Proposed garden is thorny for Morristown council

The Morristown council tabled a vote Tuesday on a proposed community garden after some Second Ward residents said they don’t want it.

Councilwoman Raline Smith-Reid, who represents the ward, said Grow It Green Morristown failed to solicit input from residents in the predominantly black neighborhood before pitching its plan to create a garden on a fifth of an acre near the train trestle on busy Martin Luther King Avenue. The nonprofit also ignored the tract’s history, including an old ice house and efforts by local volunteers to create a gateway to a greenway at Patriots Path, Raline said.

Grow It Green co-founder Myra Bowie McCready countered that meetings were held at local churches over the last year. The proposed MLK site is “easily accessible by train, car, walking  and by bike,” she said, and would bring many benefits to the community.

The council was prepared to vote on whether to lease the town-owned MLK parcel to Grow It Green for $1 per year.  In light of the opposition, Council President Michelle Dupree Harris asked Raline to organize a public meeting. The time was not determined on Tuesday.

Marge Brady, a former councilwoman who lives near town hall, said her Franklin Corners neighborhood would welcome a community garden “any place you want to put it.” She described her experiences with such gardens as “very positive.”

Grow It Green Chairwoman Maureen Denman said she spent five years on the waiting list for a community garden operated by Morris County, at Morristown’s sewage treatment plant in Hanover.

She emphasized the community aspect of Grow It Green’s garden on Early Street, predicting the same atmosphere for the proposed garden on MLK.

“It’s more than just a place to garden. People look out for each other,” said Maureen, citing an impromptu party that attracted nearly 30 members to celebrate the birthday of the son of a Latino couple who garden at Early Street.  Among the attendees was the widow of gardener Mark Tobler, an accomplished pumpkin-grower who died last month.  Marianne Tobler was having a bad day, with lots of tears, but was glad she came, Maureen recounted.

“This is my family now,” Marianne Tobler told the gardeners.

Yet some opponents noted the Second Ward already has a community garden, the Urban Farm at Lafayette, a teaching garden run by Grow It Green at the Lafayette Learning Center. Some residents complained that the proposed garden will become a weedy eyesore in the off-season.

“There has to be another place where you can put a wonderful vegetable garden,” said Helen Arnold.

“There are other places where it wouldn’t be in your face,” added lifetime Second Ward resident James Kersey, suggesting Ridgedale Avenue or a former junkyard a short walk from the controversial site.

Demand for gardening plots is enormous in Morristown, where about 50 people already are on Grow It Green’s waiting list, said Myra. Second Ward residents would get preference on the list at the new garden, she said.  A $45 annual fee can be adjusted or waived for those with financial hardships, she said.

“I like community gardens,” said Mayor Tim Dougherty, who saw his first one at a seniors center in Brick Township a few years ago and was impressed.  He thinks something good will grow from the latest disagreement.

“I’m glad both parties will get together and have a meeting and work it out,” the Mayor said.