Could gardeners bring down a neighborhood?
You’d think so, judging by the reaction to a proposed community garden in Shelton.
Neighbors of the proposed site oppose the project, citing concerns about potential traffic, vandalism, and — yes — crime.
Dozens of neighbors are up in arms about the city’s proposal to start the community garden on a parcel of the former Klapik Farm off Long Hill Avenue.
They have put up posters, signed petitions and packed the Board of Aldermen meeting Thursday night to argue against approval of the plan, which could bring about 60 plots to the land.
The proposed plots would be 20 feet by 20 feet each. Residents would pay $20 a year to use the land, under the proposal.
The neighbors are concerned about traffic that might be generated on a cul-de-sac, Long View Road, which is where access to the farm is proposed.
They are also concerned about security at the gardens, about the cost of the project and even the people who have expressed interest in participating in the community garden.
Randy York, a resident in the neighborhood, said at the meeting Thursday the group has obtained a copy of the interested gardeners through a Freedom of Information request.
The list includes people from the Huntington and White Hills areas of town, where York said they should have enough land to plant their own gardens at home.
“They can afford their own in their own yards,” York said. “Why should foot the bill for them?”
(See the flier circulated in the neighborhood last week. Article continues after document.)
Flyer+for+Neighborhood
Other residents spoke in favor of the proposal, saying the gardens will help residents across the city be able to grow their own food. Some said that having a yard doesn’t mean the land can be successfully gardened. Others said they don’t have enough land to garden at apartments or condominiums.
Mary Ruth Shields, who said she came from a farming family, told the Board of Aldermen she wanted to be able to share that tradition with her own family.
“The community garden is about joy, giving, caring and creating relationships within our community,” Shields said.
The mayor appointed a Community Garden Committee in January, and, by its February meeting, it had laid out some preliminary plans for the garden, said Shelton Conservation Agent Teresa Gallagher, a member of the committee.
“The site selection process was very methodical,” Gallagher said. “After you look at all the potential open space that we have, it’s just the obvious choice. If for political reasons they want to chose another site, we will work with that.”
Gallagher said the site needed to have good soil, which the Klapik site does. And the commission wanted to avoid cutting down more trees, so an open field was preferred.
Gallagher said much of the information put out on fliers (see above) and in conversations is incorrect. For example, Gallagher said she did contact neighbors to tell them about the proposal and that other sites were also considered.
Mayor Mark A. Lauretti has asked Gallagher to meet with him and the concerned neighbors at City Hall Saturday morning to discuss the proposal, Gallagher said.
