[ShareTompkins] Fwd: Help keep the Ithaca Community Gardens!

Wed Jul 25 01:49:21 UTC 2012

I agree with Jessica- this would be a huge loss.  As someone who has been a member of community gardens in Boston, Brooklyn, Oakland and now Ithaca, there is a tremendous value to gardening with other people- particularly across racial and ethnic lines. The relationships that are forged carry over into other parts of the Ithaca community. 

I am highly skeptical of the fact that there is enough vacant land across the city to equal the size of project growing hope. Scattered site plots would fragment the learning community that has grown at the garden. 

 I hope people will take the time to read the resolution and let your Common Councilor know that you support A continued lease for the garden.

Dara

--
Dara Silverman
917-327-6528
Darasilvermanus at gmail.com

On Jul 24, 2012, at 9:29 PM, Jessica Brown <nariah at gmail.com> wrote:

> I for one have put years of effort into the plot I work at PGH- building soil, adding perennials, and this year trying raised beds. We do our work as a team with our "at-risk" youth. You might be surprised how much they love it. It would feel like a major defeat to lose that plot.
> 
> J
> 
> 
> On Jul 24, 2012, at 7:35 PM, Pat Dutt <pduttster at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> I was stunned when I first saw this e-mail, but I understand how easy it is in this community to get inaccurate information.  The developer who bought the purchase option for the land along Rt 13 is a developer who supports the community and community values and wants local businesses installed in this parcel of land.  The developer has spent their money searching for other suitable gardening sites in the city.  I believe they have found at least double the space of gardens that Project Growing Hope has (PGH is one of many community gardens in Ithaca) and hopes to open up gardening – community gardening -- to many more people than PGH presently serves.  (PGH has a waiting list.)  The developer’s goal is to expand gardening opportunities, and to say anything different is to misrepresent the facts.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> Pat Dutt, local veggie gardener
>> 
>> On Tue, Jul 24, 2012 at 3:10 PM, Shira Golding <shiragolding at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Begin forwarded message:
>> 
>>> From: "Sheryl N. Swink" <sns7 at cornell.edu>
>>> Date: July 24, 2012 1:21:12 PM EDT
>>> To: SUSTAINABLE_TOMPKINS-L <SUSTAINABLE_TOMPKINS-L at list.cornell.edu>
>>> Subject: [sustainable_tompkins-l] Help keep the Ithaca Community Gardens!
>>> Reply-To: "Sustainability in Tompkins County" <sustainable_tompkins-l at list.cornell.edu>
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Do you believe the Ithaca Community Gardens are an important role in the vision of a sustainable Ithaca? Have you or your friends/family ever gardened there or dream of doing so in the future? 
>>> 
>>> If so,  a show of your support is ugent at the City of Ithaca's Administration Committee meeting tomorrow at 6:00 PM, City Hall's Common Council Room (3rd flr). The future of the Gardens is at stake!
>>> 
>>> Your presence is important to demonstrate that Ithacans care about maintaining a community garden site within walking and biking distance of downtown Ithaca that serves more than 150 gardeners and households each year. 
>>> 
>>> Be even more supportive/bold and share why you support the Gardens during the public comment period at the beginning of the 6:00 PM meeting – you have up to 3 minutes to speak on the value of the Gardens to you and/or your community. Not much time, but even 1 minute can make a huge difference!
>>> 
>>> If you have just assumed that the more than 30-year-old Ithaca Community Gardens are already a permanent part of the sustainable vision, time to take another look at what is happening in the notes below my signature.
>>> 
>>> Hope to see many of you on Wednesday at City Hall – Common Council room!
>>> 
>>> Sheryl Swink
>>> Community gardener and gardening advocate
>>> 
>>> 
>>> WHAT IS HAPPENING
>>> The current 20-year lease of the Gardens' land with the City of Ithaca expires at the end of next year. Just as Community Gardeners have approached the City about renewing or extending the lease for the site, a resolution has been put before the City Administration Committee to stop the process before gardeners even get a chance to present their case for renewal.
>>> 
>>> The developer that owns the land adjacent to the Community Gardens and holds an option to purchase the land from the city if the Gardens' lease is not renewed is  asking that the City Admin Committee (and ultimately Common Council) vote tomorrow, July 25th, on a resolution, the final and key statement of which is
>>> 
>>> "RESOLVED, That Common Council hereby authorizes the Mayor, upon the advice of the City Attorney, to proceed to a closing with the option holder on the sale of Carpenter Business Park Tax Parcel 36-1-3.4 in an expeditious and timely manner after receipt of Notice of Intent to exercise the Option and further directs the Mayor not to execute a new lease with any party for that parcel."
>>> 
>>> This is the city parcel that is leased for the Ithaca Community Gardens (under the auspices of Project Growing Hope, Inc, the Gardens not-for-profit organization).
>>> 
>>> The full resolution is in the Agenda for the meeting to be held this Wednesday, July 25th, 2012:
>>> 
>>> http://www.egovlink.com/public_documents300/ithaca/published_documents/Agendas/City_Administration_Committee/2012/07-25-12%20City%20Administration%20Committee%20Meeting%20Agenda.pdf 
>>> 
>>> Read the full resolution in the Agenda for the meeting and ask your Common Council members to diligently verify every statement in the resolution and give opportunity to supporters of the Gardens to make their case before any vote is taken on this resolution. 
>>> 
>>> How many vacant parcels do you see in downtown Ithaca residential neighborhoods and walking/biking proximity?
>>> 
>>> Neither Cooperative Extension nor the Board of Project Growing Hope/The Ithaca Community Gardens can see how scattered neighborhood gardens, something  we both support and have tried to make happen over the years, could possibly serve as a replacement for the number of  plots currently serving a diversity of gardening households at the site located near the Ithaca Farmers' Market if that is lost. Small neighborhood gardens would be a wonderful complement to the large Garden site, however, increasing rather than decreasing available plots in the city.
>>> 
>> 
>> 
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