WILMINGTON — After the city posted notices on Fifth Avenue for the removal of a median garden cultivated by area residents, a meeting is now on the books to garner feedback on the future of the community project.
“We are aware that some residents have expressed interest in the upkeep of medians near their homes, including additional plantings and decorative items,” details a public notice, posted to the city’s website this week. “We invite Fifth Avenue neighbors to learn more about how the City maintains these spaces and hear a proposal for expanded community participation.”
READ MORE: ‘Eight-year labor of love’: BAD neighbors must remove median garden, city says
The meeting will take place Monday, Dec. 15, 6 p.m., at city hall in the Skyline Center, 929 N. Front St. Feedback is welcome and the meeting is available virtually here or attendees can participate in person.
It comes after some residents expressed frustrations to city staff, city council and Port City Daily about an “eight-year labor of love” being removed.
In October, pink notices were posted along the median and included violations of various city ordinances:
- 7-53 — giving the city manager authority to remove all unauthorized shrubs, plants and trees
- 11-45 — prohibiting people from putting benches, furniture, chairs, planters and the like in a public right-of-way
- 10-17 — preventing dumping and littering in public streets and rights-of-way
The city asked residents to clear all “plantings, hardscape and other items” by Nov. 12, else it would dispose of them. After pushback from some of the gardeners and neighbors, the city paused removal to assess concerns and perhaps reach a compromise on “how areas can be maintained to a safe standard in compliance with City ordinances.”
The city was worried obstructions in the median would be risky for staff upkeep.
“The accumulation of items such as bricks, blocks, and bird baths has made it difficult and dangerous for staff to maintain the area,” city spokesperson Amy Willis explained, as first reported by PCD last month.
Though no violations were issued, many residents began pulling up plants — both ornamental and edible — giving them away, and encouraging others to dig them up and rehome the foliage.
Resident Bob Greenberg said he suspected some people may have complained, particularly if the growth caused sightline issues for motorists — something the city also was concerned by. Though, Greenberg maintained he also had mowed and weedeated the garden during hotter months and always tried to cut back plants if they grew too tall to prevent any obstructed views for travelers turning onto Fifth Avenue.
Since 2018, Bob’s wife, Dina — an avid gardener — along with the help of neighbors like Sean Dougherty, have been mending the median garden. It started as a small section in front of their Fifth Avenue home, but eventually plants began populating from Hanover to Bladen streets.
The Greenbergs said while the goal was to deter trash from being tossed into the public right-of-way, the garden ended up being a community booster.
Upon moving to the downtown historic neighborhood, they noticed litter, such as large mattresses, box springs and furniture, was often placed there and it would take weeks for the city to clean it up. Once the garden was planted, the discarded items stopped.
Furthermore, neighbors began utilizing the area as a gathering space to connect. Whether stopping by for a chat, taking flowers from the rose bushes or food from the cherry tomato vines or simply watching butterflies flutter to the pollinators, Dina Greenberg told PCD last month the garden cultivated a sense of belonging.
Adding insult to injury, residents said the city has been aware of the garden’s growth for years — especially as its own maintenance staff often would cut around the plants when it did mow the area. However, no one sought permission or a permit to plant the median garden, Bob Greenberg admitted, rather took it up themselves in an attempt to beautify the area.
Willis informed Port City Daily, after the outlet first reported on the city’s request for the median garden’s removal, that a permit is not an option for a community garden in a median. This is “due to roadway visibility requirements, vegetation management, and safety concerns.’
“If this was to be permitted, a process and procedure would need to be developed,” she said.
However, the city does have “an outdated community garden policy from 2015” with limited use to city-owned vacant lots and city-owned neighborhood greenspace. Those permits are executed with user agreements and often involve a “qualified entity” — nonprofit or community organizations, for example. They must show the gardens, whether ornamental or edible, prove a benefit for the community’s “greater good” and the plants can’t be sold for financial gain.
City council members have received complaints about the garden removal, according to internal emails obtained by Port City Daily. Council member David Joyner sent an email in early November to city manager Becky Hawke, asking for an update on the process; it was carbon-copied to other city staff as well.
Deputy City Manager Thom Moton informed Joyner a memo was sent out explaining conditions that led to removing privately placed items.
“Unfortunately, we failed to engage the city manager and the city council during the planning process, given the uniqueness of the situation” Moton wrote.
Joyner responded: “What steps are we taking to uphold residents’ desire for beautification of the area, respect for labor they’ve put into it … and need for ease/uniformity of city staff maintenance?”
Internal discussions with leadership were underway at the time and Moton said the city had a process of allowing the installation of objects and improvements through an encroachment agreement. However, items placed in the Fifth Avenue median didn’t meet agreement metrics.
He further explained the city may want to continue its efforts on Fifth Avenue, as it recently finished on the south side. The city has transformed the southern portion of the avenue roadway with repaving measures, adding in bike lanes, and replanting trees in the median after removing dead live oaks.
“The Greater Downtown Plan highlighted participants’ desire for ‘lush greenspaces,’” Moton wrote to Joyner. “The enhanced decorative landscaping plans for the southern section of Fifth Avenue provide a design framework to extend those enhanced vegetated medians to the northern section, which would involve budgetary impacts.”
On Nov. 13, Hawke responded to Joyner as well, noting her request for the Parks and Recreation Department set up the in-person community meeting. She agreed with Moton that nothing was formalized for residents in the past, as Joyner thought they had received authorization.
“[That] seems to be adding to the upset the residents are feeling right now,” Hawke wrote. “If the residents’ items/plantings are to remain, we can formalize it with an agreement that outlines what the residents will maintain, limitations on what can be placed in the median per MUTCO [Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices] regulations, liabilities, etc. I am hopeful an agreement can be reached via these conversations.”
The public notice released this week indicates residents will be able to give their feedback to help guide next steps.
“The City wants to hear from the neighbors before finalizing a plan,” Willis wrote in an email to PCD on Friday, Dec. 12, but added anyone is welcome to the meeting and a survey will also be on the city’s website to gather more input.
Should the city and residents reach a compromise that allows the garden to continue, Hawke informed Joyner an end date may need to be considered — in case the northern portion of S. Fifth Avenue receives funding for an updated landscaping plan.
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