Today I heard Erika Allen, head of Growing Power Chicago and president of the Chicago Food Policy Advisory Council, give an update on that city's recent attempt to regulate urban agriculture. Briefly, the proposed ordinance began as an effort to recognize UA as a legal land use in Chicago, and it would do that. But why would it also do these other things?
- Rather than creating a new zoning category for UA, the proposed ordinance would put UA in the "construction, sales and services" category.
- The size limits (~.4 acre for CGs and ~.5 acre for urban farms) would have prevented several of the most successful projects in Chicago from forming.
- Community gardens would not be permitted in industrial or commercial areas.
- Commercial urban farms, including nonprofits, would not be permitted in residential areas (90% of Chicago's vacant land is in residential areas, so no economic development there from food projects).
- Food waste and other materials couldn't be brought in for composting on the site.
- Greenhouses could fall into a restrictive definition of "accessory buildings"
- Parking requirements would reduce the usable land on a site, even if ample street parking is available. Asphalt paving is specified, although the city elsewhere is promoting permeable ground treatments.
- Fencing would not be required, but if a fence is erected, it must be "architectural." (So vacant land surrounded by chain link could not be beautified with gardens?)
- Produce from an urban farm could not be sold in open-air or under tents, only in an enclosed building.
- Street frontage would have to be screened (preventing beautification, community engagement and education)
This is not urban agriculture that anyone in the good food movement would recognize, and rather than promote UA's benefits, it would prevent many of them. Allen has been agitating against its passage, and it was withdrawn from the city council agenda earlier this year. Apart from the strange and restrictive provisions, she objects to the lack of a public process.
In contrast, she says that in Milwaukee (home base of Growing Power), "you can grow food anywhere in the city."
Rahm Emanuel will be sworn in next month as mayor of Chicago. Many expect him to bring a more enlightened and comprehensive approach to addressing the city's food deserts. He is also said to be linking food production to economic development, environmental, and public space initiatives.
In the meantime, Allen is not letting down her guard on the proposed ordinance. She says the thing Chicago is seeking to promote/regulate is not like other businesses that could require tight controls: "Food is a human right."
