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Carrboro protects gardens

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Staff

By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
CARRBORO – Guaranteeing a future for two of Carrboro’s community gardens, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen on Tuesday voted unanimously to include both the Carrboro Community Garden and the Growing Healthy Kids Garden in plans for Martin Luther King Jr. Park.

In 2004, the board approved a master plan for the park, on Hillsborough Road, with work to begin in 2008-09, but construction was delayed until 2013. However, because of financial constraints due to the current economic climate, town planning staff advised the board that it would be difficult to pursue construction of the park in 2013.

“We’re not going to have money to do this for a long time,” board member Jacquie Gist said, adding that spaces in the park – like the community gardens and an open field – are already heavily used.

The Carrboro Community Gardening Coalition and the Orange County Partnership for Young Children both have created gardens within the park, which the board approved as interim uses in 2007.

Maria Hitt, project manager for the partnership’s Growing Healthy Kids Garden, said the garden has served 75 participating families in the last four years, the vast majority of them low-income minority families. Volunteers guide families with young children in growing their own fresh fruits and vegetables.

“It’s really a wonderful program, and it’s wonderful to see families out there together,” board member Randee Haven-O’Donnell said.

Board member Joal Hall Broun suggested that the town look to add improvements to the park that are “low-hanging fruit” and would be inexpensive to accomplish, like finding a way to make the park’s field accessible for pick-up soccer games.

Board member Jacquie Gist agreed.

“How wonderful in the center of town to have this big open space where people can go do what they want to do,” Gist said.

Board members also asked staff to look at adding amenities like picnic tables incrementally, improving the park over a longer period of time.

Town public works director George Seiz cautioned against adding improvements at this point that will create additional work for town staff, which is already shorthanded, with a number of vacant positions frozen.

Board member Sammy Slade, who is a founding member of the Carrboro Community Gardening Coalition, said the town should be more proactive in supporting the gardens and, in light of the recession, look to using the community garden as an educational space to teach people how to grow food.

The board also voted to change the signage on the park so that it no longer reads “The future home of Martin Luther King Jr. Park,” so that residents know the park is open to the public.

The board will revisit plans for the park during their annual review of the town’s Capital Improvement Plan.

In other action Tuesday night, the board approved additional penalties for towing companies that violate town regulations that require companies to accept credit and debit cards as payment. The changes would allow the town to revoke a company’s license to tow for such violations.

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