Mar 24: Urban Agriculture Zoning Code hearing

With the rise in interest in city farming, beekeeping, backyard chicken raising and all things agricultural, there has been an equal rise in the need to revise and update city zoning code on urban agriculture. This Tuesday, March 24, 2015 at 2:00 p.m., there will be a public hearing on the City Planning Commission’s plans to amend text to the zoning code related to urban agriculture. The meeting will take place at the John P. Robin Civic Building at 200 Ross Street in Pittsburgh.

The Planning Commission has been working with Pittsburgh’s urban agriculture community to make revisions to the code. The Pittsburgh Food Policy Council has provided a user friendly version of the proposed changes here. You can read the full code at the link here. The broad basics of the revisions include:

• Expand the allowable zoning districts and use classifications for all types of Agriculture and Urban Agriculture

• Amend and supplement the use standards for all types of Agriculture and Urban Agriculture

• Add definitions to supplement Agriculture and Urban Agriculture use standards

The hearing is your opportunity to provide public comment in front of the Commission, so if this is a subject dear to your heart, you are urged to attend. If you cannot come to this hearing in person, you can submit a written statement to Dolores Hanna at dolores.hanna@pittsburghpa.gov by March 23rd, the day before the hearing.

2 p.m. on the first floor of the John P. Robin Civic Building, 200 Ross Street, Pittsburgh, PA.