by Saranya Radhakrishnan

Group: Kelly Garland, Oneeka Khan, Amandeep Kaur, Lisa Wong, Amanda Bernstein, and Laura Benasaraf

 

After presenting our proposal and understanding how to strengthen our argument, we decided to conduct more research as to how the gardens are an amenity and as to various strategies that the city can legally recognize community gardens.

Benefits and purpose of community gardens:

Community gardens may have once been vacant lots, but the amount of effort and care that is put into them transforms them into spaces that are far from empty. There are several components to a community garden that contribute to its definition and its purpose in the community. At a community level, these gardens aid in the development of the neighborhood and its members. It gives the whole community a sense of ownership, leadership, and provides members with a place where other community issues and social concerns can be addressed. Many police departments also recognize these spaces as an effective crime prevention method since they increase awareness of occurrences on the streets.

Community gardens also can develop a sense of culture, which can particularly be helpful for new immigrants who want to learn more about their community. This also provides immigrants the opportunity to grow traditional crops and meet others who speak the same language. This development of culture can aid in the education of youth. The participation of the younger generation in this societal affair can provide a foundation that lead to groupings of individuals with combined interests. This will allow for the growth of essential skills in terms of jobs and an investment in their future.

Another huge benefit of the gardens is low cost food production. Keeping in mind that these gardens are situated in low income neighborhoods, the opportunity to locally grow produce alleviates the burden of food expenses for several households. Moreover, families have access to fresh and organic food, which contributes to an overall healthier lifestyle.

Not only do these gardens contribute socially, but also environmentally. These spaces aid in filtering rainwater, which helps to keep lakes, rivers, and groundwater clean. Their plants are essentially reduce carbon dioxide and increase oxygen in the air. The gardens are also a way to recycle organic wastes such as tree trimmings and leaves back into the soil. All of these contributions allow the neighborhood to be conscious of the environment and how it affects us.

http://www.gardendallas.org/benefits.htm

 

Position of Community Gardens

– Of the community gardens owned by the city, none are permanent nor do they receive budgets to address infrastructure needs.  That is the reason people want community gardens to be mapped out and designated as parkland. If they were considered as parks, then it would take the state legislature to decide that the garden should be used for a different purpose.  According to the Community Garden Toolkit, a landowner can make a contract with a legally recognized entity such as a nonprofit organization. The nonprofit organization would then be responsible for supervising the operation of the garden. Individual gardeners sign their own agreement with the organization to follow the rules and waive any right to sue the organization. Community gardens need to get a permit under local zoning codes in order before claiming a vacant lot; the land should be surveyed in order to insure that it is suitable for a garden to thrive. Though this claim is not necessary, it is highly recommended.  There are regulations set forth by the EPA to declare an area safe, however there are no specific rules for a community garden.  According to this toolkit, the land owner has the final say in how long the garden will last for, not the gardeners.

– Some community gardens classify themselves as urban gardens. They produce food for their neighborhood, which helps low income families save some money. About 80% of the community gardens in New York grow their own food (fiveboroughfarm.org).

– One model for a nonprofit urban farm is through garden allotment organizations. These are small plots of land that individuals or groups can rent or use rent-free in order to grow vegetables for their own consumption. These are common in England, Japan, and Seattle, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is trying to turn large areas of urban land into allotment gardens in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since urban farming and allotment gardens may be better protected than community gardens, our goal is to get community gardens classified as urban farms or allotment gardens in order o protect them from development.

http://www.urbanaglaw.org/planning-and-zoning/

– NYC zoning codes are relatively permissive about urban agriculture. Gardens can grow food in residential and commercial zones as long as there is no bad odor or dust created as a result.

– According to the DCP MaPLUTO 2009 database, there are 3,621 acres of public vacant land. However, in reality there is less vacant land available since community gardens are considered vacant land in the survey.  After considering factors such as environment and actual vacancy, there are only 1,663 acres of vacant public land left that could be used for urban farming or more community gardens.

– Community gardens are not always protected under the public trust doctrine. In order for them to be protected, the community garden must have been declared parkland by the government. If the community garden is on land protected by the Department of Parks and Recreation is more likely to be protected than a garden on any other public or private land.

http://www.ny4p.org/advocacy/alienation/alienation-hey-eng.pdf

– Due to the Public Trust Doctrine, state courts have repeatedly ruled that if a land has been dedicated as a park, or has been recognized as a public space it cannot be taken for non-park use without approval of the State Legislature. The Public Trust Doctrine has also been used by the state Court of Appeals, forcing the city to get approval from the New York State Legislature before tampering with the parkland.

http://www.gothamgazette.com/parks/oct.02.shtml

– Rezoning requires large amount of resources and effort and community groups need support so that local community members can fully participate in the process. Rezoning can displace current residents and can negatively impact neighborhood affordability. Building more affordable housing in the place of already affordable housing is not a good plan because more residents get displaced than can live in the new affordable buildings.

IOBY is a nonprofit organization that helps fund community gardens, parks, and urban farms. There are also various grants that can help fund community gardens with specific programs such as child-centered programs and food production.  Funding for community gardens mostly comes from loans and grants. These grants can come from the government, or nonprofit organizations. Other modes of funding are through private grants from foundations, businesses, and community fundraising.

https://communitygarden.org/resources/funding-opportunities/

http://www.letsmove.gov/sites/letsmove.gov/files/pdfs/Let%27s%20Move%20Community%20Garden%20Guide.pdf

Case Study of the Gardens: Melrose Commons

After looking into benefits of the gardens, we looked into a model community, Melrose Commons, which implemented the gardens into an affordable housing development. Located in the South Bronx, the Commons consists of 30 three-family homes. The area was built with a mission of becoming a “green” neighborhood. With this focus, the Commons has become more energy efficient and promoted methods of sustainability. This outcome is a result of the participation and tremendous support of the community members. The neighborhood had thus created its own identity along with the development of 26 garden plots.

These gardens are protected under land trusts that were formed after a lawsuit in 1999. The court claimed that the city was “violating state environmental laws concerning the sale of open green space.” Even after the declaration of the lawsuit, the community understood that the gardens were still under jeopardy under the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Nos Quedamos and the South Bronx United Gardeners worked together along with the support of green coalitions such as Green Guerillas, GreenThumb, NY Restoration Project, Trust for Public Land and More Gardens made it their mission to preserve and protect the gardens as well as look into the welfare of the housing development.  Through the alliance of these groups and the support of the community members, the gardens have been protected and continue to be preserved.

Cultivating Community, Food, and Empowerment: Urban Gardens in New York City

By Margarita Fernandez

Building Communities: The Importance of Affordable Green Housing

By Erica R. Levin

Future Plan:

After interviewing Ray Figueroa, we work to incorporate his suggestions into our planned proposal for the future of community garden. We also hope to interview a local from Melrose Commons to understand the inner workings of the gardens and the strategies used that lead to the success of their preservation.

We will also create the website that will be used as the means to bring awareness to the importance of community gardens as well as present a solution to the public.