City Hall and the Public Facilities Commission are giving Council four options for a new community garden inside Plummer Park.
Councilmembers will have to decide whether they want:
● 15 elevated planters in Plummer Park’s north side parking lot on Fountain Avenue
● 14 on the north half of the quieter, shadier entrance facing Fuller Ave.
● 14 on the south half of the Fuller Ave. entrance
● 43 planters total, using all locations
WeHo’s only community garden at 1201 Detroit (above) stands on private property leased by the city. That contract ends in October, after which the garden will close. The Detroit garden holds 21 planters, all of which are currently in use by WeHo residents.
There are 61 people already on the wait list, an indication Council might select the most expansive plan, which would pay for 43 planters a cost of about $208,000.
The Plummer Park planters will be 6 feet wide by 2.9 feet tall, smaller than those in the Detroit Garden. The staff report appears to indicate it will charge residents $100/each to reserve them. Ongoing maintenance will cost the city about $1,200 monthly.
THE OPTIONS
A1-Revised (Fuller Entrance)
# OF PLANTERS: 14
LIMITED SUN?: Yes
UPFRONT COST: $76,000
PAYS FOR: Removal of grass, 4-inch layer of dirt, grading/compaction, decomposed granite installation, routing potable water the location, 8 ft high mesh fence installation
A2 (Fuller Entrance)
# OF PLANTERS: 14
LIMITED SUN?: No
UPFRONT COST: $74,000
PAYS FOR: Removal of grass, 4-inch layer of dirt, grading/compaction, decomposed granite installation, routing potable water the location, 8 ft high mesh fence installation
A3 (North Parking Lot)
# OF PLANTERS: 15
UPFRONT COST: $57,000
PAYS FOR: Patching/cleaning asphalt, routing potable water to location, 8 ft high mesh fencing installation.
A4: All of the above
# OF PLANTERS: 43
LIMITED SUN?: Partially
UPFRONT COST: $208,500
PAYS FOR: See above
VOTE IN THE POLL!
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City Council will vote on this item at their meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 17. Click here or below to leave an e-comment or sign up to speak during the meeting.
Nix the whole idea and build a much needed parking structure. Go buy your lettuce at Pavillions.
This is so comical. Who would use this?
Curious why the beds have to be so spread out. I suppose it’s to prevent any conflict over sunlight/shadow (?), but it seems like you could fit twice as many planters in each of those spaces. The community garden on Main Street in Santa Monica is crowded — in a good way.
I would never question the courage of anyone willing to eat anything from that garden.
How selfish of Wehoans to want public space for personal selfish use, when it could be better used to attract more homeless in tents here. For $76,000 taxpayer dollars, we could buy 1/10th of one more room at the Holloway Homeless Shelter. Less planters, more homeless.
Why not just let the homeless put their tent in the place of the planters and spend that $208k on two more Sheriff’s deputies to patrol that area and provide security?
You’re making too much sense, except the part about letting the homeless set up camp wherever they please, which also takes away park space the taxpayers have paid to use, and not paid to house vagrants and bagladys to set up wherever they please.
I did it for over 20 years without the tent from 1979 to 1993, at least by spending the $208k to support the extra deputies, I would have been doing it in safety… And as far as the tents, who parks in the open spaces in the back lot between 9 PM and 6 AM? Neighbors who don’t have the money to spend on a parking space permit?
You must really be against street parking, which is a giveaway of public space for “personal selfish use.”
If you think about it, a few planters in small, less functional parts of a park is small potatoes compared to every street in the city lined on both sides for private car storage.
Public street parking is open fairly to anyone on a first come basis. It’s quite fair actually. Selfish is mandating taking my tax dollars which were meant for things like public parks for taxpayers to use, and using it to house people who made poor life choices.
If your argument is “It’s selfish for the city to use my tax dollars to help others,” I think you need to find a different word.
Why not turn The City owned property at Santa Monica Blvd and Crescent Heights into Weho’s Community Garden? This seems like
a better choice than taking apprise space at Plummer Park
This could have been a temporary very effective idea. It was suggested to Lindsey Horvath at the time of her Mayorship but evidently ignored. Would have solved many issues and at least have more productive than an empty dirt lot.
This is the old Walgreens? Not a bad idea.
The City is talking about putting housing there but that could be another decade; anything is better than letting that site sit unused and unloved.
They definitely should.
Agree.