Astor Diner New Name

Aquaculture in NC: Urban Aquaculture

Not everyone who wants to start an aquaculture farm has the privilege of picking up their family, leaving their job, and moving to a rural area. Note I didn’t say small town – many of the same rules apply to small towns as large cities. I mean at least a few miles from Main St. Not to mention, there’s lots of vacant lots right now in the sluggish real estate market that could be put to good use. That’s exactly what Rob Ellis decided when he opened Astor Farms in Charlotte, his hometown. He grows tilapia in an abandoned DHL warehouse near the Charlotte airport. And he shared his story at the NC Aquaculture Development Conference last week in New Bern, NC.

Empowered by the same energy behind many urban agriculture efforts – the push for local food, for a connection between city dwellers and their dinner, and the urge to make use of abandoned city land – Ellis began down the very much unpaved path for urban aquaculture. But unlike the pioneers of community farming and backyard chickens, aquaculture has no precedents and is unclearly defined in the legal world. In 1959, the NC General Assembly declared aquaculture a form of agriculture, which is exempt from zoning regulations. This is reflected even in the language of what many aquaculturists call themselves – farmers – and their operations – fish farms. So at the state level, there should be nothing standing in the way of a few tilapia ponds in Charlotte. Wrong.

Ellis fought city planners who attempted to fit his plans into the closest urban analog they could find – swimming pools and equine barns. Large quantities of water in Charlotte must be swimming pools, right? And should you call the roof over their head a ‘fish barn’, then you have to tangle with horse regulations in the city. The city officials didn’t have the same hands-off attitude of the state.

City water is also chlorinated for the health of human residents of Charlotte. But tilapia would require dechlorination, mostly done chemically. So Ellis decided to drill a well on city property. This is something that is becoming more and more common for a variety of social reasons, so no one really raised an eyebrow at this. But when attempting to get a contract for effluent wastewater, only a city the size of Charlotte could comfortably accomodate the extra flow. If someone in a smaller town wants to use that process, they may be faced with upgrading the city municipal water facilities or installing private water treatment.

Jeremiah's Vanishing New York: *Everyday Chatter

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