Brent Buffington, Exec. Director of Growing Orlando (Web | Twitter | Facebook), is asking the City of Orlando for a Conditional Use Permit to operate an urban garden at 626 W. South Street (MAP) in the Holden/Parramore neighborhood.
The site is a vacant city-owned residential lot.
Buffington is seeking a 5-year lease.
The purpose of the garden is the following:
- the instruction of how to grow produce for personal use
- to sell the produce at the Lake Eola Farmers’ Market and to area restaurants wanting to support the urban farming mission.
- The longer term goal is to open a produce stand in the Parramore/Holden neighborhood, one that would accept SNAP/EBT and would also include a worker-share program for certain consistent volunteers who could exchange their work time for produce credit.
The sale of the harvested produce at local farmers markets isn't allowed under Public Benefit Use (PBU). The city is allowing it, because the staff has determined that instructing homeowners on how to grow food for themselves qualifies the site as a Public Benefit Use.
But, if the instructional element of the use ceases, and growing and selling of food at the local farmers’ market becomes the primary use of the property, then the CUP will be made invalid and the garden use ceased.
So, as long as learning is happening, commerce can happen as well.
Community Gardens
In January 2009, staff issued a Determination relative to community gardens (LDC2008-00254), because the LDC is generally silent regarding agricultural uses, especially in an urban context. It was determined that community/urban gardens fall under the category of Public Benefit Use (PBU) and would be allowed via a CUP when the following criteria are met:
- Garden is less than 1/2 acre in size (property is 0.29 acres in size)
- Does not include farm animals (none proposed)
- Does not store farm machinery, fertilizers or pesticides (other than what is needed for the garden) (none proposed)
- Does not store composted organic material (other than what is produced or used by the garden) (none proposed)
- Does not include on-site or off-site sale of the produce grown on the site
About Growing Orlando: (From their website)
- Growing Orlando is a non-profit urban farm initiative. We’re addressing access to food in Orlando via 3 main ways – where we grow for you, teach you to grow for yourself, and help you grow for others.
- We are establishing multiple urban farm sites to increase production and distribution of food grown in proximity of downtown, to teach you how to grow food for yourself, and incubate future farmers.
Use Rules:
- Termination clause: if a long-term residential use is proposed by the City for the property, the lease will be terminated
- Discontinuation: If the urban garden is discontinued for at least six (6) consecutive months, the CUP shall expire and the property will be returned to a non-cultivated state.
- Primary Use: if the instructional element of the garden ceases, then the CUP shall be suspended and the garden de-established.
- Two years: Approval of the Conditional Use Permit by City Council shall grant the applicant authority to submit an application for site plan review & permits. The permit must be issued within 2 years of approval of the CUP or the Conditional Use Permit shall expire. However, upon written application filed 30 days prior to the expiration date, the Planning Official may extend the Conditional Use Permit for one period of up to 1 year, providing good cause is shown.
- Hours: 7:30 am to sunset, Monday through Sunday
- The actual number of urban gardeners has not yet been determined.
- Aside from a possible shed for storage of garden tools and garden stakes, no permanent structures will be erected on the site. Outside of the garden beds, the existing ground cover of turf grass will remain.
- The existing 4 ft. tall chain link fence is generally situated around the perimeter of the rear site. Staff is not recommending any alterations.
- All garden beds must be set back a minimum 10 feet from abutting residential properties and 15 feet from the front and side street lot lines.
- The garden plots will be located closer to Hicks Ave. and away from the deep residential use to the west. No buffer is required for urban or community gardens when abutting single-family uses.
- Signage will be residential in character, no larger than what would be allowed for a “for sale/for lease” sign (4 sq. ft. in area). Banners, streamers, and wind-operated devices are prohibited.
- The purpose of the urban garden in the proposed location is (per the applicant) “to grow and har- vest produce accessible to local residents and to be able to market said products at local farmers’ markets. The garden will feature an educational “how-to, hands-on” component, to teach local residents how to grow for themselves, learn about food and health and how to grow for others.”
An apartment building resided on the property, but in 2004, the City bought the property in 2005, the City demolished it.