At at regular West Hollywood city council meeting on Monday, September 18, The City Council will receive an overview of the City’s Community Garden Program, and hear recommendations from the City Council Plummer Park Ad Hoc Committee on the placement of Community Garden Plots at Plummer Park.
The City’s Community Garden Program dates back to 1985. The Recreation Services Division is responsible for the administration of the community garden program with assistance from the Facilities and Field Services Division. The Community Garden Program is a recreational program that has relied on temporary, leased locations to host the garden plots. Since inception, garden plots have been installed on vacant property lots occurring at various locations throughout the City. In exchange for using a vacant lot as a temporary community garden, the City assumes responsibility to maintain and provide upkeep of the borrowed lot. The City executes a ground lease agreement with the property owner for use of their vacant lot. In total, the City has operated the Community Garden Program at four leased locations from 1985- 2017 and 2022-2023.
The video below shows the Detroit Community Garden.
Typical Community Garden setup is based on a lot at approximately 6,500-7,000 square feet in size; vacant/partially vacant site with sufficient sunlight; a willing property owners interested to execute a ground lease with the City for a minimum term of 2-3 years; accessible location with considerations for ADA requirements and parking; and a sites conditions to determine the community garden components and including the possibility of the City needing to establish a water hook-up which can take approximately 2-4 months.
Staff continue to look for suitable locations to establish a new community garden on privately owned lots. Additionally, staff was directed by the City Council to evaluate establishing a community garden as a programming component to the capital project titled Plummer Park Comprehensive Improvement Plan.
Proposed Interim Community Garden Locations include:
- Public Facilities, Recreation, and Infrastructure Commission (PFC) – At its
July 9, 2023, meeting the PFC accepted comments and provided feedback to
Community members on the City’s Community Garden Program item on its
agenda. Following discussion and the Commission voted 5-1 to recommend to the
City Council to install an interim garden on the Fuller Avenue side of Plummer
Park. - Plummer Park Ad Hoc Committee (Mayor Pro Tempore Erickson and
Councilmember Meister) – On August 22, 2023, the Ad Hoc Committee met to
discuss the short-term items and future visioning for Plummer Park. Based on the
PFC’s recommendation and further investigation by staff, conceptual community
garden layouts were provided for the following locations –
a. Fuller Avenue side, north of the sidewalk (item A1)
b. Fuller Avenue side, south of the sidewalk (item A2)
c. Fuller Avenue side, north and south of the sidewalk (Item A1 and A2)
d. Eastside of the North Parking Lot (item A3)
Following public comments and discussion the Committee recommended that both the Fuller Avenue and North Parking areas be considered, to provide the maximum number of available beds.
