CHICAGO, Ill. — Hoping to bolster the local food movement as well as help put vacant lots to good use, a Chicago Democrat has proposed an urban agriculture zoning class similar in concept to tax increment financing (TIF) districts.

 

While the measure in theory would allow for ag zones throughout the state, it was floated primarily with Chicago and large cities in mind, said the bill’s chief sponsor, state Rep. Sonya Harper.

 

TIF districts in Illinois allow for a variety of tax benefits to developers of blighted property, including sales tax rebates on items purchased within the district and increases in property taxes to be used for other improvements on the property and within the TIF district.

 

Harper’s plan is similar in that all sales taxes generated from goods sold from the ag district would be set aside in an urban ag zone fund, with the money earmarked for a variety of purposes such as educational programs at local schools about nutrition or to make further improvements to specific sites within the zone.

 

“The whole idea is to use our vacant land as a way to adjust the issue of food access by encouraging urban farms and community gardens in certain areas,” Harper said last week after House Bill 3418 was called before the House’s Business Incentives for Local Communities Committee.

 

The full House is expected to consider the bill sometime before its session ends in late May.

 

Harper resides in West Englewood, where she said residents lack access to healthy, affordable food.

 

“I’ve lived in a food desert for the past 40 years, so it’s an issue that is very personal to me,” she said. “A lot of people highlight the crime in these areas, but a lot more people are dying from preventable (causes) than from bullets.”

 

The bill has support from predominantly Democrats, who control both the House and Senate, as well as from the Illinois Environmental Council, which sees the measure as a boost to neighborhood economies, helping repurpose vacant land. It also has a significant reduction in water connection charges for land within an ag zone.

 

Jen Walling, the council’s executive director, told The Associated Press that Harper “is really concerned about making sure there is fresh and healthy food in all areas of Chicago.” She also said the measure may need some tweaks for it to gain enough support to become law, in large part because of its statewide impact.

 

The Illinois Farm Bureau has come out against the current measure in large part because it see the bill as possibly giving some farmers and growers advantages over others.

 

“It’s a good idea, but I think it will be one that needs some work,” Walling said, noting the concept may be best applied only to urban areas and not statewide. “It’s a really great way to get the conversation started.”

 

Chicago is fast becoming known as an urban food leader, being host to North America’s largest indoor farm operated by FarmedHere LLC. Its 90,000 square-foot organic aquaponics farm in Bedford Park was constructed five years ago on the site of an abandoned warehouse. 

 

“On the consumer side, there is a large demand for local food, food grown close to the city,” said Nate Laurell, the company’s CEO. “People want to know where their food comes from and cut out transportation miles, to get more freshness.”