Berkeley gardener told to uproot his plants
By Doug Oakley
Staff writer
Posted: 01/05/2009 07:23:28 PM PST
Gary Rosenberg says he is just trying to practice what city leaders preach: He is trying to practice sustainable living by using as few resources as possible.
But instead of giving the Berkeley man an award for growing his own fruits and vegetables, recycling and composting, the city slapped him with a $3,000 fine.
He also faces more fines of $3,000 a day if he doesn't tear down his rooftop greenhouse or submit a $4,000 nonrefundable zoning fee to legalize it. And he needs to get rid of the outdoor rooftop gardening operation — which is all in plastic pots — and trim his trees over six feet tall. None of his gardening structures were built with city permits.
Even if he pays the fee to legalize his urban gardening operation, he has to go through public hearings and it's not a guarantee he will be approved.
"We're going to shut him down," said Berkeley Code Enforcement Supervisor Gregory Daniel. "You can't build a 12-foot addition on top of your house and say it's a greenhouse and not comply with building codes."
Daniel said while the fines may sound harsh, the city wouldn't have known about his operation if he didn't let his compost get out of hand. It was attracting flies and rats and the neighbors complained, Daniel said.
What's more, he is putting his tenants at risk by setting a structure on a flat roof without thinking it through, Daniel said.
"I explained to him that even if you want to start this whole political consciousness movement about rooftop gardening, go about it legally because that's the way you are going to get the support of citizens and the city," Daniel said.
Rosenberg has since removed the compost and trimmed his trees. But he said he's not going to remove the rooftop garden or greenhouse without a fight. He said he is perplexed that the city's official policy, Measure G, states that the majority of food consumed in Berkeley should be produced locally to help reduce greenhouse gases, yet the city harasses him.
All the materials he uses for gardening and which he used to build the greenhouse came from city trash. He makes soil from coffee grounds he gets from Peet's Coffee and food waste from the Juice Bar Collective and the T-Rex Barbeque.
Rosenberg claims that by next summer he will be growing enough food to feed 15 people on less than the $100 he invested.
"I got rid of the compost pile," Rosenberg said. "I cleaned up as well as I could. But they said I can't use my roof.
"I put a brand new roof on and got a permit for it. I can't see (how) what I'm doing is affecting anyone's life negatively. It's not like I'm converting a garage in the hills to an illegal rental unit. I'm doing this in plain sight."
Rosenberg called the city's action on his trees in the front yard "selective enforcement" because "80 percent of the houses in Berkeley have trees over six feet tall."
Rosenberg said he has 60 letters of support from his neighbors.
Interviews with a couple of his neighbors elicited positive responses.
"It don't bother me, man," said a neighbor who lives across the street who declined to give his name.
"Everybody in the neighborhood praised him for building that greenhouse. He's doing something for the environment. What's wrong is they let him build it, and then they make him tear it down."
The man pointed out that the city's corporation yard, which draws city employees and inspectors on the way to and from work every day, is down the street from his home. If they had a problem with it when he was building it, they should have stopped him then, the resident said.
Alex Mendelsohn, who lives in the neighborhood, said she likes Rosenberg's greenhouse.
"To see that go up helps us all realize you can grow food in pots on rooftops in all sorts of places," Mendelsohn said.
"I understand that the city needs the revenue, but the planning process can be very difficult and expensive. This guy is growing food up there. Other people can look at it and say "hey, I can do that too!'"