For nearly a decade, Shirley Bell-Wheeler has turned vacant lots in Cleveland's Mt. Pleasant neighborhood into a working farm, growing produce for neighbors after the local Giant Eagle closed. This fall, city animal control officers gave her 24 hours to get rid of her chickens, and for about a week in September, roughly 11 birds sat impounded while Bell-Wheeler fought to keep the farm she built from being shut down entirely.
The standoff, first detailed by Signal Cleveland, traces back to a falling-out between Bell-Wheeler and Ward 4 Council Member Deborah Gray. Bell-Wheeler told the outlet she believes Gray led an effort to dismantle Revolutionary Love Farm, commonly known as RevLove, which sits on city land bank property she has farmed since 2017. City records and emails reviewed by Signal Cleveland showed two years of back-and-forth among city staff over the farm's fate.
An animal control officer told Bell-Wheeler that Gray wanted her off the land, according to the Signal Cleveland report, and a city staff email stated that Gray had directed that RevLove be ordered to vacate. Gray, for her part, told Signal Cleveland by phone that she had no idea what was happening with the farm and said she had no knowledge of animal control's actions involving Bell-Wheeler.
Chickens Seized After an Anonymous Call
The September seizure began, according to Cleveland Animal Care & Control, after an anonymous caller reported that Bell-Wheeler's dogs were loose. Animal control impounded chickens from the farm.
The city ultimately sided with Bell-Wheeler on the chicken question. A city spokesperson told Signal Cleveland that the Public Health Department reviewed the matter and determined Revolutionary Love Garden was a good use of the parcels, and that Bell-Wheeler is an upstanding resident suited to urban farming. Dr. David Margolius, director of the city's Public Health Department, told animal control staff he understood Bell-Wheeler could farm the property and keep chickens. Public Health, Community Development and Animal Control ultimately supported her ability to farm the property and keep her birds.
A Farm Born From a Grocery Store Closure
Bell-Wheeler and Jermaine Wheeler started RevLove in 2017, as grocery stores were closing and the farm began bringing fresh produce to the neighborhood. The Cleveland Department of Public Health has identified Mt. Pleasant as a high-need area affected by grocery closures and reduced fresh food access, a gap that has pushed residents toward small urban farms and corner stores for produce. Bell-Wheeler applied for a permit to garden a single vacant plot that year and got approval, starting with three plywood growing boxes.
The farm grew from there. Bell-Wheeler went on to buy two adjacent properties through the Cuyahoga County land bank and lease two more neighboring city land bank plots, eventually adding raised beds, a hoop house, a beehive and a chicken coop. RevLove has since donated produce to an elementary school and community center in Mt. Pleasant, partnered with Youth Opportunities Unlimited to employ high school students, and worked with the city to train young people on recent SNAP changes. The farm also participates in city-hosted farmers markets and functions as a community hub for young people in the neighborhood.
The 2024 Meeting That Started It All
The rift with Gray dates to a 2024 ward meeting at the Zelma George Recreation Center, where Bell-Wheeler said she asked Gray for support for a community event at the farm. The two exchanged words loudly. Bell-Wheeler posted a Facebook photo of Gray at the farm after the exchange, and the following month, Gray emailed that she had not approved a block party permit for Bell-Wheeler's planned event.
In March 2024, an Ohio State University Extension staff member sent a letter removing Revolutionary Love Garden from the Summer Sprout program, attributing the removal to the incident between Bell-Wheeler and her council member along with the land bank's removal process. Summer Sprout, established in 1976 and partnered with Ohio State University Extension, supports an estimated 70 to 140 active community gardens and facilitates year-long land bank leases for Cleveland gardeners. Losing her spot in the program meant Bell-Wheeler also lost her city land lease, and she farmed RevLove without one through the summer of 2025.
A Trespassing Notice and a Request From Gray's Office
The city sent Bell-Wheeler a notice accusing her of trespassing on city land and instructing her to leave.
Emails from a Department of Community Development employee, shared with Signal Cleveland by Mike Thomas, a Cleveland City Council spokesperson, flagged what the department described as concerning conditions at RevLove around that time, including an active burn pit containing materials that did not appear to be wood, onsite food distribution, and a portable restroom with a strong odor. Bell-Wheeler has said her history with Gray predates the 2024 meeting: she took part in a group that endorsed Gray's council opponent back in 2021.
The Land Bank Application Now at Stake
The city's Department of Development opened a 60-day land bank application window running from September 21 through November 20, requiring applicants to be current on property taxes and free of code violations. Bell-Wheeler has applied to buy the three properties she farms, but Cleveland land bank applications are submitted to the ward council member for review, and the land bank can close an application if that council member objects. Under the city's property disposition policies, a ward representative or local community development corporation can block a sale during that review process.
A city spokesperson told Signal Cleveland that the city supported Bell-Wheeler and her farm, and Bell-Wheeler said she intends to pursue the application regardless of possible opposition from her council member. Gray did not respond to Signal Cleveland's question about whether retaliation played a role in the farm's troubles, and she walked away from a reporter who asked about the situation at a city council meeting on Monday.
The dispute unfolds against a backdrop of broader city promises on urban agriculture. In May, Mayor Justin Bibb announced plans to overhaul the Summer Sprout program, publicly apologizing to urban gardeners for bureaucratic red tape and casting municipal garden support as central to fighting food deserts, according to Signal Cleveland's separate coverage of that announcement. Gray has also made infrastructure a public priority in Ward 4 this year, pressing city departments and the regional sewer district on neighborhood flooding and deteriorated roads, as Hoodline reported in coverage of the Capitol Theatre lot project. Whether RevLove keeps its land for good still hinges on whether her purchase application can get past her own council member.
