New compost ordinance resolves “stinky” situation

After six months of Yuma residents living in a “smelly” situation, the Yuma City Council developed a new ordinance.

Not only is this ordinance important for the well-being of homeowners but for agriculture as well.

The new amendment is deemed to define where and how much compost farmers or homeowners can have.

Last year, residents of the area between South Avenue 5E and South Avenue 6E complained about the smell from the composting pile on one of the neighbouring farms.

City Administrator Greg Wilkinson, knows this situation all too well, as he too lives in the area.

“The stink and the flies were like so pungent, that people couldn’t even go out in their backyards,” said Wilkinson.

A property owner reportedly created a large composting pile by taking in truckloads of rotting vegetables.

“Someone just got the bright idea, ‘well I’ll just get them all’, he was going to turn it into a business and it was massive, we are talking semi-truck trailer loads,” said Wilkinson.

Backyards and large outdoor spaces such as agricultural farms are recognized in the ordinance.

Composting, allows growers to recycle natural materials to create rich soil.

“Organic composting is increasing and so we need more composting,” said Wilkinson.

This is a common process in agriculture in which old produce and soil is “turned over” to start composting.

“Most of the coolers, their cuttings, they would spread them out on the field and then just plough them under,” said Wilkinson.

Wilkinson said most farmers tried to do so within 24 hours to lessen the chance of a smell.

Before this ordinance had been created, there were no City standards, spelled out in a code anywhere.

Now, the new stipulations outline the size of how much compost a person can have.

“If you have a garden, and you are a gardener, you can still have a small compost pile to do that locally but you can’t have this massive pile, you cannot do any commercial composting,” said Wilkinson.

As for gardens, the ordinance states that it is an area that can support no greater than 5 cubic yards for compost.

A large composting site, made up of three or more acres will now support 120 cubic yards.

For agricultural sites of more than 5 acres, the ordinance requires compost to be organic solid waste, where all materials are generated on the farmland.

There is also a nuisance clause which allows an action to be taken if an obvious smell occurs.

“Almost every law is a reaction to something someone else has done to cause a problem,” said Wilkinson.

The City of Yuma hopes to show the community that they are always looking for ways in which agriculture and housing developments can work together.

“We believe in property rights, but your property rights stop when you’re infringing on somebody else’s property rights,” said Wilkinson.

“Obviously we are an agriculture community, we need to work cooperatively with the agriculture community, our ordinance was in reaction to all these things in order to protect people’s property rights,” said Wilkinson.