The Wilmington City Council approved amending an ordinance that would allow indoor gardening operations.
The ordinance change comes in response to plans by Second Chances Farms to locate a grow site in the city.
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The Second Chances name refers to the farm’s strategy of only hiring only ex-offenders as employees.
The project is being spearheaded by Ajit George, an organzer of TEDx Talks in Delaware. George heard presentations on farming of the future and re-entry by released offenders and saw and opportunity to work in the two areas, according to the organization’s website.
George also headed the now-defunct Mid-Atlantic Food and Wine Festival, which featured restaurants using fresh produce that could be grown through vertical gardening. He also worked with the late Sussex County restaurant owner Matt Haley on issues related to culinary training in the state’s correction system.
Second Chances is now working to raise $2.5 million, according to the Delaware Business Times.
It has also set up a vertical garden test station in Wilmington.
Releases and stories on Second Chances do not mention the potential of using grow sites for marijuana.
George is a licensed hemp grower in the state. Hemp, a relative of marijuana, is now legal for various uses.
Growing marijuana remains illegal, with recent legislation going nowhere in the past session.
Medical marijuana is available, but can only be grown by the state’s three dispensaries. No dispensaries are located in Wilmington, although the state’s first medical cannabis center is just outside the city.
