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Garden Idea Crops Up Again

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By KATHY STEELE

ksteele@tampatrib.com

Published: November 19, 2008

TAMPA - The city council will continue exploring the potential for urban gardening on some of the city's vacant lots, but not everyone agrees on the benefits.

"We are open to these kinds of initiatives but cautiously," city economic development administrator Mark Huey said.

He briefed the council last week on discussions with representatives of the city's redevelopment areas and one failed effort to maintain a community garden in East Tampa in the 1990s.
Councilwoman Mary Mulhern, who organized a workshop on the topic last month, is promoting community gardens as a way to turn vacant lots into vegetable and fruit patches, growing local food at affordable prices.

Among the city's nine redevelopment areas, East Tampa has identified more than 50 lots that could be available until the city markets them for redevelopment. Other areas might have available land.

"Once you get it going it becomes sustainable," Mulhern said. "You sell at farmers markets. It creates jobs."

Some council members have doubts.

An urban garden on 34th Street that started with a $1 million grant for a youth program was not maintained. For years, residents complained it was an eyesore, Councilwoman Gwen Miller said.

"If you want to help East Tampa, bring some businesses out there," she said.

Mulhern said gardening projects should be approached as a business and suggested management at Sweetwater Organic Farm or others involved in farming or gardening could provide expertise.

"The big mistake there was it was just youth," she said of the 34th Street garden.

Urban gardening is a good community builder, Councilman John Dingfelder said, but the most important issue is community support.

"We shouldn't be doing it from top down," he said.

Councilman Charlie Miranda wonders whether the project makes sense in the middle of a drought. The first step should be consulting environmental regulators on water issues, especially rules on digging wells, he said.

"There is nothing wrong with doing this," Miranda said. "But I don't know where we are going. We're trying to ski on bare feet."

A motion to ask city staff to meet with the advisory board of the East Tampa Community Revitalization Partnership about starting a project was defeated. The council passed a broader motion directing staff to do more research and report back.

"If the objective is to slow the process down, we've gotten there," Mulhern said.

A public meeting for the city's redevelopment areas will be set to gauge interest.

Singling out East Tampa is not the best approach, said Evangeline Best, chairwoman of the revitalization partnership.

"We'll let them talk to all the community redevelopment areas and let's have an open discussion," she said.

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 259-7652.

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