Farm family and city close to deal for urban garden
Published: May 08, 2009, 10:32 am
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One family's dream of creating an urban farm in Buffalo's Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood will apparently will move forward now that Mayor Byron W. Brown has agreed to a dollar-a-year land use agreement.
Brown has rejected selling the 27 contiguous parcels on Wilson Street to Mark and Janice Stevens but has sent to the Common Council a plan that would allow the couple the use the property on an annual basis.
The Brown administration rejected an earlier plan to sell the land to the Stevens family, insisting that the parcels, located near Broadway Market, should be preserved for new housing.
But the mayor has sent to the Council a plan his administration proposed back in September. The Stevenses will pay the city $1 annually in a five-year lease deal.
"As I previously stated, I do not oppose the concept of urban farming," Brown said in the written statement. "But it must be done in a manner that makes sense from a long-term planning standpoint."
Brown called the land use arrangement a "creative mechanism" that will pave the way for an urban farming pilot project.
Under the deal, the city would be held harmless from any liability.
"They will be responsible for maintaining the properties, conducting gardening activities in a neat and orderly appearance, and any produce from the parcels shall be offered or sold in the City of Buffalo," Brown continued.
Janice Stevens said the family is "encouraged" by the action and hopes to begin the laborious process of creating a vegetable farm as soon as possible.
Council President David A. Franczyk, who represents the Fillmore district where the farm will be located, has been pushing for a compromise.
"I would prefer a straight-out sale," Franczyk said. "But you have to get your tiller in the ground."
Franczyk is optimistic the full Council will approve the agreement. Lawmakers will consider the measure when they meet Tuesday.
Earlier this week, city Economic Development Commissioner Brian Reilly confirmed that officials were working out final details with the Stevens family on the land use agreement.
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