Plan Commission initiates citywide text amendment to allow artisan workshops and seasonal markets in agricultural districts

The Plan Commission on Aug. 27 voted to initiate a citywide text amendment to Chapter 52 to create a conditional-use pathway for artisan workshops, craft studios and occasional outdoor sales in agricultural (A-1) and certain business districts. City planner Amy Barrows said the amendment grew from a concept presentation by a landowner seeking to host a farmers’-market–style operation that could evolve into year-round artisan uses. Barrows said she drafted wording to allow these uses as conditional uses rather than permitted-by-right, to require public hearings, and to include additional standards when the property is in the A-1 district: minimum acreage (staff suggested three to five acres), an occupied single-family residence on-site, limits on food and beverage and live or piped music only if approved as part of the conditional-use and site plan, and prohibition of food trucks or porta-potties except on a temporary basis as part of a specific approval. Commissioners discussed the appropriate minimum acreage (Barrows said three acres is common but she had proposed five acres to limit applicability) and the need to avoid unintended consequences if the code applied to many parcels. Barrows said the amendment would be refined with city attorneys and brought back in September for additional review and, if ready, scheduled for an October public hearing. The commission voted to initiate the text amendment application.