April 29: Proposed Agricultural Amendments

Agricultural amendments will be the third of three public hearings beginning at 7pm, April 29. Written comments are encouraged ahead of that date. A quorum of City Council members may be present at this hearing.

 

Agricultural amendments apply to both the City Code and Zoning Code.

 

Brief Overview of Regulations

The Commission, with the help of the City’s planner, has proposed zoning amendments aimed at achieving two overarching goals:

1. Clarifying that residents are allowed to garden and keep chickens, and on multi-acre lots may also raise livestock.
2. Ensure that agriculture occurs at a level appropriate for the size of each lot, especially in the St. Croix–Rural Residential and St. Croix–Urban Residential districts.

 

Gardening and Homesteading
Recommendations include:

• Clarification that residents may use their yard to grow plants including vegetables, fruit, flowers, and herbs for personal consumption or for local sale such as at a roadside stand – termed “seasonal produce stand” in the code.
• Allowing seasonal produce stands as “permitted with standards” in all residential districts. Previously, these were allowed only in rural districts.
• Moving from a set number of each type of animal allowed per acre to a combined sum of “animal units” per acre. These calculations are based on research by the Commission that considers impacts on the land and the needs of homesteaders and farmers. While the conversion for each animal type is comparable to the current code, because the new system accounts for the sum of all animals, the change may reduce the total number of farm animals allowed on multi-acre properties.
• Regulating manure storage to ensure it doesn’t pollute public waters or pose a health hazard.
• Increasing the number of hens allowed on lots under a half-acre from five to six, then increasing by increments of six. This is because chickens are typically sold by the half dozen.

 

Accessory Structures
Recommendations include:

• Regulating greenhouses to limit light and noise at night.
• Clarifying that only farms on ten or more acres are eligible for zoning exemptions provided for farms, namely exemptions from limits on accessory structure square footage. This is already the case, but it is not immediately clear upon first read of the code.

Regarding limits to accessory structure square footage, the Commission will also consider grouping the St. Croix–Rural Residential District with the Single Family Urban and St. Croix–Urban districts.

 

Beekeeping
The Commission decided to table beekeeping regulations during this zoning update so they can give the issue more careful consideration on its own. The initial intent behind adding beekeeping to the zoning code was to ensure it is explicitly allowed. The model ordinance, however, was complex and there was some concern that extensive and prescriptive regulations would discourage beekeeping. The Commission plans to revisit the topic in the future and find the best approach.

For further detail, please read the ordinances themselves.