Fiscal Note
No City appropriation required. City costs associated with land banking are included in annual capital budgets and purchase and sale agreements are subject to Common Council approval.
Title
Amending the Land Banking Fund Policy to add urban agriculture as an appropriate secondary use for properties acquired through the fund.
Body
WHEREAS, the City has historically maintained a fund for strategic acquisitions and purchased important properties within its boundaries to facilitate orderly development of buildings to revitalize neighborhoods and support related economic development; and,
WHEREAS, on June 21, 2021, the Common Council adopted a Land Banking Fund Policy to guide “the acquisition of land and buildings that could be used for future economic development, affordable housing projects, and other City uses”; and,
WHEREAS, the Common Council established a Task Force on Farmland Preservation in the Fall of 2021 to provide policy guidelines for City of Madison decision makers to help them balance development interests with the strong community values that support local food production, local food businesses and the preservation of farmland as expressed in adopted plans; and,
WHEREAS, increasing access to community gardens and growing spaces for underrepresented groups are highlighted in the 2018 City of Madison Comprehensive Plan; and,
WHEREAS, according to a land access survey being administered by Rooted since 2019, demand for land for community gardens and small-scale market gardeners within the city is continuing to increase; and,
WHEREAS, growing spaces provide local food production as well as ecosystem services such as flood prevention; and,
WHEREAS, in the spring of 2022, Alder Evers of the Task Force on Farmland Preservation and member of the Madison Food Policy Council engaged in discussions with Matt Mikolajewski, Director of the Economic Development Division, about adding growing space as an appropriate use of land acquired by the City through this program and policy; and,
WHEREAS, the Farmland Preservation Task Force Report, accepted by the Common Council in June of 2023, included the agreed upon language in its implementation matrix (Recommendation 3 of the Zoning & Land Use section);
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Section 2 of the Land Banking Fund Policy, Priorities for Use of Land Banked Property, be amended to include: “The City welcomes urban agriculture as a secondary use alongside the priorities noted above. Urban agriculture could take the form of community and market gardens, greenhouses and hoop houses, vertical farming, and similar urban agriculture initiatives.”
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that these text revisions will be incorporated, published, and implemented by June 15, 2024.