Too Many Cabbages: Why Zoning Code must address urban gardening

Why bother changing Memphis and Shelby County zoning code to include neighborhood gardens?  People have already been creating home and community gardens throughout the city without problems from Code Enforcement.  Why does it need to be codified?

These articles in The Economist and Atlanta Magazine are why.  This man from DeKalb County in Georgia is being fined over 5,000 dollars because he grew too much organic broccoli and for having workers that were not permitted on his land.  Specifically, his R-85 zoning allowed for livestock and riding stables, but not "crop production" as his vegetable garden was interpreted to be.  Additional fines accrued even though he ceased gardening and sought a zoning change to R-200, which would allow "crop production".  So, what is Code Enforcement saying here? That is is illegal to grow organic veggies in an urban zone? When did this departure from common sense happen?

Did the planners who wrote this code and the legislative bodies that passed it really intend it to be used to crack down on urban market gardeners, or is this a misinterpretation of the intent of the code?  This example of zoning laws not matching up with the preservation of one's well-being is exactly why the Unified Development Code is extremely important to the city of Memphis and Shelby County. Not only will the UDC make the Memphis and Shelby County friendlier for pedestrians and cyclists, but also for agriculture and urban agriculture, providing REAL food to residents in a city that desperately needs it and protecting urban gardens from the DeKalb County fiasco.

Zoning code can be dense, abstract, and boring - but it is extremely important.  We need to make sure we think through all the "what if's" of urban agriculture so that the code does not have unintended consequences.  We can close our eyes and picture a home garden, and we can picture crop production, but what DeKalb County failed to picture is the differentiation point between the two.   That leaves too much open to interpretation and in that case, some silly consequences.  

The Memphis and Shelby County Food Policy Working Group is working with Planning and Development to "clean up" the urban agriculture sections of the Unified Development Code by thinking through all the possible scenarios for chickens, gardens, and farmers markets.  Remember, however good the intentions of the people writing the code now, they will not be the ones interpreting and enforcing it in the future.

One example is that in the UDC prohibits farmers markets in some zones that allowed for corner stores.   Do we really want our zoning code to give more access to corner stores than outlets that sell fresh fruits and vegetables?  Do planners disagree?  No, it just hadn't been looked at in that way.  The suggestion was made, and that will be one of several changes proposed when the clean-up of the UDC goes through the legislative process. In order for individuals' lives to become healthier, there needs to be a great environmental change within our food system. And one way to do this is through zoning.