Urban farming approved by Planning Commission in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Brothers and co-directors of Matthew 25, Courtney Ball (left) and Clint Twedt-Ball, walk down G Avenue NW as they discuss their proposed Ellis Urban Village in the Time Check neighborhood. Taken on Wednesday , June 8, 2011. Photo by Cliff Jette/SourceMedia Group.

Brothers proposed plan for “small plot intensive farming” in Cedar Rapids

By Rick Smith
The Gazette
15 September 2011

Excerpt:

CEDAR RAPIDS — Urban farming has gotten a boost from the City Planning Commission.

On Thursday, the commission endorsed a proposal to amend the city’s zoning ordinance to allow urban farms in every zoning category in the city.

The City Council will take up the matter next.

The commission and council are responding to a request from the neighborhood-building non-profit group, Matthew 25, which is proposing to convert about two acres of flood-prone lots in the 100-year flood plain in the Time Check Neighborhood into an urban farm.

Clint Twedt-Ball and Courtney Ball, brothers and co-directors of Matthew 25, also planned for about 20 homes in what they are calling the Ellis Urban Village. Half the homes will be renovated and saved from the city’s demolition list and half will be new homes built on vacant lots where flood-damaged homes once stood.

Read the complete article here.