In a city that loves its greenery, the new location of the Community Garden is one that has multiple options, and is drawing a passionate response from residents. The previous community garden at 10860 Culver Boulevard will be part of the new community center currently under construction. The original garden design was 4500 square feet, fully enclosed by fencing, contained 17 plots of various sizing, and an enclosing fence – each gardener got a key.
The report from Parks, Recreation and Community Services at the Monday City /Council meeting on Sept 19, 2022. offered three possible new locations – two at Syd Kronenthal Park on the east side of town, adjacent to the bike path, and one at Veterans Memorial Park, near the original garden location.
However, all three spaces would require tree removal to create adequate space for the gardens. Option B – the second possible site at Kronenthal, has a potential for 30 plots, but again, trees would need to be removed.
At Veterans Memorial Park, the third option, would locate the garden on the southwest corner of the park near Culver and Overland, near the Film Strip fountain – two trees would need to be removed. This would provide 10 plots for gardeners.
People who spoke from the podium supported the need for a new community garden, but lamented the loss of the park space. Melissa Sanders noted that public parkways (the green space between the sidewalk and the street) could be used for gardening, and Denise Neal noted that apartment dwellers were in specific need of space for greenery. Both Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin and Ken Mand considered the possibility of Culver City Park as a better space.
Nancy Barba emphasized that we need to be sure that “Those that are most in need have access to the [community garden plots] and that the process is transparent.”
The city council voted to send the matter back to PRCS to continue researching locations.
Judith Martin-Straw
Why not have multiple, smaller, community gardens while avoiding tree removal?