Sacramento Legalizes Urban Agriculture and Micro Farms

Traci Knight reports on a recently approved ordinance in the city of Sacramento that "makes specific changes to allow and promote urban agriculture and micro farms within city limits."

Here Knight describes the details of the ordinance:

"The new ordinance will allow micro farms to voluntarily enter into a contract with the city, which will reduce property taxes for sites with urban agriculture. It also allows for utilitarian farm structures such as hoop houses, out buildings, greenhouses, and farm stands. Urban agriculture includes but is not limited to community gardens, market and direct sale gardens, aquaponics, hydroponics, beekeeping and edible landscaping. The city already allows limited animal husbandry, which will not be affected by the ordinance.  The ordinance incentivizes urban agriculture on vacant lots."

The ordinance also allows the sale of farm goods on residential properties.

According to Knight, the ordinance is the result of advocacy by groups such as Ubuntu Green and a coalition of top local chefs. All of these dynamics indicate noteworthy momentum for the urban agriculture movement in Sacramento. "Advocates used the City of Sacramento’s attempt to rebrand itself as the farm-to-fork capital of the U.S. as leverage, urging council members to build upon the recently passed California Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones Act and the California Homemade Food Act, which permits cottage food operations."