My plans for doing anything at the Millbank location have been abandoned at this point, as the friend I was working with is now focusing his efforts on gardening elsewhere. Because he grows produce for part of his income, it wasn't practical for him to be involved in a permitting struggle with the city. Meanwhile, I am too busy with my job, home garden and tornado recovery to sink a lot of energy into a big project like that right now. So the lot and what to do with it is completely up for grabs.

But if others are interested in making something happen there, I would be happy to do all I can to help. This might be a good time to talk with Mr. Gupta, as he's probably making plans for next steps at the property. Changes in the city rules wouldn't be necessary to garden there if there were no plans to sell what was grown.

BTW, here's an aerial image of the lot in question so you can get a sense of its location. It's just a couple of blocks from Raleigh North Apartments, a private low-income housing complex, and from Powell Elementary School, which could potentially become a high-poverty school if we move to a neighborhood school assignment plan:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=2210+Millbank+St,+Raleigh,+NC+27610&aq=0&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=30.185946,75.761719&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=2210+Millbank+St,+Raleigh,+North+Carolina+27610&t=h&z=16

On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 4:22 PM, Sarah Jessica <sarah.farber@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm with Sue on the off-site sales thing - that is a particularly ludicrous bit of the rules as they stand.  I've downloaded the Community Garden Report Mark referenced (available here) and will read up.  I don't currently speak "zoning" but am willing to learn it to advocate for our 'hoods.

Mark, do you have ideas as to how to be effective advocates?  Is there a specific date when Community Garden-related items are being discussed by the council? 

Sue, the ECAC tract garden sounds like it is in its infancy.  Do you think it would be smart to advocate for changes in the policy first or to firm things up with Mr. Ghupta as a next step?  Am I asking the wrong questions?

SJ


On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 3:18 PM, <traceyanne81@yahoo.com> wrote:
I am also willing to get involved in this community garden effort. It would be great to have a big project and meet new people!

Tracey
1620 Bennett
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

-----Original Message-----
From: Sue Sturgis <suesturgis@gmail.com>
Sender: gardening-bounces@eastraleigh.org
Date: Wed, 11 May 2011 15:16:27
To: Gardening<gardening@eastraleigh.org>
Reply-To: Gardening <gardening@eastraleigh.org>
Subject: Re: [Gardening] Community garden land possibility in ECAC

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