Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use And Community Programs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board reaffirms support for urban agriculture, asks city agencies to identify suitable sites
Summary
The Board unanimously adopted a resolution directing city agencies to evaluate and allocate underused or development-challenged parcels for urban agriculture, with an amendment adding the Department of Public Works and other departments to the list of consultees.
The Board of Supervisors on April 25 unanimously adopted a resolution reaffirming support for urban agriculture and urging city departments to assess certain underused or development-challenged parcels for potential agricultural use.
Supervisor Hillary Ronan introduced the measure and credited former Supervisor John Avalos for initiating earlier efforts. Ronan said the resolution would guide assessment of sites unsuitable for housing — such as parcels with flood risk, limited access, or other constraints — and aims to identify multiple urban-agriculture projects across the city rather than a single site. She also circulated nonsubstantive technical amendments to expand the list of agencies asked to participate, including the Department of Public Health and San Francisco Unified School District, and later accepted a friendly amendment adding the Department of Public Works.
"I do believe that urban agriculture is also, a very, important priority for the city," Ronan said, noting the city's prior actions supporting urban agriculture, including a 2009 executive order and the 2011 planning-code changes that allowed urban agriculture citywide.
Supervisor Safaie described personal experience with community garden sites and asked that the Department of Public Works consider unaccepted rights-of-way and other large, non-developable parcels. The motion to amend and the final resolution were adopted without objection.
Ending: The resolution asks multiple departments to inventory and evaluate candidate parcels for urban agriculture, using criteria such as flood-prone lands, historical agricultural use and community-identified sites; departments will report back as part of the normal interagency process.
