Just Some Land To Call Their Own
It's not their first choice, but backers of the Corte Madera garden project might still get some land to till in Town Park.
Some gardeners are already starting their seeds in hopes of a bountiful Spring crop, but the supporters of a community garden in Corte Madera are still looking for fertile ground.
Their initial hopes of building a community garden in Town Park near Neil Cummins School have been blocked so far. The garden might still end up in Town Park, though, in an effort to reach some common ground.
Supporters have proposed a new site in the park, behind the Park Madera shopping center, which is owned by the Town. The shopping center is already undergoing some changes to welcome a proposed cafe.
Designs for the original site called for 80 individual plots, a shared orchard space, a tool shed and compost bins. The new site is larger and could accommodate up to 90 plots. It does have its problems, though, including the fact that it slopes into a drainage ditch.
Not everyone is happy with the new proposal, but there is hope that the garden will be established soon. One supporter said it will involve a lot of hard work to remove the trees and bushes and kill any rats that been nesting on the site, but that "we'll be fine."
The group's proposal will likely next be considered during a public workshop.
"The issues are about finding right spot. The original one was close to the wetlands, which are too sensitive. This one is underutilized. I hope that it might go through," Corte Madera Mayor Bob Ravasio said. "The other issue that we haven't resolved yet is what does it mean if we have a private entity on public land. What does that mean for the town? We'll have to talk with the Town's attorney about that."
The Corte Madera Community Garden Group had considered sites on San Clemente Drive and in the Porter Cooley area, but found there was no real support for a garden in those neighborhoods.
The initial proposal for a 8,500-square foot garden near a pond in Town Park was opposed by groups who wanted to make sure the park didn't lose any of its open field space and by environmental groups eager to protect the birds that call the wetlands home. Some neighbors expressed concern over how the garden would look during the fallow season and whether it would attract crime, including vandalism and break-ins. Some folks were more concerned over letting a private non-profit entity take control of public land.
Popo
10:55 am on Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Having a community garden in Corte Madera Park is a bad idea! We currently have a population explosion of children in Corte Madera. We are even considering opening new schools. If you really want a community garden in the park, wait ten years until this population explosion of children are in college. We need our limited park spaces for our children to run and play.
Popo
10:58 am on Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Do not put up more fences. In fact, I think we should make Corte Madera Park more accessible from our shopping center. The Park land next to our shopping center should be made into an ellaborate picnic area for park visitors and new cafe patrons. I would like be able to park in one place and take my kids to the Park to play or to the Pet Club to see the various animals (like a mini Academy of Sciences). I might want to get a hair cut, learn some yoga, or do laundry while keeping an eye on my children at soccer/softball practice. I might even want to take my children for an ice cream cone after practice.
Popo
10:59 am on Wednesday, February 8, 2012
A good site for a community garden is NOT next to our schools and parks, but a short walk away. Elementary school, or even high school students could look forward to a good-class-behavior field trip to our community garden, during those select times of season worth visiting it. What about a community garden along the bike path, near the future Camino-Alto bike tunnel? We might not have the funds to open the tunnel right now but we could enhance the area around it, in preparation. What about a community garden across from the WinCup property? This is supposed to be a “community garden” and not a “select few” garden right?
Popo
10:59 am on Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Why does there need to be one large community garden? Why not a few smaller community gardens scattered around town? I don’t want to see a FENCED OFF garden when I am driving an automobile or walking around our parks. But, I might enjoy riding my bicycle along our bike paths and visiting our community garden(s). Consider creating smaller, long-narrow(one row wide) community garden(s) along bike paths so visitors can notice the seasonal progress without having to enter.
Popo
11:01 am on Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Having a community garden in Corte Madera Park is a bad idea! We currently have a population explosion of children in Corte Madera. We are even considering opening new schools. If you really want a community garden in the park, wait ten years until this population explosion of children are in college. We need our limited park spaces for our children to run and play. Take away the fences seperating our park and shopping center.
Popo
11:13 am on Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Maybe the parking lot could be extended (to the ditch) to allow for shopping center, new cafe, and park visitors. Consider connecting the back parking lot of Pet Club with the Corte Madera Park parking lot, so shopping center customers can exit using the stop light. This might create a better traffic flow in our shopping center, which often gets quite congested. A mural could be painted on the back outer wall of the Pet Club to be seen by park visitors, drawing them and their children to our shopping center. This mural could depict early Corte Madera with farms, horse drawn carriages, and Mount Tam in the background.
Popo
1:58 pm on Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Who would benefit from the community garden harvests? The community? The farmer's markets? Or the increasing homeless population in our town that may rape these gardeners of their hard work?
Phyllis Galanis
4:24 pm on Wednesday, February 8, 2012
I think Popo has some good ideas re several smaller gardens rather than one large one. I totally disagree with Mayor Ravasio. A fenced in area for the exclusive use of a small number of people is not an ok use of our limited public park land. The land behind Park Madera Center is perfect the way it is--green open space with no fences and no development. It is very restful for our eyes to be able to look at open vistas rather than being confronted with fences and buildings. The park is already smaller because the school needed the land for additional classroom space. Last night the Win-Cup property developers also said they would have community garden space within their development. They'd probably welcome the direction and involvement of Corte Madera master gardeners. The gardeners could also develop the property at the end of the bike path--as was offered to them--and be across the street from the new garden in the development. Phyllis G