City Council to Discuss Community Garden Program on Monday
The City Council’s Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday voted to forward Ordinance #2010-229 on the Richmond Community Garden Program to City Council for the Public Hearing scheduled for Mon. Nov. 22 at 6PM in City Council Chambers, 2nd Floor, City Hall. The ordinance would establish a permit process that would allow city owned property to become community gardens. Resolution #2010-R 181 lists the parcels that would be available for use as community gardens. In our area the properties are located at 801, 805 and 807 W 44th Street would be available.
Unfortunately, the mayor’s office did not involve the community in this discussion. The people in the W. 44th Street block who have cleaned the litter and debris, cut back the shrubs and bushes and planted flowers and ornamentals on the three lots, have been told that they may not be able to continue their garden use of the property.
Were any of the neighbors consulted on this? I saw the survey stakes in the area, now I know why.
Gardening here will be a challenge, the deer already run rampant through our yards and alleys.
On the surface, I like the concept.
On reading the paper and the conditions appended to the use of the land thereto, I’m reminded of the qualifications attached by the Knights to the shrubbery they require.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UbtcmjfKa8
All;
I understand this issue will be readdressed at the Dec. 13th City Council meeting.
One thing to note as we all become familiar with this effort. The City will not automatically be installing community gardens at every site that has been identified as a potential site. This resolution and ordinance is set up to make it easier for community members to establish gardens on city property. It is suppose to streamline the process and make gov’t less cumbersome. I do not think this has been communicated publicly, so hope this helps get that info out there.
Any proposed community garden on city property will have to go through a brief review process and pay a minor annual fee to run the garden (which is fair from my perspective).
Yes, City staff could have communicated this info to the public better. It’s in the past now, but hopefully this post helps address some concerns people might have had.
Great pop culture reference, Jonathan!
The “community” garden is a great concept. What was proposed was a DC type of city government management. If neighbors were using a piece of abandoned city property as a garden, they would lose the use of it. The program would have required liability insurance for the garden, but if individuals could not pay, then the city would give money to the individual to pay for the insurance. The “community” piece of this would be lost completely.