Int. No. 1663-A
By Council Members Kallos, Ayala, Grodenchik, Gibson, Lander, Rosenthal, Brooks-Powers, Gennaro, Louis and Vallone
A Local Law to amend the New York city charter, in relation to establishing an office of urban agriculture and an urban agriculture advisory board
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Chapter 1 of the New York city charter is amended by adding a new section 20-a to read as follows:
§ 20-a. Office of urban agriculture. a. For the purposes of this section, the term “director” means the director of the office of urban agriculture.
b. The mayor shall establish an office of urban agriculture within the office of long-term planning and sustainability. Such office shall be headed by a director who shall be appointed by the mayor and shall additionally employ at least one staff member.
c. Powers and duties. The director shall have the power and the duty to:
1. Conduct education and outreach to promote urban agriculture and inform the public about urban agriculture, its benefits and ways to participate;
2. Receive comments and respond to inquiries related to urban agriculture;
3. Make recommendations to the office of long-term planning and sustainability and the heads of relevant agencies with respect to protecting and expanding urban agriculture for the purposes of sustainability, resiliency, environmental protection, health, community development and small business planning;
4. Establish a program in coordination with the office of food policy, department of parks and recreation, department of city planning and other relevant agencies to:
(a) Support research for advancing urban agriculture legislation and policy within the city; and
(b) Receive and respond to comments, questions and complaints with respect to such program.
d. The mayor shall establish an urban agriculture advisory board to advise the director, the mayor and the council on issues relating to urban agriculture.
1. The urban agriculture advisory board shall be composed of the following members:
(a) Two representatives specializing in urban agriculture policy, one appointed by the mayor and one appointed by the speaker of the council;
(b) Three representatives who specialize in urban agriculture businesses, such as urban agriculture technology and urban agriculture companies and collectives, two appointed by the mayor and one appointed by the speaker of the council;
(c) Three representatives from community gardening organizations, non-commercial urban farms, or community land trusts involved in urban agriculture, two appointed by the mayor and one appointed by the speaker of the council;
(d) Three representatives, two appointed by the speaker of the council and one appointed by the mayor, from organizations that promote urban agriculture and focus on issues, such as climate, restorative and social justice, one of whom shall be a representative from a youth advocacy organization or network; and
(e) Two representatives from the restaurant industry, one appointed by the mayor and one appointed by the speaker of the council.
2. Each member of the urban agriculture advisory board shall serve at the pleasure of the officer who appointed the member. In the event of a vacancy on the board, a successor shall be selected in the same manner as the original appointment. All members of the urban agriculture advisory board shall serve without compensation.
3. The urban agriculture advisory board shall keep a record of its deliberations and determine its own rules of procedure, which shall include a procedure or mechanism by which members of the public may make submissions to the board. The first meeting of the urban agriculture advisory board shall be convened within 120 days after the effective date of the local law that added this section.
4. Within 18 months of the effective date of the local law that added this section, the urban agriculture advisory board shall submit recommendations to the director, the mayor and the council. After such date, the urban agriculture advisory board may submit recommendations to the director, the mayor and the council as appropriate.
§ 2. This local law takes effect 120 days after it becomes law.
NAB/ARP
LS #4391
9/29/21 6:49 PM