The City of San Diego Needs Community Gardens!
Community gardens are a vital component of vibrant, sustainable communities. They have the proven potential to improve individual and community health, most notably obesity, by offering local sources of nutritious, fresh, affordable food, nutrition education, and exercise. Community gardens also provide a cost effective way to increase open space, enhance community pride and ownership, decrease storm water runoff, and increase property values.
The Citys current permitting process requires extensive review and is costly. Permit applicants must submit professionally drawn plans, and pay a minimum deposit of $5,000 toward an unknown amount of City staff time, billed at $82 to $144 per hour.
We ask that the City:
Streamline the community garden permitting process for gardens by reducing paperwork to an application, site map/plan and the garden's member user agreement;
Establish an affordable, set fee for a community garden permit (replacing current variable staff-time costs and deposit); and
Institute a citizen taskforce to develop a citywide program to identify appropriate sites for gardens, to assist community groups wishing to start gardens, and to review and make recommendations regarding City community garden policies.
We, the undersigned, ask the City of San Diego to implement its 2008 General Plan policies to encourage community gardens.
(For more information, write to sandiegofood@live.com)