Seeds planted for Costa Mesa garden

Deirdre Newman

A community garden planned for Charle and Hamilton streets will

finally blossom after city leaders approved spending $80,000 to

construct it.

Monday, the City Council approved the community garden with a 3-2

vote. Mayor Gary Monahan and Councilman Allan Mansoor dissented.

The garden was in line for automatic approval at the May 5 City

Council meeting, but it was pulled off the consent calendar and

rejected. Monday’s approval was a victory for Councilwoman Libby

Cowan, who nurtured the idea and brought the rehearing request to the

council.

A majority of residents that spoke favored adding another

community garden to the city’s bounty, which already includes the Del

Mar garden.

“I think a garden park would be a vast improvement over what’s

there,” Terry Shaw said.

The city bought the site at Charle and Hamilton in 1975 with the

idea of using it as some type of park. In 1999, staff began exploring

the site for construction of a skateboard park. But due to safety

concerns from the neighborhood, the council opted to look into other

alternatives, including determining if there was any interest from

adjacent property owners in purchasing the property, which now hosts

a dirt lot.

During the hearings for the skateboard park, it was ultimately

established that a community garden would be best suited for the site

to preserve open space and to alleviate the parking and safety

concerns a skateboard park raises.

The council approved the garden in December 2001 as a way to

maintain open space. Forty-two plots were planned for the garden and

40 interested gardeners had expressed interest in them.

In May, Mansoor pulled the item for discussion because he was

concerned about spending so much in light of the budget constraints

the city faces.

Some residents also oppose using city-owned land for another

garden.

“I think I took a wrong turn because I feel like we’re still in

the Haight-Ashbury in the 1960s,” Martin Millard said. “If you want

to do something good with it, build senior housing. If you want 42

people to have organic carrots, give them gift certificates to

Mother’s Market.”

Cowan reiterated her belief that the garden would benefit more

than the 42 who would tend their plots there.

“The bottom line is a community garden is an asset to the entire

community,” Cowan said. “It reaches out to more than those hoeing

cornstalks.”

In addition to allocating $80,000 to construct the garden, the

council provided direction to staff to encourage volunteers to work

in any capacity available, to discuss fees for using the garden

during the annual fee study, to consider a lottery or rotation to

enable more than 42 people to use the garden and to limit both

community gardens to residents.

The current fees for the Del Mar garden are $10 per year and $15

for nonresidents, although only one nonresident, who used to live in

Costa Mesa, uses the garden.