants and running.

I've actually been sitting here for days trying to figure this one out:

I'm told that there is several people on the Planning Board who agree with our agricultural plan, and I've talked to a few who personally said that they believe in what we were trying to do. The zoning officer thought the plan was great, and we had that discussion BEFORE I committed to purchasing this house in Youngstown, I've had meetings with members from ATLEAST six different organizations involving the Greening, Cleaning, and improving the City, all in which I have met personally and we had the opportunity to sit down and review our plans, walk the grounds, and pointed out anything that could possibly be in our way, and even a person at the State Health Department agreed that our plan was fine, on a personal level, not department level. I've heard from atleast a dozen of the above people say that they don't understand what the neighborhoods problem is, and I can not find that answer either, no matter how hard I look.
Yes, We are out-of-state-ers, didn't grow up here locally, and actually we were never to Youngstown until we seen this house and decided to purchase it. I couldn't tell you any of our neighbors names, nor do I know what their reasoning is for bulking on the idea of goats cleaning the brush from a 10-18 acre area, or having two horses walking around the back pastures.

No one will give us a straight answer. All that we hear is "Someone else said no" (Who are these "Someones") and I also hear how the City is improving with a strong plan in progress. How can anything be progressing when no one can take a step forward.

Sorry Youngstown, but your city has really disappointed us, and others who supported our cause.

To make any plan work, you need energy, joy, enthusiasm and passion, and as long as the people, organizations, and companies who come into the city with those qualities are pushed away by city politics, they ALSO will pack up and move on. There are plenty of other towns and cities that will take these assets with open arms.

As for the Youngstown Welcome Wagon, Please don't visit... with neighbors like this, we will probably be found with wagon wheel tracks across our bodies. Keep going on down the road because it looks like our next phone call will be to the U-Haul Reservation office.

[JR_C]

Again, I understand your frustration. But, I still don't see why the city is to blame for this. A governing body can't deny the rights of one individual in favor of the rights of another. This is not unique to Youngstown.

The only advice I can give is to educate your neighbors. But, that seems impossible, because no one will admit to being the "one" standing in your way.

Are you giving up? Has anyone you've talked to suggested a further coarse of action?

[DIOBLIZZ]

I understand that a governing body is not SUPPOSE to deny the rights of one in favor of the rights of another, BUT THEY ARE, and I am blaming the City because they are suppose to be the strong backbone and governing body, instead when I call them on the phone, I'm told that they aren't the ones against it, it's SOMEONE else and they can't go against SOMEONE ELSE. My question: Why does the neighbors have so much control to keep us from our pursuit of happiness, on our own property? I'd understand if we were talking about keeping all of those animals on an acre, but we are talking 10 acres, and up to 18 acres... and the only ones that the animals would even be in sight of would be the prison inmates from the back portion of the pasture, and I really don't think that they would be the ones complaining of seeing two horses romping around in a field! As explained on the website of where our fences would be and so on, no one else would be able to see them unless they came to our house. If you're bored and confused and have an hour to hear the circles you get, try calling the offices and ask them what ever happened to the "allowing of animals on Jacobs". Everyone is blaming everyone else. (our ward person, Kitchen the planning board, DÁvignon, zoning person, DeCarlo, the health department, Altman) I'm on the phone and email every day. This whole process was only suppose to take two months before we'd have our animals home, (told to us BEFORE we purchased the house) I loose my horse boarding next month, as I promised them that I'd have the horses moved by July, so pushing to Sept is lucky. The boarding stable has the stalls rented for the winter to someone else. The only course of action that I have left is to pay an attorney to get some answers for me, in which I can't afford that route, nor have the time to wait another 4-5-6 months again. If by chance you happen to come across any solutions, please let me know... remember though, it has to be approved by both, the City and the Health Deperatment, not just one or the other. So far, both denied us blaming the decision on the neighbore????? in the meantime, we are out house-hunting.

[JR_C]

If the neighbors don't want the zoning change--for whatever reason--then the city can't do anything. As far as I know, that's how it works everywhere.

[chikaranotori]

there are people in Y-town who want change. the problem is, there is not ENOUGH of them from what i've seen. and until more people care, the ones who do will probably just be spinning their wheels.

and that is not just Y-town, though it is the most obvious and picked on example in this state. that would be pretty much this entire state. thus the reason we are losing population and losing our economy. and the people who care are being quelled by the reality of it all.

[DIOBLIZZ]

there are people in Y-town who want change. the problem is, there is not ENOUGH of them from what i've seen. and until more people care, the ones who do will probably just be spinning their wheels.

Okay, but HOW do you get people to think about a change when they are unwilling to even listen to the proposed plan? I understand that most of the neighbors are older, not animal people, are uneducated regarding agriculture, and 1) set in their ways 2) scared of "change" 3) just don't care and acting in revenge. I'm doing everything I can, but anyone have any other suggestions that I may have missed?
website plans and updates: Home (www dot justajourney dot freehomepage dot com)

[chikaranotori]

hmm, i wish i did, because what you are proposing, as i said in another thread, is actually a wonderful idea. but if people are determined to wallow in their ignorance, there is little you can do.

you could try a petition, along with your idea of pursuing the councilman in that area. you could even try a media blitz (the local TV news agencies and the Vindicator), and see where that leads.

[DIOBLIZZ]

Thanks Chikaranotori...
Petition is up and running and I'm searching for someone that can take a hard copy of the petition to the Downtown Market, and North Side Farmers market. If you know anyone that is willing to carry the petition along, please email me...
Thanks

Here's the link for the petition:

Agriculture and Urban Farming in Youngstown Ohio Petition

[Traveler87]

Isn't it suppose to start the major projects around 2010, or no?

[DIOBLIZZ]

Youngstown 2010


Youngstown 2010 is a citywide plan for the City of Youngstown, Ohio. Youngstown 2010 began as a process to engage and educate the community about the importance of planning and the planning process, as well as create a vision and plan to help revitalize Youngstown well into the future. The City of Youngstown and Youngstown State University coordinated this planning process with help from nearly 200 volunteers, neighborhood organizations and businesses.

The City of Youngstown is operating under a comprehensive plan that was formulated over a four year period in the early 1950s. The plan was reviewed and updated with two additional volumes in 1974. These plans were for a different era that anticipated a population of between 200,000 and 250,000. The Youngstown 2010 Plan is based on a new vision for the new reality that accepts we are a smaller city that will stabilize at 80,000 people.

Linear population projections produced by the Ohio Department of Development and analyzed by Youngstown’s metropolitan planning organization, Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, indicate that by 2030 Youngstown’s population will fall to 54,000. Linear projections may be accurate if there is no change in the status quo. Youngstown 2010 is a chance to change the status quo and alter the slope of the projected trend line.

The City of Youngstown is positioned to become a competitive city once again. Keeping Youngstown 2010 a viable movement and not just another plan on the shelf will take the continued involvement of the community who helped bring the process to fruition. The City of Youngstown cannot, on its own, do everything that is called for in the plan. It will be the energy of each neighborhood and each community member that makes this plan work. It is you that will make this plan work.

Youngstown 2010 is a guide for the community and future city administrations to follow and implement. Although, change is inevitable, this document is intended to provide a solid foundation for a cleaner, greener, and more efficient city.

This plan will be updated after each census due to the 74% of Youngstown voters who approved a charter amendment requiring review every ten years.