DIRECTING CDMP AMENDMENT RE VERTICAL FARMING

Recreation, Tourism, and Resiliency Committee · 2026-07-14 · resolution

A resolution directing the County Mayor or designee to consider recommendations in the Agriculture Report and file an application to amend the Comprehensive Development Master Plan (CDMP) to provide for or encourage greater allowances inside the urbanized areas for high-intensity, closed agricultural production systems, such as vertical farming. The resolution was introduced on 6/23/2026, forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners with a favorable recommendation by the Recreation, Tourism, and Resiliency Committee on 7/14/2026, and is scheduled for the Board agenda on 9/1/2026 as item 11A3. The document does not state a specific project site, address, parcel, acreage, or dollar amount. The document references a report projecting a minimum of 64,800 acres needed for agricultural use by 2030 and 56,300 acres by 2050, and states that 93 percent of the County's farms are under 50 acres and 73 percent are under 10 acres. The document also states that over 70 stakeholders expressed frustration with overlapping regulations and lack of County support for agriculture, citing the need for more flexible policies such as enabling vertical agriculture in urbanized zones.