A few weeks back, The Atlantic Cities blog featured a story about Los Angeles’ new city ordinance that allows backyard growers to sell their fruits, vegetables, honey, etc in their front yards and at “neighborhood farmers markets”.  In the article, changes to the ordinance were couched in hopes that lifting such restrictions would help elevate the “food deserts” of South L.A., where grocery stores are great distances away, accessible only by car.

But is the hope of providing an brief oasis in a food desert the only reason to take another look at the ordinances in our cities and communities that restrict the sale of items on private property?

Right now in Decatur, you can’t sell food you’re growing in your backyard on a small foldout table in your driveway.  That means that everything from a 10 year-old’s lemonade stand to Allison’s freshly slaughtered bison chuck wagon parked on her driveway is illegal. Why?  Like most everything else that’s illegal in your residential area, it’s the result of concerns about noise and traffic, which put these ordinances on the books back in the residential zoning hey-day.

But in a year when Decatur is writing its own “Environmental Sustainability Plan” and has put in place a task force to specifically reevaluate our zoning ordinances, perhaps a look at the restriction that demands the only way to make money on your R-60 lot is a “home-based business” is worthy of a second-look.   (According to the City Planner Amanda Thompson, selling fruits, vegetables and imaginary bison doesn’t qualify.)

Perhaps silence is still king in our peaceable single-family ‘hoods, but even so, it seems a bit overly dramatic to ban front yard farmer’s markets outright in order to deal with occasional, slight increases in noise and traffic.  L.A. requires that certain regulations are met in order for a market to receive city approval.  Decatur has recently established guidelines for community gardens.  Why not small-scale farmer’s markets?

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During the keynote address at the Georgia Organics Conference this past weekend, the city of Decatur, Agnes Scott, the DBA, the Oakhurst Community Garden, and Georgia Organics officially announced the city’s “agricultural initiative.”

I followed up with city manager Peggy Merriss and she sent along this note/release.  From the sound of it, “urban farming” is just the tip of the iceberg.

On Saturday March 21st, at the Georgia Organics 12th Annual Conference & Trade Show, Decatur City Manager Peggy Merriss, along with Agnes Scott College’s Director of Sustainability Susan Kidd and Georgia Organics Executive Director Alice Rolls announced the creation of the Decatur Agricultural Initiative (DAI) designed to bring together community partners around the issue of growing food locally. The Initiative currently involves Agnes Scott College, the City of Decatur, City Schools of Decatur, Decatur Business Association, Georgia Organics and the Oakhurst Community Garden.

Among the first tasks that the group will undertake will be the creation of a Master Plan that will identify existing community-based efforts into one unified plan.

The partners intend to take a comprehensive approach resulting in providing a variety of agricultural products, including food, which would be available through local producers and markets.

Examples of some possible outcomes might include: stronger community support for farmers markets, co-operative purchase of environmentally sensitive products, education programs designed for children and youth to be able to plant and support their own gardens, and more.

The possibilities are exciting and all of the partners are looking forward to working together on this brand new DAI in Decatur. “