A proposal to add a zoning category to Coweta County’s Zoning and Development Ordinance allowing commercial farms to incorporate sustainable agriculture, organic gardening and agritourism on less than 20 acres got the go-ahead from commissioners last week. The Planning & Zoning Department will move forward with drafting the potential amendment as a conditional use in the Rural Conservation zoning district.

Fayetteville resident Scott Tyson made the request to be allowed to start a sustainable organic farm, citing the potential for his 10-acre Sharpsburg property, and that of others, to grow healthier food and raise healthier animals that will, in turn, provide on-farm direct sales, educational experiences, entertainment and hospitality services to the public.

“The customers can see where the food comes from,” Tyson said.

Tyson, whose young son was diagnosed with cancer two years ago, said the disease had been linked to pesticides. That reality, he said, had caused him to consider the negative health effects of food grown on conventional farms where pesticides and synthetic fertilizers are commonly used. Among other examples, Tyson cited information from the Toxics Information Project that farmers who frequently use pesticides have a six-fold increase in Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He also cited the nutritional advantages of raising free-range chickens and eating eggs from pasture-raised chickens.

As a part of his presentation to commissioners on the advantages of sustainable agriculture, Tyson referenced the Coweta County vision statement that states, “Coweta County will foster a new frontier of rural character. This county will consistently sustain and improve the quality of life by continuously planning for careful growth with the participation of citizens, private industry and government.”

Tyson said that vision would assist small farming operations to succeed.

“Land prices are out of reach for the smaller farmer to buy the 20-acre minimum in a good, convenient, profitable location. Thus to continue a growing, sustainable and thriving local economy that is not dependent on other parts of the world for food, enabling smaller tracts of land to be considered commercial agriculture is vital,” Tyson said in a prepared statement.

Tyson also noted that generational farming is on the decline in the United States, resulting on the reliance by grocery chains to purchase food to be shipped from where it is cheapest and most abundant without regard for quality.

In his statements to commissioners, Planning Director Robert Tolleson noted the specifics of Tyson’s request to use a sustainable organic gardening program, the rotational pasturing of animals and the desire to attract both customers using a “you-pick” operation and visitors to learn about the agricultural practices through educational and recreational activities.

Tolleson referenced the expanding emphasis on agritourism in Georgia and other states. He also referenced the position of the American Planning Service that local governments enact zoning regulations to allow for such farming practices without posing an undue burden or costs on farmers.

Tolleson said his department recommended that commissioners consider a proposed amendment along with a recommendation of a minimum lot size of five acres, a minimum building setback of 100 feet and to potentially allow some exceptions to development standards unless issues are identified through the conditional use review that warrant such standards.

Commissioners agreed, voting unanimously to have the Planning Department “look into” an amendment that would include Sustainable Agricultural Activities as a conditonal use in the Rural Conservation zoning district. Commissioners also said that, if eventually adopted, those requests by individuals would handled be on a case-by-case basis.

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