fix buffalo today

State land bank going green, offering vacant lots up as community gardens

The State of Michigan Land Bank Fast Track Authority is making its inventory of nearly 7,000 vacant lots statewide -- 6,000 in Detroit alone -- available as community gardens via its Garden for Growth program.

"Our goals, in addition to finding productive uses for these vacant plots, is to support the Governor's Urban Food Initiative," says Carrie Lewand-Monroe, the Michigan Land Bank's executive director. "We're hoping to help allow folks in urban areas to access fresh, healthy food."

The way it works is that any community member can apply to garden a lot in the Michigan Land Bank for $50 for one year. At that point, participants are able to put in an application to purchase the land.

This lease-first approach is considered a "best practice" for programs of this type for two reasons: It allows time for the garden to be established and it keeps it tax-free for the first year. The Land Bank is willing to flexible with lease terms; it is working with The Greening of Detroit on five parcels that will be leased for five years.

Any kind of garden is eligible: native plants, flowers and vegetables -- even a park, says Lewand-Monroe. All gardeners will be connected with the Greening of Detroit's Garden Resource Program for classes and planting material.

Lewand-Monroe explains why 7,000 of the Michigan Land Bank's 8,000 properties are vacant lots: because they are all foreclosed properties that date back to 1999, which was when tax laws changed. "There aren't as many structures as the county would have," she says.

They also administer a Side Lot program for vacant lots that are adjacent to occupied residences. To search for a property, use the Land Bank's web site Search for Property feature. The application for the Garden for Growth program is also available on the site.

Drive down Fillmore Street between Sycamore and Broadway and you’ll see boarded-up buildings, dilapidated homes, and ubiquitous empty lots. By anyone’s estimation, it’s a rough neighborhood. But walk into 812 Fillmore, and you’ll find dozens of shoes neatly paired in the entranceway, and a warm, welcoming living room filled with children doing their homework, cooking and playing. This is the home of Mark and Janice Stevens, a couple who moved from a farm in Wyoming County to the East Side of Buffalo last year.

The administration seems to think economic development means houses. Get a little out of town into rural areas and farming is the economic development base. Farmed well that 2 acres could be a terrific business venture. Now there are some economic advantages attached to farmland that might decrease what the city can take in from taxes but for so many reasons this makes more economic development sense than does housing on that land. Besides a great little farm would probably be such an asset it would raise the real estate value of the surrounding properties. Agriculture remains the number one industry in NYS. We in Erie and Niagara Counties have too many policies restricting farming compared to other counties. Very backwards given food system trends.

Over the last four years three different groups have stepped forward and have attempted this project. Everyone has tried to retain the current eight unit configuration. Perhaps a new strategy is in order here. Returning the structure to its original form - four units, removing the siding, doing a fun exterior paint job that would clearly indicate four seperate houses and moth balling three units while working on one - might provide the right direction for the 'diy' self-financed plan for the successful rehab of this unique spot. Moving slowly through the project might be the right mix of energy, resources and time to resuscitate the Woodlawn Row Houses.