Our garden sits on land owned recently purchased by a home developer. We'd like to zone in the garden as the nearly one acre of green pace is now zoned commercial and the developer must go to City Council soon to get approval for any zoning changes. First, the developer's proposals go before our two local citizen represented entities before 11/19/2020 for advice and consultations then to City Coun
cil for final approval of zoning changes and approval of the current plans for the very expensive 10 homes new builds which would eliminate the garden, per the developer's recently released plans. The Kossuth Street Garden at 641 E Kossuth Street 43206 takes up only the size of two home lots. Its corner placement on Kossuth and S 17th has been a landmark for 12 years and is a welcoming and peaceful site for neighbors and visitors. We were instrumental in reviving Earth Day in Columbus in 2008 when the inaugural theme was "Start A Community Garden". (Thank you, Dan Weisenbach, Tad Dritz and Bill Dawson)
OUR ASK: Please contact Columbus City Council, Southside Area Commission and Southern Orchards Cvic Association and let them know that the Kossuth Street Garden, green space, commonwealth sites and community gardens are worthy of a rider in any zoning changes granted. The new homes at 641 E Kossuth ST 43206 will costs between $250,000 to $350,000 each and will be eligible for tax abatements. If zoning changes are granted in the next month or two, building would begin next Spring. Please copy any letters you may send to the above government and civic entities to us at [email protected]
Perhaps, the new owner will see the wisdom in our proposal and know that our spot will serve as a landmark for decades to come and be a selling point for his potential buyers. We are privileged to be alive at a pivotal time for this type of forethought that will ripple out for the good of generations yet to arrive that will call Southern Orchards home. We have won youth leadership awards and have been nominated for the Franklin Park "Growing to Green Neighborhood Impact Award of 2020". People who were liberated from N**i concentration camp came to our neighborhood which was the first Jewish owned homes in Columbus and they worked at the kosher slaughterhouse on the site of the garden. We have cremains from those neighbors who expressed their love of the garden and memorials to activists, fallen police, fire fighters, Covid victims, murder casualties, neighbors and our dedicated and now deceased volunteers such as Emily Noble, Molly Maloney, Jamie Garret, Alice Johnson, Garnett West, Q and Dan Weisenbach. We work with Franklin County Juvenile Court so youth can complete their court mandated "community service" sentences. We teach science, math and history through our education focused mission and partner with local schools for kids to do complete their community service requirements. We feed the hungry and work with local food pantries and churches to develop social justice. We have secured jobs for people through our contacts in the restaurant industry and beyond. We save taxpayers money and the environment as our green space allows rain water to go into aquifers and not burden the already decaying sewage and water flow systems in our city. As neighbors happen to meet at or near our garden, we've become a source of communication between neighbors about issues that they may not bring up at a civic meeting or an online site. Social scientists refer to gardens as anti crime tools as neighbors may help identify issues that need addressed and create bonds with each other that help alleviate problems before they become police or court cases. "The Flower Initiative" is new this year and we grow flowers that are used in bouquets that go to the Huckleberry House, The Reeb Center, Nationwide Children's Hospital Behavioral Health Center and many other worthy social service organizations. Our "Little Library" has inspired more free book centers in the area. Our dedicated and incredibly compassionate and sharp minded volunteers have helped start other area gardens and lent our expertise to the best practices in running a community garden. We are once again facing living in an area that will suffer "food apartheid" when the Giant Eagle closes on Whittier in January 2021 and replaced with high end condos. Google us and see the articles about our humble little garden in The Atlantic magazine, NYTimes, Washington Post, NPR, local media and various travel and ecology centered podcasts and web sites. Help us continue our sustainable mission and listening to "the better angels of our nature". Become part of a legacy of social justice, education and neighborhood pride and contact the entities who will help decide our fate. Remember to send copy us at [email protected] in your submissions to the deciding entities mentioned above. Hopefully, we can work with the developer and the City of Columbus and find a just and lasting solution.
