Poll: Should City Council Review the Community Garden Ordinance?

Although the idea of a community garden in South Pas has been played with for quite some time, the project is still far from fruition because of the City's current ordinance—and a lack of City funding.

“We’re lobbying to try to get City Council to review the ordinance and get sponsor funds some exposure. It wouldn’t be a big commercialization,” Kim Hughes from the Natural Resources and Environmental Commission said.

Currently, the Community Garden ordinance prohibits advertising for sponsors or donors at the garden site. Yet because City funds are unavailable, the funding for the community garden would have to come from private funds. And naturally, those donors would want to be recognized. 

Councilman Richard Schneider says he'd like to see a community garden but that there are still many factors that must be addressed. 

“I am in favor of using available CalTrans land, but there are a number of problems that must be worked out, such as access, water, neighborhood acceptance and others,” Schneider said.

South Pas Says Yes

The notion of the community garden is backed by community support with 94 percent in favor of 47-participant survey—even if they don’t anticipate using it.

Of the 47 people questioned, 34 would be interested in securing a plot in the community garden. 

Even with the support of South Pas residents—also expressed on Patch—both the Natural Resources and Environmental Commission and the Parks and Recreation Commission have infrastructure-related concerns. 

One of the issues involves soil testing. Of the four possible plots for the garden—CalTrans property near the 110, , area and —soil testing would be especially important for the CalTrans plot because of pollutants coming from the roadway. 

The level of soil testing would depend on whether or not the garden would employ raised beds, where soil content would be more controlled. If the garden were to utilize the pre-existing soil on the lot, that soil would have to be thoroughly screened to ensure it's free of contaminants. This type of soil testing can cost thousands of dollars.

Other issues include the logistics of water, lighting, security and parking. The two commissions would need to partner with the City and other agencies to move forward. 

The Next Step

To push City Council to review the ordinance, community garden supporters are encouraging residents to email or call City Council members. (The City's email server is currently down, so we suggest you call the number listed on that link.)

“Once we get the ordinance taken care of, it would open up the possibility of getting a garden constructed; we could finalize the space either on Grevalia or down by Arroyo or Garfield, and then we can get sponsors," said Hughs.

"Subtle signings can be a solution to the no-banner ordinance or having a Webpage with the logos of sponsors there.” 

Only then will South Pasadena residents come closer to seeing more green in their urban landscape.

“With this plan of a community garden, we’re adding more to the green space in a beneficial and educational way,” Hughes said.

Download the movie