Politics & Government

Reed Signs Legislation to Expand Access to Healthy, Affordable Produce

The new urban gardens and market gardens ordinance is an amendment to the city's existing zoning ordinance and defines the location and operation of urban gardens and market gardens.

Staff Report

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed signed legislation this month that establishes the city’s first urban gardens and market gardens ordinance to address food deserts.

The ordinance, which was approved by the Atlanta City Council on June 2, will help to eliminate food deserts and expand access to healthy and affordable produce by allowing urban gardens and market gardens to operate in residential zoning districts. Prior to the ordinance, urban gardens and market gardens were only permitted for use in commercial and retail zoning districts.

“Thanks to the initiatives of the Obama Administration we are seeing a national movement toward increasing access to healthy, affordable foods and eliminating food deserts,” said Reed in a news release. “As families across our city face greater challenges to balance housing, medical and transportation costs, meeting nutritional needs should be financially feasible. This ordinance is a critical step forward in addressing the structural inequities of the food system on a local level.”

The new urban gardens and market gardens ordinance is an amendment to the city’s existing zoning ordinance and defines the location and operation of urban gardens and market gardens. The ordinance will require local growers to obtain a special administrative permit or SAP, which will allow gardens to operate as a permitted use in residential zoning districts. Local growers who operate gardens in commercial and retail zoning districts are not required to obtain a SAP.

The Department of Planning and Community Development and the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, in partnership with the organizations that make up the Atlanta Local Food Initiative, are working to promote policies and initiatives that support the city’s sustainability goals and First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move program that encourages eating more fruits and vegetables along with proper exercising.   

More specifically, as part of the City’s sustainability initiative, Power to Change, the City aims to bring local, healthy food within a half-mile of 75% of all residents by 2020. This passing of the ordinance is a critical tool in the effort to achieve that goal. There are also an increasing number of restaurants interested in sourcing food locally and neighborhoods interested in community supported agriculture (CSA); both of which will be positively impacted by this ordinance.

“Operators of urban gardens or market gardens now have a blueprint for what is allowed and what is prohibited in the City of Atlanta,” Commissioner James E. Shelby, Department of Planning and Community Development, said in the release. This is a major step toward helping isolated neighborhoods in the City have better access to healthy, fresh, and more affordable food.”

With a growing season that spans 365 days of the year, access to food grown within the City limits has a tremendous impact on the quality of life of our residents and our local economy. City officials say the new urban garden ordinance will help to create a stronger appreciation for our environment, and foster a stronger sense of community by providing another method to interact on a regular basis. Our quick reference guide summarizes the ordinance that supports local growers.


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