Come to the Table Before the Rules Are Written

One of the most important conversations happening in Augusta right now may also be one of the easiest to overlook.

Augusta is rewriting its zoning ordinance, and the city has opened a public-input period through September 25. Augusta Planning & Development calendar

For those of us interested in agriculture, this matters.

Zoning determines much more than where houses, businesses and industries can be built. It can also determine whether a family can sell what it grows, whether a neighborhood can establish a community garden, whether a small agricultural enterprise can operate, where farm stands are permitted, and what kinds of agricultural activity remain possible as Augusta continues to develop.

We've spent much of Agriculture Month talking about the future of farming. This is one of the places where that future gets designed.

And this is where I want farmers, gardeners, agricultural entrepreneurs, educators, market operators and neighborhood advocates to pay particular attention.

Too often, we enter public-policy conversations after the ordinance has been written. Then we're asking government to amend a rule, create an exception or undo an unintended consequence.

Civic architecture asks us to engage earlier.

If urban agriculture is going to be part of Augusta's future, the people who understand how it actually works need to be at the table while that future is being designed.

What should be permitted? Where? What barriers have you encountered? What kinds of agriculture should our neighborhoods accommodate? What might a new ordinance unintentionally make harder?

Now is the time to say it.

Take the survey. Follow the zoning-rewrite process. Talk with Planning. And if you grow, sell, teach, process or build businesses around food and agriculture, bring your lived experience into the conversation.

Don't wait until the rules are written to tell Augusta what agriculture needs. Help us write better rules now.