I know this is completely unrelated to all things SketchUp, but many of you know me from my extensions so I am going to put this out there anyways and humbly ask for your support for my younger brother and his farm.
Please email the Mayor and/or his Council and voice your support for Wilkerson Farm.
The last year (during the summer) I have helped my brother on his farm (it’s good to get one’s hands dirty once in a while) now that I’ve moved back to Utah. Sadly the land owners are trying to sell from under him without giving him a chance to purchase the land for his agri-entertainment business. See public notice from the City of Orem, Utah below:
Just for the record my younger brother (Richard Wilkerson) is a huge SketchUp fan and has used it to model up various farm implements that he has then fabricated himself.
Farming is unviable, yet valued for intrinsic benefits, plus long term food security.
Mechanised cropping may make it more viable in future (or just go straight to hydroponics since weather is the biggest risk in investing in farming)
Land is scarce, but developers don’t see profit in building medium and high-density housing because the residential market pays a big premium for single-lot housing.
Trumps tarrifs might change the rural economy in some way? (bad or good)
City officials and planners need to set better guidance for conversion of farmland to other uses. Eg earmarking the very best soils for preservation, ahead of any development.
Some vision and leadership is required, and that’s not easy politically (most local politicians and planners struggle with this).
As an urban designer, I can tell you that the proposal by the developer is mediocre and a better proposal could increase residential values while including some element of community green space or market gardens. Developers often struggle with having a vision, too.
Maybe you can run a little design competition to come up with a plan for housing + gardens.
(or just use AI) It has to be realistic, though.. Find a similar project nearby that works and convince the developer to do that, instead.
And lobby Council to at least make a plan for relocating the soil if it cant be kept in place. We do that in New Zealand - our best soils, when they cant be preserved, are trucked into depots for use in commercial and domestic gardens elsewhere..
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