Roughly 20 people gathered last Thursday on parking spaces 34, 35, and 36 of the Diamond parking lot at East John Street and Summit Avenue East. They gathered not in response to parking concerns but were instead focused on the idea of turning the parking lot into a community garden.
The parking lot, due north and across the street from the Olive Way Starbucks, was recently purchased by Seattle Parks and Recreation Department as part of the Pro Parks Levy program to acquire green space in residential areas. The score of area residents that gathered agreed they wanted to see the property relieved of its paving and given over to community gardening.
Guiding the meeting were Kara Fox, a nearby neighbor to the lot, and Glenn MacGilvra, who lives several blocks away. MacGilvra was also instrumental in creating the Thomas Street Gardens, 1010 E. Thomas St., which has 31 plots for gardeners and a waiting list 109 people long. It serves the dual purpose of community garden and pocket park.
The Pro-Parks Levy, approved by voters in November 2000, provides money for park land acquisition and for attracting grants. Money from the levy was used to buy the parking lot property in January. It is also funding the purchase of lots at 16th Avenue East and East Howell Street, next to the former First Church of Christ Scientists.
MacGilvra, putting signs, maps and drawings on the plank fence at the northern boundary of the parking lot, had misgivings at 7 p.m. when no one had arrived. His fears proved groundless as neighbors drifted in by ones and twos in light summer wear appropriate to the warm evening. Some knew each other and others did not, but it had the feeling of a block party.
Sandy Pernitz, of the Department of Neighborhoods community gardens division, was enthusiastic over the turnout as well as the interest and the effort the meeting represented. She supervises the city's community gardening program and said there are only three small gardens on Capitol Hill at this time.
"The whole meeting occurred because of them," she said. "They called us."
MacGilvra said representatives of Seattle Parks and Recreation also were invited, but none were present. One of the neighbors expressed the notion that since the property was just purchased in January, it is unlikely that the parks department has even started looking at the property.
Pernitz explained, briefly, the community garden concept, where gardeners not only rent plots, they also must contribute eight hours of work per year toward maintaining common areas in the garden. She stressed that whether or not the new property would become a community garden is entirely a decision of parks and recreation. She said the process calls for several public planning meetings and strongly recommended that persons interested in creating a community garden attend all the meetings.
Pernitz also said the Capitol Hill neighborhood level of interest in community gardens is obvious from the length of the Thomas Street Garden waiting list.
"My demand is really high," Pernitz said. "A lot of people from Capitol Hill travel to gardens in the Central District or Cascadia. A lot of those people don't have cars and they have to travel to get their hands dirty."
Several present said their interest stems from having little or no room to garden at their apartments or condos. Besides vegetables, community gardens can grow flowers or even have shared shrubbery, fruit trees and nut trees.
Gardening is the most popular hobby in the United States and the community garden program charges $34 for 100 square feet at the Thomas Street Gardens this year. That garden is on a mere 3,100 square feet; plots are limited to a maximum 100 square feet. The Summit Avenue property is 9,600 square feet. It would be possible for all of the property, some of the property or even none of the property to be turned into a community garden.
All of the attendees agreed that they want to see a community garden on the site, which MacGilvra identified as the goal for whatever organization may rise from Thursday's meeting. Pernitz told the group that if a community garden is created on the site, priority for plots would go to the people who actually did the work to create it. They would not have to go through the waiting lists for other gardens.
Some of the ideas suggested for a garden included fencing, ornamental gates, seating areas and communal gardens for donations to area food banks. The property has a moderate slope to the west and gets west sun, so terracing was also suggested.
MacGilvra and Fox said they would try to have another meeting about the potential for a community garden in August, and everyone who was present will be contacted.
Anyone is interested in community gardening on Summit Avenue East is invited to contact MacGilvra, 206-726-8554, or glenn@ speakeasy.net; or Fox at kara boofox17@yahoo.com.
Anyone interested in the site at 16th Avenue East and East Howell Street may contact Dotty Decoster, 325-3167, or dottyd2@drizzle.com.
Freelance writer Korte Brueckmann lives on the Hill and can be reached at editor@capitol hilltimes.com
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