Urban Land Institute The Urban Land Institute is a global, member - PDF document

ULI Report: Agrihoods-Cultivating Best Practices 1/21/2019 Urban Land Institute The Urban Land Institute is a global, member driven organization comprising more than 42,000 real estate and urban development professionals dedicated to advancing the Institute’s mission of providing leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. 1

ULI Report: Agrihoods-Cultivating Best Practices 1/21/2019 Background • Report identifies best practices to aid in planning, creating, and operating projects with food- production areas • Lessons learned from interviews with 24 ULI members and leading experts from across the United States who are intimately involved in agrihood planning, development, and operations—including developers, planners, landscape architects, farmers, and nonprofit organization representatives Benefits • Agrihoods present a competitive edge. • 73 percent consider access to fresh, healthy foods to be a top or high priority when deciding where to live • including food-production spaces in residential or mixed-use developments can be less expensive to build and operate than certain other amenities, such as golf courses. • Agrihoods promote health and social interaction • Studies show that people who have satisfying relationships are happier, have fewer health issues, and live longer • Agrihoods can support an attractive return on investment • Many studies find as much as a 15 to 30 percent increase in the value of properties 2

ULI Report: Agrihoods-Cultivating Best Practices 1/21/2019 Benefits • Agrihoods can provide environmental benefits. • Clustering development around working farms allows developers and communities to conserve productive farmland and open space • Agrihoods create jobs and support the local economy • Growing and selling food locally keeps food dollars in the community and provides jobs for farmers Issues and Opportunities Issues Opportunities • • New and young farmers are The number of food hubs interested in farming, but they increased 770 percent often face barriers, including a between 2000 and 2016. lack of affordable farmland and • Compact development and access to capital open-space preservation can • The average piece of produce is help protect water quality shipped 1,500 miles before it • Clustered development reaches the plate generally results in lower • In 2013, 13 million U.S. residents infrastructure capital between ages 18 and 34 grew expenditures and lower food at home or in community gardens—an increase of 63 maintenance costs for local percent from 2008 jurisdictions 3

ULI Report: Agrihoods-Cultivating Best Practices 1/21/2019 Agrihood Features Trends 1. People may not want to be 6. Farms can teach youth about food personally engaged in agriculture growing, nutrition, seasonality, and every day, but they want high- much more. quality food and agriculture to be 7. Health professionals increasingly part of their lives. promote the benefits of fresh, local 2. Consumers have an increased produce to their patients. desire to be part of the “story of 8. Food-production spaces are less their food.” expensive to provide than certain 3. Residents often value farms and other development amenities, such fresh food access over other as golf courses. development components. 9. Farms can serve as event spaces to 4. Farms bring people together to offset the costs of food production. share in food growing and related 10. Orienting development around events. farms can preserve the character of 5. Community farmers have a unique rural areas and make landscapes ability to inspire and educate area more productive and residents. environmentally friendly 4

ULI Report: Agrihoods-Cultivating Best Practices 1/21/2019 Best Practices - Land Considerations Best Practices • • Many people like living near farms Focus development around working and protected green and open farms and gardens, preserving existing space, but “traditional” suburban farmland and conserving natural lands development models do not and features protect or support these spaces • Take advantage of transfer of • Community reaction can be development rights and other public negative when development plans incentive programs, where available, result in loss of farmland or green to create project sites with space, potentially resulting in appropriate allowable densities for costly project delays agrihoods • Develop in or near areas with existing public infrastructure to minimize project costs, especially in communities that direct development by holding easements to permanently protect farmland Best Practices - Land Considerations Best Practices • • Required land uses for agrihoods Plan agricultural areas from a project’s differ significantly from traditional start to ensure they are in the master-planned communities appropriate places and well-integrated • into the community Developers face financial and • operational tradeoffs when Base farm size on clearly defined determining appropriate agrihood project goals: farm size and location – Create smaller farms if focus is on • educational and experiential activities. Project stakeholders must balance – Create larger farms to engage in more needs when determining intensive agriculture. landownership structures and – Consider startup and operating budgets operational models for food- to help determine farm scale and production areas infrastructure • Consider incentives for farmers to stay invested in projects, such as providing housing, affording land and/or business ownership opportunities, and offering administrative support 5

ULI Report: Agrihoods-Cultivating Best Practices 1/21/2019 Best Practices - Food Considerations Best Practices • • A lack of in-house farming Consult with farmers and other knowledge in development experts to determine what food to companies can result in unrealistic produce, at what scale, with what expectations for farm productivity methods, and how food should be sold or types of food that can be or distributed produced • Offset farm operational costs with • Farms may not be financially self- food sales; farms may also need to rely sufficient, depending on size, on support from the development— project phase, overall goals, and especially during early project whether revenue-generating phases—in the form of free or events are allowed subsidized land, contributions from • transfer fees, homeowners association Farms can take several years to fees, and other mechanisms reach full productivity, and fields • may need to lie fallow during the Plan to devote land to farming for the off season long term; educate residents about farming practices to set realistic expectations for farm aesthetics and productivity Best Practices - Food Considerations Best Practices • • Master-planned communities can Sell and distribute food directly to lack spaces for food production and residents and the surrounding sales, which limits opportunities to community. tap into consumer demand for • Position farms as a community fresh, healthy, organic or local food. resource for healthy food access and • related programming; consider “pay- Residential and mixed-use what-you-can” farm stands developments can be isolated from • surrounding areas, limiting Consider organic and other opportunities to equitably address certifications; leverage increased access to healthy food market interest in sustainably sourced products • Grow culturally appropriate crops for customers and food donation partners 6