LA landowners – save money and green your neighborhood with the City of LA’s urban agriculture program! Owners of vacant properties in the City of Los Angeles who want to use their land for urban agriculture may qualify for tax breaks of up to $15,000/year, under a City program that would designate this land as an Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone (UAIZ)

What kind of properties are eligible?

A property must be in the City of Los Angeles and meet certain requirements to be deemed eligible for UAIZ consideration. For example, the property must be between 1/10 of an acre to 3 acres in size; it must be vacant and free of any habitable structures; and cannot be within a Significant Ecological Area; National Recreation Area; or Sensitive Environmental Resource Area. Once the UAIZ contract with the City is in place, land with this designation must remain committed to agricultural use for at least 5 years.

You must also acquire any land use permits required to use your land for agriculture if it isn’t already allowed by-right (“by-right” uses of your land are those that are permitted by the zoning that applies to that piece of property.)

To look up whether your property has zoning that qualifies for this program, enter your address in the search bar at http://ZIMAS.LAcity.org, then click on “Additional” in the left sidebar menu. The fourth item on the dropdown list will give you a “yes” or “no” answer as to whether your property is, by right, able to be considered as an Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone. Please note that you still have to meet the other requirements to participate – see the full list of UAIZ requirements here.

How to apply

Apply by October 15, 2019 to ensure you get your tax incentives for the 2020 tax year! The fee is $293 to apply, and there is an additional fee to record the contract with the LA County Assessor’s Office, which is required in order to get your tax benefits. (The deadline to record your UAIZ contract with the County Assessor is January 1, 2020, to qualify for 2020 tax breaks.)

Applications must be submitted in person to the Department of City Planning at any of the City of Los Angeles Development Services Centers. Please make sure to read the entire program overview on this FAQ page, before you start your application, in order to make sure you understand all the requirements: For a helpful visual of the steps required to participate in this program, please check out this Application Flowchart.

How much will your tax savings be?

The County Assessor’s Office can help you calculate your potential property tax savings with the UAIZ program. Contact them and let them know you’re thinking of participating, and ask them to assist: assessor.lacounty.gov/contact-us/