Give Input on Decatur’s Community Garden Guidelines
Decatur Metro | June 14, 2010On Thursday June 17th, the city of Decatur will host a public input session on a first draft of new guidelines for community gardens within the city limits. The introduction of the guidelines notes…
These guidelines have been developed in order to ensure that community garden proposals on city-owned property have proper community support, address the current and future needs of the garden, and meet operational needs of the City.
The guidelines call for gardens to be evaluated on the goals of education, community building, integration with existing city environmental plans and financial sustainability.
If adopted, residents starting a garden will need to submit a plan for their garden to the city, and pay a $50 application fee and a $200 annual fee (along with potential, one-time floodplain development and stream buffer variance fees). The guidelines specify that no designated parking will be permitted for gardens and all pesticides used must be organic.
Check out the full document HERE. And if you have input, head over to the city commission meeting room this Thursday at 7pm.
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The guidelines are also asking that anybody participating sign a waiver of any intent to sue. The city has deeper pockets than any community organization. Anybody know whether this would potentially open any HOA or its officers to any huge liability? Maybe the fact that HOA are so small would prevent this sort of suit.
My neighborhood wants to do a garden, but we have at least one neighbor who seems to be adamant that nothing be done with the city-owned greenspace across the street from her. She won’t meet with us, but is quick on the trigger to call the city if she thinks we’re doing something. We want to be sensitive to her, but it’s difficult when she won’t communicate with us.
Seems like quite a few details need to be resolved. I would want to know what “proper community support” means. I would also hope that city commissioners and staff members would listen carefully to the concerns of property owners that will be directly impacted by these gardens.
Property owners should be concerned about this. Over the past year, I worked with Mr. Hugh Saxon and others concerning a city path that was constructed very close to my property. I supported this idea in part because I want to be a good neighbor and also because I want to be “part of the solution and not part of the problem”. Now that the path is complete, I have, for the most part, enjoyed saying hello to people who use it. But twice during the last two weeks, I have seen people step off the path and urinate in the woods. I can see why property owners would be concerned about a community garden in front of or next to their property. Parking, rules, and hours of operation need to be thoroughly discussed.
I frequently help out in a garden plot in the Scott Park Garden. Families who have brought their children to play in the park frequently stroll in the garden, pointing out the flowers, vegetables and butterflies to their kids. People come and sit under the trellis to relax and enjoy the atmosphere of this lovely place. Scott Park Garden does what a park should do for local residents. It is a haven for everyone to stroll and rest in. The people who cultivate it do not make money from it, but create something special for the community around them.