Action needed now to prevent Garden plots from being destroyed

A large section of the Beach Flats Community Garden is set to be lost as soon as November 13 if the City does not intervene. The City has not committed to challenge the Seaside Company's plan to take over more than a third of the garden for other uses as of that date.

Now is the time to write letters to both the City Council (citycouncil [at] cityofsantacruz.com) and the Santa Cruz Sentinel (http://santacruzsentinel.com) to encourage the Council to take action on the gardeners' behalf. Here are some talking points to make sure and include, in your own wording of course:

--On Oct. 27 the City Council voted unanimously to support the creation of a permanent garden owned by the City, on the site of the current Garden. This is a great start, and proves the Council's heart is in the right place. Now the Council should follow up to prevent the imminent loss of a large area of the Garden.
--The City's General Plan says that for every 1,000 residents in a neighborhood, there must be at least one acre of green space. The Garden is the largest and only available green space in Beach Flats and is only a half acre in its entirety. There are about 2,600 residents there. Green space in this neighborhood needs to be expanded, not contracted.
--The Garden produces organic, non-GMO food that is shared with the community, including culturally relevant food not available elsewhere.
--The mayor has acknowledged and apologized for the City's neglect of the Beach Flats community.
--The Seaside Company owns the majority of the properties in Beach Flats and has other options for its land use.
--Over 25 years of hard work, gardeners have transformed this land from a neglected wasteland and haven for drug deals, to a lush, food-producing paradise.
--It's the City's responsibility to balance the claims of a property owner with the needs of the greater community.

(Photo credit: Jasper Lyons, City on a Hill Press, http://www.cityonahillpress.com/2015/10/08/a-community-uprooted/)