Merced says ‘yes’ to veggies, ‘stay back’ to cigarettes

After prodding from community garden enthusiasts, Merced City Council decided this week to allow the shared urban farms and pledged to reduce permit fees.

The council voted 6-0 to officially approve a new zoning code that adds community gardens and restricts tobacco sellers. The changes are part of the first update of the code in 50 years. Councilman Kevin Blake was absent.

Under the actions taken by the council, the gardens would be treated like a new business, which means landowners within a 300-foot radius would be notified of a potential garden. But the council asked city staff to reduce or waive the $577 fee that would be charged to a comparable business.

“It can be done at no cost, because I don’t think that we’re going to have so many of them that it’s going to create a huge burden on planning staff for processing these,” Kim Espinosa, Merced’s planning manager, said Tuesday.

Several Merced-area residents spoke in favor of the gardens. They asked for the gardens to be allowed “by right,” which means growers would not need a permit or to notify neighbors of a coming fruit and vegetable patch.

City staffers said requiring the gardeners to have a permit gives the city the ability to close down a garden if troubles arise.

Brittany Oakes, coordinator at Merced Local Food Project, said the gardens could promote healthy eating. The UC Merced graduate said parts of South Merced could be considered a food desert, an urban area where affordable or high-quality fresh food is hard to find.

“Community gardens do tend to increase property values and be a positive thing in the community,” she said.

Also, with the adoption of the zoning code, the city will require new convenience or liquor stores that sell tobacco to be at least 1,000 feet away from schools.

This story was originally published September 8, 2016 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Merced says ‘yes’ to veggies, ‘stay back’ to cigarettes."