2010: The Year of Urban Agriculture
Promoting community agriculture efforts and increased access
to locally grown food

On April 29th, 2010 DPD released a SEPA Determination of Nonsignificance (DNS) for code changes to remove barriers to urban agriculture.  The proposed legislation includes recommendations to add and/or clarify the definitions of key agricultural terms; expand opportunities for community gardens and urban farms in all zones; allow rooftop greenhouses dedicated to food production a 15 foot exception to height limits; add farmers' markets to the definition of a "multipurpose retail sales" use; increase the number of domestic fowl allowed on a lot from three to eight; and, allow existing urban horse farms greater than ten acres to operate as a permitted use in single-family zones. 

These code changes are a key component in the "2010: The Year of Urban Agriculture" campaign to promote urban agriculture efforts and increase community access to locally grown food.

For more information on DPD's work on code changes for urban agriculture, and to comment on the proposed code changes, please visit the project website: www.seattle.gov/dpd/urbanagriculture.

Key Events

• May 21, Noon– Year of Urban Agriculture Brown Bag Session: Greening Cities, Growing Communities, Seattle Municipal Tower #4080, 700 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104-5058; Contact: Rich.Macdonald@seattle.gov
• Summer – Community Good Food Summit; Contact: Seattle Good Food Network
• August 28 – "Healthy Parks, Healthy You" annual community event;
  Contact: Seattle Parks and Recreation
• September – Seattle Community Farm opening celebration; Contact: Solid Ground
• December 4-5 – Regional Urban Agriculture Conference; Contact: UW's Center for Urban Horticulture and WSU Extension