About UrbanAgLaw.org
UrbanAgLaw.org is a free guide to the laws and regulations that shape urban agriculture in the United States. It explains in plain English who can grow, build, keep animals and sell food in a city, and where those rules come from.
The rules for gardens, farms and food businesses are spread across zoning codes, building codes, health departments, state statutes and private agreements such as HOA covenants. This site brings them together so you can see what applies to your project and where to check next.
Our guides cover zoning and planning, land access, building permits, food safety and cottage food laws, liability and insurance, employment, nonprofit and for-profit models, animals, soil, water and community gardens.
Our Mission
Our mission is to make the law of urban agriculture clearer and easier to find, so that people who grow food in cities spend less time guessing what the rules are and more time growing.
- Explain the laws that affect urban agriculture in a way that is easier to understand and use.
- Help urban farmers, home gardeners, community organizations and food entrepreneurs find the rules that apply to them.
- Support the growth of urban agriculture through access to reliable legal information.
- Describe the legal barriers people run into, and the practical ways through them.
UrbanAgLaw.org is a project connected with the Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC), a nonprofit in Oakland, California that describes its work as legal education, research, advice and advocacy for more just and resilient economies. This site applies that kind of work to one field: urban agriculture.
Our Story and the Sustainable Economies Law Center
UrbanAgLaw.org began as the Urban Agricultural Legal Resource Library, a collaborative project connected with SELC. The first guides were written by a group of legal professionals and law students who researched how laws and regulations affect who can practice urban agriculture, and how and where, and SELC curated the site.
Each original section had its own curator, including attorneys and researchers who worked with SELC on planning and zoning, land access, food and health regulations and soil. Janelle Orsi, a co-founder of SELC, wrote early research on the legal side of yard-sharing for urban agriculture that appears throughout the original guides. You can read about the people behind the first sections on our Meet the Curators page. Those profiles describe their roles when the sections were written.
The site is not a finished archive. SELC’s original guides remain part of the Legal Library, and we are updating them and adding new ones as a project connected with SELC. Recent additions include guides to building permits, urban agriculture zoning and right-to-farm laws, and state-by-state guides to cottage food laws. Older pages that have not been rewritten yet may be out of date.
How We Research and Update Our Legal Guides
A legal guide is only useful if it is accurate and current, so every guide follows the same approach.
- Official sources first. We rely on statutes, administrative codes, city and county ordinances, and the guidance that government agencies publish. Blogs, vendor sites and summaries are used only to cross-check.
- Federal, state and local rules. We separate what comes from federal law from what comes from a state or a city. We also explain that model codes, such as the International Residential Code, apply only where a state or local government has adopted them.
- Numbers, exceptions and permits. We check sizes, sales limits, fees, exceptions and required permits against the text of the rule.
- Dates and sources. Guides show a “Last verified” date and name the source of each key rule in the text.
- Conflicting or outdated sources. When official texts disagree, or an older rule has been replaced, we say so, and we revise or remove outdated material.
- No guessing. If we cannot confirm a fact in an official source, we leave it out or tell you to check with the agency.
- Practical tools. We add tables, checklists and examples so you can compare places and know what to ask your local office.
Explore Our Legal Library
Twelve topic areas cover the main legal questions that urban growers meet. Start with the one closest to your project.
Cottage Food Laws by State
State-by-state guides to selling food made at home: what you can sell, labels, limits and where to sell.
Planning and Zoning
What your zoning district allows and how to find out.
Food Safety
Rules for selling the food you grow or make.
Building Codes
When sheds, greenhouses and coops need permits.
Land Access
Leases, public land, land trusts and easements.
Homeowners Associations
How HOA covenants can limit growing food.
Liability, Risk and Insurance
Managing risk for gardens, farms and volunteers.
Employment Laws
Volunteer labor, hired workers and nonprofit issues.
Entrepreneurial Urban Agriculture
Farm businesses and micro-enterprises.
Nonprofit Urban Agriculture
Tax-exempt status when a nonprofit earns income.
Animals and Livestock
Chickens, goats and bees in the city.
Soil
Testing and contamination concerns for urban soil.
Water
Municipal supply, water use and access.
Who We Help
Urban Farmers and Home Gardeners
You grow food in a yard, on a lot or in a greenhouse.
Community Garden Organizers
You are starting a shared garden with a nonprofit, a neighborhood group or neighbors.
Food Entrepreneurs
You make food at home, bake, sell at markets or plan a small food business.
Researchers, Advocates and Policymakers
You study how cities and states regulate urban agriculture and want to compare approaches.
Legal Information, Not Legal Advice
The guides on UrbanAgLaw.org are general legal information for educational use. They are not legal advice and they are not a substitute for talking to a qualified attorney about your situation.
Laws and rules differ between states, counties and cities, and they change. Before you make a decision, check the current rules with the agency or office that enforces them, and speak with a qualified professional when the stakes are high.
Questions, Corrections and Feedback
Laws change and links break. If you notice a problem, we would like to hear about it. You can tell us about:
- changes in a law or regulation;
- outdated information;
- broken links;
- errors or unclear explanations;
- official sources we should add.