In early October, our urban ag ordinance was filed with Jacksonville’s City Council. On October 13th, I stood before the Council to say: I am here tonight to support Bill 2026-0807 —Pathways for Urban Ag, formerly the Free to Garden Act. First, I want to thank Councilmen Arias and Peluso for introducing this legislation; Councilwoman Pittman for years of support; and Councilman White for calling this “common sense” legislation. I also want to thank the Mayor’s office and Planning Department for the summer re-write. We are getting really close to making market and community gardens permissible by right here in Jacksonville. However , to make this ordinance truly work as intended, we need a few critical amendments. As currently written , any gathering on a market garden over five people is defined as a "market day" and capped at 12 per year, anchored to the city’s garage sale limit. This rule penalizes the very neighbors it seeks to protect as I’ll explain. Furthermore, stri...
On January 22, 2026, nearly two years after first applying, Overalls Farm Three secured its Certificate of Use from the City of Jacksonville to operate legally as a neighborhood farm. Winning a certificate of use granting us permission to grow took 2 years, 3 citations, 4 meetings with city officials, the backing of 5 operational non-profit partners, 11 letters of support from neighborhood business leaders, 13 Greens & Beans community meals, 15 American Gothic inspired community posts , 125 neighborhood uPick Farm Members, 500+ families on our farm member wait list, over 1350 signers on the Petition for Permission to Grow (including 350 immediate neighbors), and over $50,000 in lost revenue – not to mention: having our USDA farm serial number & state level Green Belt exemption, three Florida state-level legal preemptions against local governments “limiting” the operations of bonafide farms, being honored as the Outstanding Agriculturalist at Farm City Luncheon , a story ...