A consulting firm hired by the City of Charlottesville to help create a master plan for city parks has recommended that the city build a community garden in the lower part of Booker T. Washington Park near the city’s Rose Hill, 10th and Page, and Venable neighborhoods.
In September 2023, Cultivate Charlottesville, a local food equity nonprofit that grows and gives away fresh produce to low-income individuals in the area, asked the Council to consider turning a quarter acre of land in Washington Park into a 10,000 square foot urban farm.
In recent years, the organization has lost a lot of its growing space to redevelopment.
The Council expressed support for the garden, but wanted to see what the consultants working on the parks master plan recommended.
Mike Svetz with Pros Consulting, a consulting firm that specializes in parks and recreation planning headquartered in Indianapolis, presented his firm’s findings at Monday night’s City Council meeting. He did not include details about where within the park the garden should be located, or how large it might be.
Svetz’s presentation was purely informational. The City Council will decide on what to do with its parks in the spring.
Washington Park isn’t the only park the consultants recommended for garden space.
Svetz’s presentation proposed putting one at Kindlewood, too. Kindlewood, a subsidized housing community previously known as Friendship Court, had a large garden run by residents and the Urban Agriculture Collective, one of Cultivate Charlottesville’s programs. Kindlewood is in the process of being redeveloped, and early on in those conversations, residents decided that they would sacrifice their garden in order for more housing to be built on the site.
When the Kindlewood development is all done, Piedmont Housing Alliance, its owner, will demolish all 150 of the old Friendship Court homes, potentially leaving enough room for a new park.
Svetz suggested that a park at Kindlewood, which the city has helped fund, could become a new city park. And if so, it could have a community garden run in collaboration with Cultivate Charlottesville.
But that’s a decision for another time, said Svetz. “This is something that is down the road.”
City Council is expected to vote on whether or not to adopt the plan in spring 2025.
Editors’ note: This article was updated on Jan. 15, 2025, to correct Mike Svetz’s name.
Take Action
As the City works on the parks master plan, residents are encouraged to give their input on it. Community members can attend an open house Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 6 p.m. at Carver Recreation Center, located at 233 Fourth St. NW in the Jefferson School City Center. Folks who can’t attend in person can give their feedback online.
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More about Charlottesville’s community gardens
The group that manages community gardens for low-income Charlottesville residents is going to close if it doesn’t raise $500,000 by April
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City Council expresses support for creating a 10,000 square foot community garden in Booker T. Washington Park
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