Email from Neighbor Courtney Denton's City Liaison for Community Garden

Courtney,

I am so sorry to receive the disappointing news. Your garden plans were the most impressive of any community garden we've worked on to date. I hope that the plans can be transferred to an alternative site that would be agreeable to the neighborhood. It would be my pleasure to work with you again in the future. Please let me know when and if I can further assist.

Best regards,

Phillip

Neighbor Courtney Denton's Email to Green Space Alliance

Dear Angela,
We regret to inform you that the Mahncke Park Garden Committee will need to return the community garden grant awarded by Green Spaces. After the discussion at Clover Lawn on Saturday, it was decided that the planned community garden could not occur at that location at this time. A new neighborhood committee will be developed to determine if there should be a garden in any public space in the neighborhood.

The Garden Committee would like to thank you for your time, assistance and guidance throughout the long process.

Thank you,
Courtney Denton

The good news and the better news ...

First the good news. It is my understanding from speaking with Courtney Denton that a neighbor has come forward to offer their private land to those interested in gardening sooner rather than later. Please email Courtney for more details on this if you are interested in getting in the dirt this spring. Space is limited, but this opportunity presents a much more streamlined approach for those simply interested in gardening now with like-minded folks without impacting any of our local open spaces or entailing participation in a more expansive discussion of the future uses of open spaces in Mahncke Park.

Now, the better news. This takes considerable pressure off of any process to find consensus on a public piece of land in our neighborhood for a community garden now, but doesn't mean that we can't discuss a community garden in the future on one of our public spaces. In this way, the private-land community garden can act as a great trial run on what works and doesn't work gardening-wise, which could significantly inform use of a public piece of property in the neighborhood in the future.

After getting involved in the discussion about Clover Lawn, I learned of at least one previous aborted attempt at a community garden in Mesquite Lawn some years ago. I am hoping that our Neighborhood Board will take this opportunity to come up with a process for future projects like this one so that a group of neighbors interested in a given project involving neighborhood assets will have a clearer path to finding out if it can work. I fear that waiting to agree on a process to reach consensus after feelings are already hurt and egos invested will lead to similar problems in the future.

MPNA Board Resolution

The Mahncke Park Neighborhood Association Board recognizes the Mahncke Park Garden Group as a group of people interested in bringing a community garden to the Mahncke Park Neighborhood in Clover Lawn Park. This group shall develop a plan whose area represents no more than 20% of the clover lawn park and deliver to the board prior to breaking

ground for review and approval.

A full statement will be issued by the board on Wednesday, February 17th.

The Mahncke Park Garden Group will hold an open meeting for input on Saturday, February 20th at 9 AM at the Clover Lawn Park.

Link to Charette

Neighbors David Matiella and Paul Vaughn have forwarded this link, which gives an overview of what a charette is.

Survey Results Thus Far

The survey results are in (at least, partially)! Please click on the links below to access the returned surveys for that particular street; we are waiting on Carnahan and Other to be uploaded.

Allensworth + 1 straggler survey here

Carnahan

Thorman

Other

The tally so far (NOT including Carnahan and Other Neighbors) is below; but for the visual learners among us, I prepared a graph that you can access here (which as of Monday afternoon is missing two votes in the "I support/am fine..." I will make this change when I get home):

15 Neighbors chose "I support/am fine with using part of Clover Lawn Park as a community garden.

3 Neighbors chose "I oppose using any part of Clover Lawn Park as a community garden."

10 Neighbors chose "I support/am fine with sharing the park with the community garden if we can agree on the location and size of the repurposed part."

1 Neighbor turned in a survey but did not make a selection among the choices given, so I marked it "No opinion," which is the last box.*

* Correction: Neighbor Ruth Rodriguez clarified that the "No opinion" survey referenced above was actually marked "I support/am fine..." but mark was very faint, which is why it appears blank. I will make the correction once all of the surveys are in.

Neighbor Courtney Denton's Post on Community Garden

Benefits of Gardening for Children and Families

I appreciate those emphasizing that this is not an either/or situation but a both/and situation. Another implied distinction to address is that the garden is for adults whereas open space is for children and families, and thus the garden would reduce our children’s spaces. In fact, a community garden would be very beneficial for children and families.

Among the benefits identified in our grant application are:

1. Outdoor education site to teach youth about where food comes from, the importance of community and stewardship and environmental issues.

2. Outdoor Curriculum for students at Lamar Elementary or The Circle School, who will be actively involved in the garden. They will help build, grow, harvest, distribute, maintain, research, and fund-raise as part of the curriculum.

3. The basic desire to spend time outside with nature. Many Mahncke Park residents live in an apartment or a condo and do not have personal access to backyards or places to garden.

4. The garden would provide a sense of community and camaraderie.

5. Gardening creates an opportunity for recreation, exercise, therapy, and education.

These are all benefits that families can experience together.

A quick Google search pulled up a study finding that gardening provides different forms of engagement for children, including designing, planting, and maintaining gardens; harvesting, preparing, and sharing food; working cooperatively in groups; learning about science and nutrition; and creating art and stories inspired by gardens. (http://www.cudenver.edu/Academics/Colleges/ArchitecturePlanning/discover/centers/CYE/Publications/Documents/CYE_FactSheet3_Benefits of Gardening for Children_July 2009.pdf)

I would also draw upon one of our neighbors who wrote, “We were always amazed at how having a simple square-foot type garden in our backyard when our 3 sons were toddlers taught them how to be excellent vegetable eaters, as they remain to this day (now ages 25, 22 and 16).”

I look forward to having my own children (forthcoming!) garden with me. A community garden will expand, not reduce, the ways our public spaces can benefit our children and families.

Neighbor Paul Vaughn's Post on the Community Garden

Why Clover Lawn Park is Incompatible with a Community Garden

There is currently a proposal to transform some or all of the usable space of Clover Lawn Park into a community garden. After much deliberation I have come to the conclusion that turning any part of the Clover Lawn Park into a community garden is a bad idea. This is a City Park, a public space for use by all of the people around the park…or for that matter, any resident or visitor of San Antonio. This space is currently maintained by the City of San Antonio, they are responsible for mowing and other maintenance as well as plantings, although a handful of neighbors routinely ensure that the younger trees are watered.

Looking at other community gardens, one is struck by some common themes. They tend to be on leftover, remnant pieces of land that go unused otherwise. Clover Lawn is not this. The neighbors in the area have traditionally used Clover Lawn in a variety of ways. Children play here, kicking balls, chasing each other or flying kites. Older children have used this space to play football or other sorts of pickup games. People walk their dogs in the park, so much so that the Mahncke Park Neighborhood Association convinced the city to add pet waste stations so that neighbors could pick up after their pooches.

While there are not currently very many older children in the area, these things go in cycles. There are now 14 children under the age of 5 living on Thorman Place and I have seen several toddlers and expectant mothers on Allensworth. These children will need a place like Clover Lawn where they can gather and play outdoors.

Another aspect of community gardens is the eventual need of fencing to keep unwanted people and animals out of the garden area. Walling off a part of this public space is distasteful. We do not need to erect barriers in a public space that should be open for all.

If the city signs a memorandum of understanding with the garden committee or the MPNA, who will be responsible to maintaining the park? Will the city still maintain the non-garden areas of the park? Will the gardeners? When the proposed community garden has issues, who will neighbors call to get the situation resolved? The city? One of the gardeners? The MPNA?

I was originally open to the idea of sharing the park space with the community gardeners. I personally have no plans to participate in the garden, but I do not want to see all of the usable space in this park repurposed for this usage. After attending several meetings with the “garden committee” I have become increasingly swayed against the project in this space. Members of the committee have been incredibly arrogant and condescending in their attitude about the concerns of neighbors. Our initial meeting on January 11th, 2010 featured one committee member saying that there would be no compromise and they would never even consider changing the location.

I was told more than once that the space is unused and full of dog shit. Any slight consideration of this statement would see that it is contradictory: people are using the park and not cleaning up after their dogs. I know neighbors with children, myself included, have used the park and continue to do so for general play, kite flying, picnics and Easter egg hunts.

I was also told multiple times that the garden committee has been considering this since June of 2009 and I had ample opportunities to participate. While this is true, I have no interest in a community garden. No attempt was made by the garden committee to reach out to neighbors of this park after this specific site was selected in November. It was even noted that if I did not care enough about my community to participate then it was too bad for me. The unmitigated gall of such a statement is outlandish. I have served on the board of the MPNA, am a past president and have helped relocate trees in the Clover Lawn Park to preserve the open space that residents enjoy.

If the city were planning on repurposing the park, they would have, at the very least, sent out notices to everyone within a 200’ radius of the park. The garden committee arrogantly selected this location and made no effort to let even the homeowners facing the park know that it was going to be used for a different purpose. While the garden committee sees this as a community-based project, it is in reality a community-place project. They selected a location and are foisting it on the residents of this area.

I now believe that this proposed community garden usage is incompatible with this location. I wish the gardeners good luck in finding a location, but it should not be in one of Mahncke Park neighborhood’s public pocket parks.

Graphics of 15%, 20% & 25% Garden Coverages

Folks,

Neighbor Morgan Penix put together some renderings that would give folks an idea of what 15% , 20% and 25% coverages would look like.

Neighbor David Matiella sent this version with 36% coverage if the entire perimeter were used as shown here.

This is not a final design submission by any means. Just something that will help those who are more visual learners.

Thanks,

Dave Evans

February 20, 2010: Design Charette at Clover Lawn Park

This design charette will be held as follow-up to the surveys and general meeting so that a final consensus can be reached.

February 16, 2010: Survey Results To Be Discussed at Neighborhood Meeting

Neighborhood Meeting takes place at Lion's Field (southwest corner of Broadway and Mulberry). All are invited to come to these meetings regardless of whether they are a member of the neighborhood association. The more the merrier!

February 9, 2010: Surveys Due Back

The survey forms will tell you exactly who you need to return them to so they can be compiled with all other neighbors.

You can download the survey form by clicking here. Or paste the following link in your web browser:https://acrobat.com/?d=ecnCPAEEfXTs0vwwYbOOqw.

If problems accessing the form, please call Dave Evans at 210.859.0055.

January 31, 2010: Surveys To Be Passed Out to Carnahan/Thorman/Allensworth

You can download the survey form by clicking here. Or paste the following link in your web browser: https://acrobat.com/?d=ecnCPAEEfXTs0vwwYbOOqw.

If problems accessing the form, please call Dave Evans at 210.859.0055.

January 28, 2010: Meeting at Ruth Rodriguez's House to Discuss Design Options

A meeting will be held at Ruth Rodriguez's house at 315 Thorman to discuss design alternatives. Start time is 7:30, Thursday, January 28, 2009. Please RSVP in comment section. Thanks.