Goats, hogs and sheep will be joining St. Joseph Farm at the 63-acre site of the historic former orphanage, the North Little Rock City Council unanimously approved Monday.
The legislation allows those animals to be at the urban farm under a provision that they only be allowed at “an agri-tourism educational facility of no less than 60 acres.” The legislation amends the North Little Rock Municipal Code section that prohibits those animals being inside the city.
St. Joseph Farm is on Camp Robinson Road near the Camp Pike portion of the Arkansas National Guard’s Camp Robinson facility. The 80-room former orphanage was built in 1910 and is on the National Register of Historic places.
An amendment to the legislation, also approved 8-0, will restrict the animals from being within 100 feet of any residential property line, and will require the farm to take measures to prevent “noxious odors or any other nuisance prohibited” by city code.
“This is just a small portion of what we’re doing,” Jody Hardin, who founded the farm concept last summer, told the council. “We’re creating a diversified farm and to have a diversified farm it’s important to have livestock.”
Hardin said he plans for the farm to become an educational opportunity for both farmers and schoolchildren throughout the state. Also, the farm will draw residents and tourists who will be able to buy fresh, locally produced products from the farm and a planned goat dairy on 15 acres of the land, he has said.
The ordinance will allow up to 60 goats, five hogs and 12 sheep at the farm, though Hardin said before the meeting that he has no immediate plans to add sheep. There are already 24 cows and small farming plots on the property.
A special-use permit will still need to be granted by the City Council at a later date for the farm to run a goat dairy, Planning Director Robert Voyles said.
Aldermen questioned whether the change would open up other large properties, particularly in the city’s east, to have goats or pigs, but the narrowly-worded legislation is pretty specific to St. Joseph Farm, Mayor Joe Smith said.
“We’re working toward saving the St. Joseph property,” Smith said. “There’s also a renovation of the orphanage going on out there. I think this ordinance protects us from something crazy happening.”
The orphanage closed in 1978 and was used as a day-care center until 1997. After the day-care center closed, the building and the property were only used for Catholic group retreats.
Hardin subleases the property from St. Joseph Center of Arkansas Inc., a nonprofit formed in 2010 to preserve the historic property and find a new use for it. The property is owned by the Diocese of Little Rock.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 02/11/2014