Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced July 26 a plan that would make growing and selling fresh produce in Chicago much easier, and serve as a motivator for urban/community garden expansion in the city, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune.
This revelation comes on the heels of an atmosphere that had reportedly been created in Chicago government that "would stunt the growth of city gardens with cumbersome rules on plot size, high-end fencing and produce sales in residential areas," according to several urban agriculture practitioners.
One of them, Erika Allen, head of seven nonprofit Growing Power farms in Chicago and daughter of Will Allen, a renowned urban farming consultant and practioner, predicted late last year that her group's work "would be over" if the zoning ordinance passed, stated the Tribune report.
Earlier this week, Emanuel chose Allen's new Iron Street Farm in Bridgeport to present his proposed ordinance — one that marks a turnaround on almost every thorny issue in the last proposal.
"We've been working really hard to see this happen," Allen told the newspaper. "I think it's just a new administration and a changing of the guard. Former Mayor (Richard) Daley was supportive, but there was a lot of opposition coming out of (the zoning department) that was very much entrenched in 'this is the way it we do it.'"
The new ordinance would expand limits on community garden plot size to 25,000 square feet (about half an acre), allow limited produce sales in residentially zoned areas, relax rules on fencing and parking for large commercial urban farms, and allow aquaponics (a system of cultivating both fish and produce) outdoors in hoop houses.
The measure is expected to be introduced to the City Council and could be voted on in September.
Proponents of urban farming say it has the potential to transform the city's estimated 14,000 empty lots into productive and attractive spaces.
