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.
5. No later than October 1, 2023, and no later than October 1 of every fifth year thereafter, prepare an urban agriculture report, in cooperation with relevant agencies and stakeholders, including but not limited to food policy educators, representatives from community gardens and urban farming businesses. Such report shall address, but not be limited to, the following issues related to urban agriculture: (i) resources including but not limited to support for existing and potential urban agriculture spaces as well as current policies and regulations related to urban agriculture, (ii) classification and prioritization of urban agriculture uses, (iii) opportunities for expanding the availability of healthy food in low-income neighborhoods, (iv) the integration of urban agriculture into the city's conservation and resiliency plans, and (v) youth development and education opportunities with regard to local food production. Such report shall be submitted to the mayor and speaker of the council and posted on the city's website.
6. Update the mayor and the speaker of the council, and post on the city's website, an annual accounting of the progress made on the recommendations, initiatives and priorities identified in the most recent report prepared pursuant to paragraph 5 of this subdivision. The first such update shall be completed no later than October 1, 2024.
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.
(L.L. 2015/104, 11/30/2015, eff. 3/29/2016; Am. L.L. 2016/098, 8/31/2016, eff. 2/27/2017; Repealed L.L. 2020/080, 8/28/2020, eff. 8/28/2020; Added L.L. 2021/123, 11/7/2021, eff. 3/7/2022; Am. L.L. 2021/121, 11/7/2021, eff. 3/7/2022)
Editor's note: Former Section 20-a pertained to the Office of Labor Standards. For related unconsolidated provisions, see Administrative Code Appendix A at L.L. 2015/104 and L.L. 2020/080.