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Woman Defends Conditions On Urban Farm After Getting 25 Citations

CHICAGO (CBS) -- An North Side woman has disputed the city's claims that she has more than two dozen code violations at her home and the vacant lot she's turned into an urban.

Mo Cahill's "Moah's Ark," as she calls it, is located in the 1800 of West Touhy Av., a couple doors down from her two-flat in Rogers Park. She said the vacant lot was an eyesore for 25 years when she bought it three years ago, but most in the community love it now that she's started growing tomatoes, raspberries, apples, pears and plums.

A complaint to the city brought inspectors out over the summer, and she was issued 25 citations: 18 for her two-flat, 7 for her urban farm. Among the complaints of "noxious odors" and an "unsanitary and offensive condition" created by chickens she keeps in a makeshift coop on the farm.

"There's noxious odors from my chicken coop is a blatant lie," Cahill said. She contended there was not a swarm of flies in the coop when an inspector visited in August, as the citations allege. She said it was more like 50 flies, which she argued would be par for the course in August.

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Another complaint from the city was that Cahill's urban farm has become a welcoming place for rats. She said she's working to correct that issue.

"I won't say a rat has never been on the property," she said, but she noted rats are a problem in many parts of the city.

The city cited Cahill for having debris on her vacant lot/urban farm, but she said she's grown more than 150 pounds of heirloom tomatoes and more "on that pile of debris" this year.

Cahill has been ordered to clean up the debris on the land, but she said the debris is being used in a process called "hugelkultur" to rejuvenate the soil, something on the order of composting.

"This is not Martha Stewart's farm, and it doesn't have to be. It shouldn't have to be, but I think they would like it to be," she said.

The city said it's just enforcing building codes.

Cahill said she bought the vacant a couple years ago for $125,000, so a developer wouldn't put up a multi-unit apartment complex.

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