Urban Farm Business Upset Over County Regulations
Urban Farm Business Upset Over County Regulations
By: Sarah Beckman
Feb 26, 2018
DES MOINES - Dogpatch Urban Gardens started small. Now they have more crops, more customers, and more county regulations they have to follow.
Jenny Quiner and her husband started this urban garden in unincorporated Polk County a few years ago.
"Through the two years our farm has sold to restaurants, farmers market, DSA, and we also have an on-site farm stand that we sell out of," said Quiner.
The farm stand is surrounded by gardens, a high tunnel system, and some green space where the Quiners hope to eventually host weddings and small concerts. As they've expanded this operation, the county changed the zoning from a farm stand to a commercial business.
"We feel like the county has changed their stance, we've changed too but we still fit the definition of a farm stand and we've been deliberate about that," said Quiner.
County planning and zoning officials said Dogpatch Urban Gardens is more like area pumpkin patches and wineries, which now classify as agri-tourism.
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"We've been working with them to bring their site up into compliance to meet life safety issues and meet the environmental health requirements for an on-site septic system," said Brett VandeLune, Polk County supervisor.
While these entrepreneurs understand the regulations, it will be expensive to meet county requirements. They hope their customer base grows alongside their business.
The owners of Dogpatch Urban Gardens have started a kickstarts campaign to raise money to help them with about $75,000 worth of upgrades to the property.