A Feasibility Study for Urban Edge Agricultural Parks - SAGE

seeking to develop effective collaborative agricultural enterprise and sub-leasingprograms.• Urban edge locations are particularly valued by emerging local-food systemsconnections.Challenges:• The high value of urban edge land in the Bay Area can make costs prohibitive toagriculture.• Development pressures and local politics create a climate with a lowprioritization of agricultural land use.• Length of planning process has been a consideration in site selection, as anumber of the potential sites may or may not be available after longer-termplanning and legislative considerations.• Alternately, rapid sales and development prevent the consideration of moreunconventional and innovative planning processes such as the AgPark model.• Water and resource allotment is a challenge in the Bay Area as with everywherein California.Next StepsFocus Groups to Test Producer NeedsThe research for this Study indicated that while there are numerous small farmerswith limited resources and “aspiring” farmers living in urban areas, connectingthese AgPark tenants to a specific site would require additional consumer research.Because each potential site is so unique in terms of location, farming capacity, andtiming of availability, and lease costs/terms are not certain, producers were notable to indicate strong interest sufficient to demonstrate the viability of the concept.At the same time, landowner confidentiality prevented providing specificinformation to producers in writing.To explore this issue further, it is recommended that a series of focus groups beconducted with small groups of potential tenants. The focus group format shouldcommence with a site-specific tour, presentation of the land plan and managementplan concepts, and any additional available information regarding capacity andtiming. In this format, a discussion with the producer groups can then beconducted in confidence, to obtain more concrete information regarding concerns,interest, issues, etc.Economic Analysis of Small Scale Farming atthe Urban EdgeThe producer surveys and other research for this Study indicated that there islimited information available to support the position that small-scale farming makeseconomic sense on the Central Coast and Bay Area of California. There is a realDRAFT 1.6.05 8