Update on Fairview Garens as they move forward after being becoming
part of the New City of Goleta after being in the county since it's
beings , Urban Cities can be so short sighted to food production
especially new cities they are not focus on food they need a overhaul
of their crazy zoning regulations
they need a local food Action Initiative like Seatlle
wes
Local Food Action Initiative Seattle Washington passed by City Council
Resolution 31019
http://www.seattle.gov/council/conlin/food_initiative.htm
The Local Food Action Initiative is a series of actions meant to
promote local and regional food sustainability and security. The intent
is to improve our local food system and in doing so, advance the City
of Seattle's interrelated goals of race and social justice,
environmental sustainability, economic development, and emergency
preparedness.
The initiative is detailed in Resolution 31019. The resolution was
passed by the Seattle City Council in April 2008.
Goleta May Cut Fairview Gardens a Break on $47,000 in Fees Owed to City
http://www.noozhawk.com/article/040312_goleta_may_cut_fairview_gardens_break/
Councilman Roger Aceves suggests a donation as a sign of support for
the nonprofit, and so 'we'd be done with it'
The produce stand at Fairview Gardens in Goleta sold about $320,000
worth of goods per year before 2010, but with fewer hours and other
issues, that revenue dropped to $50,000 per year. (Lara Cooper /
Noozhawk file photo)
By Giana Magnoli, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @magnoli | Published on
04.03.2012
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Fairview Gardens may get a reprieve on the $47,000 it owes the City of
Goleta for unpaid permit-processing fees, after City Councilman Roger
Aceves on Tuesday suggested donating a portion of the money to the
nonprofit as a sign of support.
http://www.noozhawk.com/article/040312_goleta_may_cut_fairview_gardens_break/
City staff members said at Tuesday’s City Council meeting that the farm
has made a good-faith effort in the past few years to improve its
business practices, appease neighbors upset with farmworker housing
conditions and noisy poultry operations, and push for making more money
and more crop yields.
The debt issue will come back to the council at a September meeting,
where members indicated they are willing to consider donating a portion
of the debt to Fairview Gardens, especially since the nonprofit group
hasn’t asked for grant money or other city funding.
It’s costing the city money to have the issue come back before the
council every few months, and the donation would show commitment to
Fairview Gardens and “we’d be done with it,” Aceves said.
Debt to the city came from permit work regarding permanent on-site
housing for farm workers, and two current cases of permits for selling
off-site produce and hosting special events associated with the farm.
New leadership for the Center for Urban Agriculture, which runs
Fairview Gardens, has pushed for a produce stand remodel and completely
revamping its patterns for planting crops. As a token of the group’s
willingness to do everything it can to get back on track, Executive
Director Mark Tollefson brought a $500 check to Tuesday’s council
meeting as a first installment.
The produce stand sold about $320,000 worth of goods per year before
2010, but with fewer hours and other issues, that revenue dropped to
$50,000 per year — something the farm hopes to fix with its current
construction project.
The project, due to be completed by May, will make it more secure and
eliminate a portion that affected sight lines along North Fairview
Avenue and Stow Canyon Road.
Without the sight-line issues that have bothered neighbors, the produce
stand should have better market appeal, even though it will be slightly
smaller after construction, Kolwitz said.
The farm also has revamped its entire model of pairing soils and crops
together to get higher crop and revenue yields, and the spring
plantings and summer harvest should provide a better idea of the fiscal
future, according to city senior planner Scott Kolwitz.
The orchards are all gone, save a row of apricot trees — “mostly
because I really love apricots,” Tollefson admited — but the other crop
yields have nearly doubled from two years ago.
Only 50 to 60 percent of lettuce heads formerly were suitable to sell,
which had a lot to do with soil fertility, but now 90 to 95 percent of
produce makes it to sale, Tollefson said.
Farm finances went from losing $2,000 monthly to breaking even in just
six months, board president Douglas Steigerwald said.
“We broke even, which sounds mediocre but remember, we were losing
money every month (for the first eight months of 2011) and now are into
the black and making money every month,” he said.
The board of directors — whose committees discuss agriculture, finance
and fundraising — has four new members and helps oversee the farm’s
participation in farmers markets and education programs.
This year, the organization made $15,000 in both January and February
from farmers markets alone.
The education programs — the reason the Center for Urban Agriculture is
a nonprofit, Steigerwald noted — don’t just cater to young people and
summer camps anymore. Community programs and classes for adults and
professionals range from gardening and beekeeping to permaculture
design.
Steigerwald also told the council that the organization might not
pursue building permanent on-site housing for farm workers, which has
been a source of tension with neighbors in the past. The board hasn’t
agreed on a different use, he said, but thinks the idea of workforce
housing may not be sustainable.
— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at
gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk,
@NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.