Mediator tries to work out garden dispute
A controversy over a community garden in Oakmont has prompted a mediator to enter the fray in an attempt to come up with a resolution between gardeners and the Oakmont design review committee, which closed the garden down for rule violations.
As of press time, the attorney for the Oakmont Village Association, Malcolm Manwell, was in the middle of discussions between members of Oakmont’s Architectural Committee and representatives of the Walnut Grove Community Garden.
The dispute stems from a garden that was established by Oakmont residents in 2007 in an empty one and a half acre lot belonging to the 50-unit Mount Vista Homeowners Association. The association had voted to allow the garden on the lot, which borders Sonoma Highway near Pythian Rd., and gardeners had been composed of both homeowners in the Mount Vista Homeowners Association and other Oakmont residents.
Over time, a portable bridge had been placed across a drainage creek, a shed was brought in to store tools, and some chairs and tables had been brought in as well. About 28 people were growing vegetables and flowers in the garden.
But in 2009, a neighbor whose home is close to a path that leads to the garden, complained to Oakmont’s Architectural Committee about things like noise and traffic, and the fact that the garden lacked the necessary approval from the committee. The garden was closed and is now covered with weeds.
After the garden’s closure, the garden supporters formally applied to the Architectural Committee twice, but were rejected both times. The Mount Vista Homeowners Association appealed the last rejection to the board of the Oakmont Village Association, Oakmont’s governing body.
At a crowded, emotional board meeting on June 15, both sides laid out their arguments, with garden advocates arguing that they did not break any rules knowingly and that they had met many of the requirements of the Architectural Committee, but that the committee kept adding numerous and unnecessary obstacles to the approval process.
“We’ve spent hundreds of hours trying to comply with the Architectural Committee’s requests,” said Xavier Cabrales, president of the Walnut Grove Community Garden, and a governor of the Mount Vista Homeowners Association. Cabrales called the Architectural Committee’s actions “arbitrary.”
Philip Wigen, chairman of the Mount Vista Homeowners Association, said the vast majority of the association’s residents, “overwhelmingly support the garden and would like to see it continue.”
Frank Dunnigan, chairman of the Architectural Committee, argued that the committee was applying the design rules fairly, and that the issue had nothing to do with approving a garden, but more with addressing any negative impacts of the garden on residents who live in the area.
Dunnigan said the garden was noisy, had no set hours and was upsetting the ambiance of the quiet neighborhood.
“This is not a garden, it’s a public recreation spot,” said Dunnigan.
The OVA board of directors affirmed the Architectural Committee’s decision to deny the garden application, but asked that the parties work together to have the garden try to comply with the Architectural Committee’s requirements.
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