Concern over new GreenThumb regulations for community gardens

Concern over new GreenThumb regulations for community gardens
Several community groups and gardens are holding a town hall meeting tomorrow to learn more about and discuss the new GreenThumb licensing agreement. Here’s more info via the EVG inbox…Our community gardens are under threat again. This time not from bulldozers, but from new rules under a GreenThumb licensing agreement that if the gardeners sign, will change the focus of community gardens forever.LUNGS, the community garden coalition, MORUS and Time’s Up! are holding a citywide town hall to discuss the license agreement. This new license contains many regulations, restrictions and new obligations that will change how we operate. GreenThumb appears to be taking on the role of an enforcement agency rather than garden-friendly enablers. This is very disconcerting to gardeners who volunteer their time and spend their own money to maintain city property.It took the City more then four months to put this license together. Gardeners should be allowed more than one month to evaluate a document we are being asked to sign.The LUNGS website has a copy of the new agreement, with the changes highlighted here. Some garden members worry that sections of the new license might discourage gardens from hosting events and even planting trees or installing rainwater capture systems. The meeting takes place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery on Second Avenue at 10th Street.