Zoning 101: How To Get Your Container Farm Approved & Where To Put It
How To Get Zoning Permission for Your Container Farm
What is Zoning?
If you’re looking to bring a Greenery™ S to your local community, you’ll need to get familiar with your local zoning regulations.
Zoning laws are a set of guidelines put in place by your local municipality to help guide urban growth and development. In practice, zoning is often used to preserve the character of a neighborhood and to ensure new development is compatible with existing uses and communities.
A Quick Farm Placement Checklist
Before we dive further into zoning, let’s review the basic criteria needed for container farm sites. As we’ll mention, container farms are pretty flexible in terms of placement. Here are a few basic musts to keep in mind when considering where to put your farm:
A plot. A flat, unobstructed area of land measuring 50’x10’ is all you need.
Electricity. Connection to energy supply is vital to maintaining the farm’s systems. We’re even able to help you explore solar options!
Water. We recommend placing your farm within 50 feet of a water source, to make it easy to plumb water to your farm’s tanks (although it is doable to manually bring in water). You should also be sure to test your water to ensure it’s safe for your plants.
4 Types of Zoning You May Encounter
Agricultural — This type of zoning protects farmland from non-farm uses. Because our farms are new and different, it may not be obvious to the zoning board that the containers are farms. Be prepared to explain.
Industrial — Industrial zoning regulates areas used for industry, production, and manufacturing. It takes into account the noise disturbance that can come with industrial activities.
Commercial — This zoning relates to land used for offices and retail purposes.
Residential — Most likely, you currently live in a residential zone. This refers to land used for single-family housing, multi-family residential, or mobile homes. Unfortunately, residential zoning also tends to be the most restrictive in that property value and nuisance laws are highly protected. We have had farms successfully approved under residential zoning permits, but this is a tougher route.
Even though container farming has been around for over a decade, it’s still a novel concept to many. Municipalities and zoning boards may be unfamiliar with container farming or may not have corresponding zoning regulations in place. To add to the confusion, zoning varies by location. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a few tips to help you navigate zoning for your container farm.
7 Tips for Successfully Navigating Shipping Container Farm Zoning
1. Talk to someone at city hall
Schedule an appointment with your city’s zoning department to discuss your project. It helps to have your farm site mapped out beforehand to illustrate where you want to place the farm. Ask the department about the rules, regulations, and covenants that are associated with the zone to determine if there are any written rules that exclude your specific kind of container farming.
2. Be prepared to explain
A zoning board might be tempted to deny you simply because they don’t understand the concept of container farming. Many regulations are created for permanent structures; since the Greenery™ S can be moved relatively easily, you might be able to take advantage of certain loopholes. For this reason, making the container farming concept as clear as possible is very important. Bring multiple resources with you, including photos, videos, virtual tour links, a product booklet, and the site prep guide to your meeting.
3. Adapt the farm for residential zones
Some municipalities will allow you to put the farm on residential property — especially in more rural communities — providing that you can “blend” the container into the surroundings. This is totally achievable! The Freight Farms team can work with you to paint the farm a neutral/camouflaging color, or you can build a trellis, wall, or other structure to hide the farm from view. Bring mock-ups of your plan when you meet with the zoning board.
4. Find a site in a less regulated zone
If you’re denied permission to put the farm in your residential zone, start scoping out spots in more favorable zone types, such as industrial or agricultural. These typically have fewer regulations, and also give you the opportunity to revitalize a less glamorous part of town. If you want to farm in an urban or suburban area, try approaching owners of municipal lots or industrial parks to see about placing your farm there. If you plan on farming in a rural area, talk to other landowners to see if they have an opportunity for you and your farm.
5. Leverage your farm’s benefit to others
Remember: your farm is an asset to more than just you! It can also be an opportunity for the city, town, or a local business owner. By leasing you their unused space, you get a spot for your farm and they earn a profit, as well. Typically, our farmers are able to negotiate favorable leases for just the 320 sq. ft the farm stands on. We even have farmers who pay for their farm’s plot of land in fresh produce alone!
Beyond this, your farm likely also benefits your community, by boosting the local food system and providing a source of fresh greens year-round. Keep this in mind as you advocate for your farm with the zoning board!
6. Think creatively
There is no one-size-fits-all zoning quick fix, and much opportunity for inventive solutions. Container farms can fit in some pretty unlikely spots — think underneath highway overpasses, alleyways, rooftops, warehouses, and parking lot back corners. Furthermore, many regulations are created for permanent structures; since the Greenery™ S can be moved relatively easily, you might be able to take advantage of certain loopholes. Think outside the box!
7. Use Freight Farms as a resource
If you have done a thorough research and found no codified obstacles to having a shipping container farm in that zone…then it looks like you’re in the clear. Get in touch with the Freight Farms sales team for more guidance.
In general, it takes anywhere from two weeks to three months to get a site approved, so we recommend going to your zoning board sooner rather than later when starting your project. Here are a few additional resources to help with zoning, as well as examples of urban farming policies that accommodate shipping container farms: