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Resident urges Mesa to relax zoning to permit small-scale agriculture on vacant parcels
Summary
At public comment, Chaz Owensby urged the council to change zoning rules that he said limit agriculture to 10-acre parcels and prevent use of easements and small lots for farming. He said small, intensive farming could restore local food production on underused land.
Chaz Owensby told the council during public comment that Mesa has fertile soils and unused easements that could support small-scale agriculture if zoning limits change.
Owensby said much of Mesa’s productive soil now sits under concrete and asphalt and that some small parcels are effectively unusable because of easements, setbacks and zoning rules. “Agriculture is limited to 10 acre parcels in the city of Mesa,” he said, adding that modern, high-intensity farming can produce meaningful yields on much smaller footprints.
He said initiatives such as Steadfast Farms demonstrate the viability of compact cultivation and estimated that “space in power easements, if calculated, is over 100 of acres throughout the city of Mesa,” some of which has Salt River Project irrigation available. Owensby said he has discussed the issue with staff but was told, in his words, “we don't make the rules, but we have to enforce them.”
Owensby asked the council to direct staff to review and consider ordinance changes to allow small-scale agriculture on otherwise vacant and blighted parcels.
