Economic Development,
Placemaking and
Branding/Marketing
Committee
TO: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, PLACEMAKING DATE: OCTOBER 20, 2022
AND BRANDING/MARKETING COMMITTEE
FROM: COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WARD: 1
DEPARTMENT AND OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY
SUBJECT: RECEIVE AN UPDATE ON THE NORTHSIDE AGRICULTURE INNOVATION CENTER; CONSIDER MEMORANDUMS OF UNDERSTANDING TO COLLABORATE WITH RIVERSIDE FOOD SYSTEMS ALLIANCE, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE, AND LAMPLIGHTER ENERGY, INC. FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AGRICULTURE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AND SUPPORTIVE FACILITIES; REVIEW A LEASE/LEASE BACK AGREEMENT WITH LAMPLIGHTER ENERGY, INC. FOR SOLAR FACILITIES AT THE NORTHSIDE AGRICULTURE INNOVATION CENTER.
ISSUES:
Receive an update on the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center located at 895 and 900 Clark Street; consider memorandums of understanding with the Riverside Food Systems Alliance as the site’s master lease holder, and partnerships with the University of California, Riverside and Lamplighter Energy, Inc. to develop agricultural workforce development programs and supportive facilities; and review a Lease/Lease-Back Agreement with Lamplighter Energy, Inc. to construct and maintain solar greenhouses, agrivoltaic panels, and solar facilities generating approximately 750 kilowatts of renewable energy at the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the Economic Development, Placemaking and Branding/Marketing Committee:
Receive and file an update on the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center; Direct staff to finalize a Master Lease Holder Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding with the Riverside Food Systems Alliance to serve as the master lease holder and overall site manager to work with local and regional sub-tenant partners to deliver a variety of community and workforce programs at the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center, and recommend the City Council approve a Master Lease Holder Agreement and the Memorandum of Understanding with the Riverside Food Systems Alliance; Recommend to the City Council approval of a Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Riverside, University of California Riverside and Lamplighter Energy, Inc. to formalize a collaboration to develop and implement sustainable agriculture, controlled environment and high-tech agriculture workforce development programs and supportive facilities; Direct staff to finalize a Lease/Lease-Back Agreement with Lamplighter Energy to develop and construct solar facilities at the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center and recommend the City Council approve the agreement; Direct staff to research, explore, and pursue a variety of funding sources to support various community and workforce programs at the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center; and Direct staff to research, explore, and pursue a variety of funding sources to construct the project site and bring back to the Economic Development, Placemaking and Branding/Marketing Committee options to complete the project build out.
BACKGROUND:
In 2018 the City, in partnership with the Riverside Food Systems Alliance (RFSA), conceptualized the Northside Heritage Meadows Project (Northside Project) for submission to the 2018 Urban Greening Grant program to fund an urban greening infrastructure project to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and provide multiple benefits. The City Council authorized Resolution No. 23360 for the City’s application and project proposal, and in November 2018, the City was notified that it had been selected for a $3,000,000 Urban Greening Grant award. In April 2019, the City Manager’s Office executed a grant agreement with grant administrator California Natural Resources Agency.
Funding from the Urban Greening Grant is intended to provide multiple benefits by way of integrating multiple project elements at the Northside Project, recently renamed to the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center to better reflect the myriad site elements and programs. Grant funds are to facilitate the acquisition of 7.58 acres of vacant land on two parcels located at 850 and 900 Clark Street (APNs 246-230-020 and 246-242-011, respectively) for the establishment of an urban agriculture center to provide economic development and educational opportunities related to natural and working (agricultural) landscapes. Per the Urban Greening Grant project proposal, multiple project elements include: 1) construction of trails approximately 0.5 miles in length to increase neighborhood walkability and access to the project site; 2) planting of 453 trees and shrubs to provide shade, carbon sequestration and produce food; 3) facilities to support community engagement and workforce training in agricultural landscapes; 4) the establishment of a community garden; 5) open space for agricultural activities to mitigate heat-island effects and agriculture workforce development; and 6) outreach activities to build strong community engagement in the project. Additionally, statutory priorities by way of Senate Bill 859 encourages Urban Greening Grant recipients to facilitate interagency cooperation and the integration of project elements to provide access to quality jobs and workforce education and training for residents of disadvantaged communities.
DISCUSSION:
A myriad of activities for the Northside Project have been completed and/or are currently underway to accomplish the Project’s multiple objectives, including:
Completion of site acquisition on April 22, 2021, for 895 and 900 Clark Street for a total purchase price of $1,900,000 with Urban Greening Grant funds; Demolition of an existing structure on 900 Clark Street in February 2022 in preparation for site development; Formation of a community garden planning committee, which meets monthly; Securing $32,000 from Love Tito’s Foundation to build out the community garden; Partnership with Riverside-Corona Resource Conservation District to develop and manufacture interpretive signs for future installation at the project site; Finalization of a Request for Proposals to hire a design firm to produce bid-ready construction documents for the Project’s trails and tree plantings funded by the Urban Greening Grant; Development of a Covenant and Agreement and Declaration of Restrictions with the California Natural Resources Agency to ensure the site elements reflect Urban Greening Grant priorities and site uses are preserved and protected for the next two decades per grant terms; An update to the Project’s conceptual site plan elaborating community engagement venues and agriculture workforce development elements, and the subsequent update to the project name to Northside Agriculture Innovation Center to more accurately reflect activities and programs to take place at the site; Collaboration with University of California, Riverside (UCR) Office of Technology Partnership and collaboration with UCR’s OASIS (Opportunities to Advance Sustainability, Innovation, and Social Inclusion) Initiative to deliver workforce development and startup programs in a sustainable, controlled environment, and high-tech agriculture at the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center; Collaboration with UCR University Extension and Riverside Food Systems Alliance to develop a 10-month Next Generation Farmer Training Program to be delivered at the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center; Receipt of an unsolicited land lease and lease back offer from Lamplighter Energy, Inc. to construct solar greenhouses, agrivoltaic panels and solar facilities to support multiple climate-smart controlled environment and high-tech agriculture training programs at the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center; Collaboration with partner agencies, including Riverside County Workforce Development and California State Labor & Workforce Development Agency to establish a High Road Training Partnership Program to fund high-tech, climate-smart agriculture workforce training programs to be delivered at the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center; A joint effort with UCR in securing a federal earmark in the amount of $1 million under the Community Projects Funds via Congressman Mark Takano’s Office for agricultural education and workforce training resources to outfit solar greenhouses at the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center; and Seeking additional internal and external funding sources to realize all phases of the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center project including:
Additional funding options for critical unfunded needs including infrastructure and utility upgrades; A joint Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grant application submitted in June 2022 by UC Riverside and several partners seeking $4.98 million over five years to fund training in climate-smart agriculture practices and development of market opportunities for climate-smart commodities; A $1 million grant application to the USDA Urban, Indoor and Emerging Agriculture grant in collaboration with University of California Agriculture & Natural Resources Cooperative Extension to develop climate-smart agricultural training programs for small and under-resourced farmers; and Collaboration with the City grant coordinator and external partners to identify additional funding opportunities to build out all phases of the Northside Project.
Project Priorities
City staff have worked with stakeholders to update the conceptual site plan to provide further details on the Project’s public engagement and workforce development elements. The resulting site plan (shown below) facilitates the following project priorities:
Exhibit A: Northside Agriculture Innovation Center Site Plan Urban Greening (entire project site)
Nearly seven acres of open space to sequester carbon via planting of 450+ trees and shrubs and healthy soils farming practices to demonstrate heat island mitigation and carbon-sequestration functions provided by green infrastructure and working landscapes.
The management of land-based activities in sustainable, climate-impact mitigating methods to demonstrate how agricultural and natural landscapes can address climate change impacts.
Workforce Development (Sections 2, 3, and 4 of Site Plan) State-of-the-art solar greenhouses to train climate-smart agricultural practices to prepare a highly skilled workforce in sustainable, controlled environment, and high-tech agricultural technologies; four agricultural workforce programs have been developed, with two certified by UCR University Extension and other two undergoing certification.
Integration of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels over soil-based agricultural activities to facilitate research and training in emerging dual-use agrivoltaic practices, the integration of solar and agriculture.
Over 1.5 acres committed for soil-based training via the Next Generation Farmer Training Program certified by UCR University Extension.
Additional future opportunities include collaboration with partners to establish an on-stie microgrid to support research and training in solar renewable energy management, solar facilities, and multi-sector connectivity.
Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Sections 2, 3, and 4 of the Site Plan) Solar greenhouses, coworking spaces, and incubation facilities planned for NAIC will:
Train at least 135 individuals annually; and
Incubate 6-10 new farmers and ag tech startups annually with an estimated 25 companies launched over ten years.
Specialized agriculture-based education and training will be delivered by accredited instructors and business mentorship via seasoned entrepreneurs in residence.
Community Engagement (Sections 1, 2, and 4 of the Site Plan) An open-space agricultural-themed venue for community events, including a community garden, indoor/outdoor event spaces, a co-work learning center, and demonstrations of climate-smart agricultural practices to educate a broad audience on how agriculture can function in an urban environment.
Demonstration greenhouses to showcase agriculture of the future and a teaching kitchen for food demonstrations and events.
Expansion of trails to improve walkability and access to the project site.
Lamplighter Energy, Inc. Land Lease / Lease Back Offer
In late 2021, representatives from the University of California, Riverside’s Office of Technology Partnership, and Lamplighter Energy, Inc. approached the City to explore a joint effort to deploy solar greenhouses for research, workforce development, and incubation of ag-tech startups. Upon further conversations Lamplighter Energy presented an unsolicited land lease/lease back proposal to build approximately 45,000 square feet of solar greenhouses, solar photovoltaic (PV) panels for agrivoltaic (dual use integrating agriculture and solar PV panels) demonstration / research / training, and supportive solar infrastructure (collectively referred to as solar facilities) at the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center. Under this proposal, Lamplighter Energy will:
Finance the development and construction of the solar facilities at no cost to the City nor project partners; and Lease back spaces within the solar greenhouses and under solar PV panels at no cost to the City for programming to be delivered by project partners, including UC Riverside.
The solar facilities will provide state-of-the-art greenhouses to facilitate multiple workforce development programs in a controlled environment, sustainable, and climate-smart agriculture, thereby meeting project priorities. Additionally, demonstration greenhouses will provide facilities to house the co-work learning center to support land-based agriculture-themed education and public engagement activities at NAIC. The market value of the proposed solar facilities investment at NAIC is valued at $4.2 million. Lamplighter Energy proposes a twenty-one-year lease term for an annual rate of one hundred dollars, with an initial five hundred dollars to secure the lease option over a two-year entitlement period. In addition to the projected economic impacts listed in Innovation and Entrepreneurship section on page 4, the solar greenhouse spaces are anticipated to provide over $100,000 in potential annual rental income from future tenants. A land lease/lease back agreement with Lamplighter Energy and a concurrent Feed-In-Tariff Power Purchase Agreement with the Public Utility are required to realize these opportunities.
Site Manager and Master Lease Holder
In 2018 City staff and the Riverside Food Systems Alliance (RFSA) conceptualized the Northside Heritage Meadows project, now referred to as the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center, for the Urban Greening Grant. An outgrowth of the city-lead GrowRIVERSIDE Initiative, the RFSA drafted the Riverside Food Policy Action Plan (Plan), which articulates the priorities of building a resilient local food system; this Plan was adopted by the City Council in May 2015. The RFSA functions as a community-based backbone partner organization to realize priorities identified in the Plan and has a mission to support local food and agriculture for healthier communities. The RFSA operates as a project of and under the fiscal sponsorship of Community Partners, a 501(c)3. Members of the RFSA include regional farmers, local government agencies, health care organizations, educators, students, local businesses, community members, and community-based organizations. The work of the RFSA is managed by a 9-member Board. Since 2015, the RFSA has worked in close collaboration with the City to facilitate year-round education, networking, advocacy, partnerships, and a multitude of program and project development aimed at building capacity for a more sustainable and resilient food ecosystem.
Due to the unique roles the RFSA serves as the community-based umbrella organization in local food systems work, city staff is recommending the RFSA serve as the master lease holder and management entity of the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center. In these roles, the RFSA can bring flexibility and agility as a non-profit to work with a variety of sub-tenants to deliver a multitude of programs. In order for the RFSA to perform these roles, it will require the City to execute a master lease holder agreement and a memorandum of understand defining RFSA’s scope of work at NAIC. City staff have conferred with the Purchasing Manager who has determined and approved the use of Purchasing Resolution No. 23812 Section 702 (c) which states that Competitive Procurement through the Informal Procurement and Formal Procurement process shall not be required, “When the Procurement can only be obtained timely from a single source and the Manager is satisfied that the best price, terms and conditions for the Procurement thereof have been negotiated,” and 702 (n) “When the Awarding Entity waives bidding requirements under and according to the circumstances set forth in Section 1109 of the City Charter, or when it is determined by the Manager to be in the best interest of the City to do so,” thus allowing the City to single source the two agreements directly with RFSA upon approval by City Council with five affirmative votes.
The City Planner concurs that the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center is consistent with the Northside Specific Plan (approved November 17, 2020).
The Office of Sustainability finds that the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center exemplifies a triple bottom line approach with multiple positive outcomes in the realms of economic opportunity, environmental stewardship and social responsibility. The Center will protect and restore Riverside’s biodiversity through the planting of 453 trees and accelerate the natural removal of carbon, furthering our community’s climate resilience. The site will also generate approximately 750 kilowatts of renewable energy annually via photovoltaic panels. Access to quality jobs and workforce education and training for residents of disadvantaged communities is a core focus. It is also anticipated to incubate 6-10 new farmers and ag tech startups annually along with training at least 135 individuals annually through unique partnerships including but not limited to UC Riverside’s University Extension Next Generation Farmer Training Program.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
The Northside Agriculture Innovation Center contributes to the following Strategic Priorities and Goals:
Strategic Priority 1 – Arts, Culture and Recreation: Provide diverse community experiences and personal enrichment opportunities for people of all ages.
Goal 1.3: Improve parks, recreational amenities, open space and trail development, and fulfill critical lifecycle and facility maintenance needs.
Goal 1.5: Support programs and amenities to further develop literacy, health, and education of children, youth, and seniors throughout the community.
Strategic Priority 2 – Community Well-Being: Ensure safe and inclusive neighborhoods where everyone can thrive.
Goal 2.3: Strengthen neighborhood identifies and improve community health and the physical environment through amenities and programs that foster an increased sense of community and enhanced feelings of pride and belonging citywide.
Goal 2.6: Strengthen community preparedness for emergencies to ensure effective response and recovery.
Strategic Priority 3 – Economic Opportunity: Champion a thriving, enduring economy that provides opportunity for all.
Goal 3.1: Facilitate partnerships and programs to develop, attract and retain innovative business sectors.
Goal 3.2: Work with key partners in implementing workforce development programs and initiatives that connect local workers with high quality employment opportunities and provide access to education and training in Riverside.
Goal 3.3: Cultivate a business climate that welcomes innovation, entrepreneurship and investment.
Goal 3.4: Collaborate with key partners to implement policies and programs that promote local business growth and ensure equitable opportunities for all.
Goal 3.5: Lead public-private partnerships to build resources and grow the capacity of the local food system.
Strategic Priority 4 – Environmental Stewardship: Champion proactive and equitable climate solutions based in science to ensure clean air, safe water, a vibrant natural world, and a resilient green new economy for current and future generations.
Goal 4.5: Maintain and conserve 30% of Riverside’s natural lands in green space including, but not limited to, agricultural lands and urban forests in order to protect and restore Riverside’s rich biodiversity and accelerate the natural removal of carbon, furthering our community’s climate resilience.
Goal 4.6: Implement the requisite measures to achieve citywide carbon neutrality no later than 2040.
Strategic Priority 6 – Infrastructure, Mobility & Connectivity: Ensure safe, reliable infrastructure that benefits the community and facilitates connection between people, place and information.
Goal 6.2: Maintain, protect, and improve assets and infrastructure within the City’s built environment to ensure and enhance reliability, resiliency, sustainability, and facilitate connectivity.
Goal 6.3: Identify and pursue new and unique funding opportunities to develop, operate, maintain, and renew infrastructure and programs that meet community needs.
Goal 6.4: Incorporate Smart City strategies into the planning and development of local infrastructure projects.
The Northside Agriculture Innovation Center aligns with each of the five Cross-Cutting Threads as follows:
Community Trust – The concept of the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center has been developed in collaboration with and is driven by community members and food systems stakeholders. As a community-based project, the Northside Project’s various elements reflects a sustainable approach to achieving food systems priorities through education, employment and training, environmental stewardship, and increasing food resiliency.
Equity – The Northside Project outcomes benefit the entire community as a community-based project. The project also enhances placed-based programs for an underrepresented individuals and is housed in an underserved community.
Fiscal Responsibility – The project is funded by grant funds, leverages resources brought to the table by project partners, and further enhanced with private investment from the solar facilities. Multiple elements at the project are expected to generate revenues to help support programming and third-party site management to ensure long term sustainability.
Innovation – The Northside Project will be a regional flagship center for urban agriculture demonstrating climate-smart technologies in agriculture. This will be the only center of its kind in the United States, as noted by multiple experts, fusing agriculture tech, renewable energy production, beginning farmer training/workforce development, carbon sequestration via a community-based partnership and collaboration.
Sustainability & Resiliency – The project transforms over eight acres of open space into an urban greening project with multiple benefits to achieve a triple bottom line: spurring economic opportunities by providing workforce training and new farmer and ag tech incubation; increasing food access and community resources in an underserved community; and the responsible stewardship of natural resources demonstrating multiple benefits.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact with this report.
Prepared by: Chris Christopoulos, Acting Community & Economic Development Director Certified as to
availability of funds: Edward Enriquez, Interim Assistant City Manager/Chief Financial Officer/City Treasurer
Approved by: Rafael Guzman, Assistant City Manager Approved as to form: Phaedra A. Norton, City Attorney
Attachments:
Presentation
Northside Agriculture Innovation Center Update ● Page 2