Please, my dear friends, help me out.

This is something I am extremely passionate about, and I want you to be exited about it too!  The Salt Lake City council is meeting next week to discuss zoning changes for Salt Lake City in regards to Urban Agriculture.  The proposal is to allow for all zoned areas (including residential, downtown, commercial, manufacturing, etc) to be able to grow urban gardens and potentially produce high volumes of food at a local level.  A few of the wonderful possibilities that could stem from this:  more greenhouses, cold frames, hoop houses, small solar and wind energy systems (e.g. solar panels and wind turbines) urban farms, community gardens, and seasonal farm stands.

From Mayor Becker's Proposal:

The proposed changes being considered by the City Council are intended to support and encourage local food production and use of renewable energy systems.  This will help reduce the need for imported foods, create new sources of affordable energy and reduce environmental impacts from transportation and air pollution.

City Council Meeting 

April 5th, 7:00 PM

City and County Building

451 S. State Street, Room 315

 I will be at this meeting, and I really encourage you to go!  If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask me. I was terrified about going to a city council meeting my first time, but they are open to the public and it's pretty fun!  You can say something (or not) but if these council members see how many people are in support of this, the better off we all are.  Our council members vote based on the people they represent - us! 

Here are some resources from the Salt Lake City Government website that will provide more information:

Urban Agriculture Fact Sheet - what is urban agriculture; how would these zoning ordinances help me?

Vision for a Green City - Salt Lake City's Sustainable City Code Initiative (short and fun to read!)

What is your opinion on the proposed changes? - This is a public forum on the City's website that allows you to post your opinion about changing the zoning regulations to allow for urban gardens, etc.





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