Community leaders, community development non-profits and neighborhood advocates participating in Buffalo Growing testified to the Legislation Committee of the Common Council yesterday in support of a landmark community gardening and urban agriculture resolution. Speakers praised the Common Council's unanimous support of a resolution to recognize, support, and facilitate Community Gardens and Urban Agriculture in the City of Buffalo.
The resolution makes official the benefits of community gardens and urban agriculture as important components of revitalizing the City of Buffalo and providing new opportunities to its residents.
Councilmember David Rivera, a sponsor of the resolution thanked the members of the Community Garden Task Force for their in depth review of current practices both within the City of Buffalo and in communities across North America.
The resolution, which calls for a "Diggable Cities Database" to help would-be gardeners and farmers identify land that has received advance clearance for planting and would help create a streamlined process for accessing city-owned vacant land, was praised by members of various groups working on community gardening, urban agriculture and vacant land reclamation.
The resolution also calls for greater accountability for gardeners and for the City through a new performance based land lease modeled on the best practices of other cities. It also calls for community gardens and agriculture to be recognized in the anticipated overhaul of the City's outdated zoning codes, and launches the exploration of a city wide food policy council.
The resolution is the culmination of a process begun in 2008 when the Council established the Community Garden Task Force to explore best practices and provide recommendations to the Common Council to establish a course of action to help transform some of the nearly 8,000 city-owned vacant lots into community assets.
The articles below provide more detail on the discussion at the Legislation Committee and the resolution.