Editorial No. 5: Championing Community, and Gardens, Too

March 24, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I met Michael Urban at the common, the site of last summer’s farmer’s market that Urban organized and championed. We talked about the transition from being a commuter to a committed townie, being a stay at home dad, and his next great idea for Grafton- community gardens. Michael Urban is a tall, self-effacing man, who refused to see himself at the center of Grafton’s new local food movement. Instead, he talked about support from the Garden Club, mentorship from the Land Trust, and the satisfaction of providing his children with memories of good food.

Sadie: When was the seed planted in your head for the community garden?

Michael: Well, I’ve found things that I’m passionate about that coincidentally fit into the food movement, but I’ve gone to McDonald’s before. I’m a mainstream guy, but I think there’s a mainstream shift- when I went to college, the green movement was hippy tree-huggers. But this town voted to support Pay-As-You-Throw, a strong stand for recycling.  The community garden is available for everyone. I attribute a lot of my engagement to pressure from Ken Web and Ed [Hazzard, former president of the Land Trust]. And I just really like community organizing. I like getting behind an idea and seeing it to fruition.

Being a stay-at home dad, my day is centered around three things: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I’m constantly thinking of what to feed them, and I’d like them to eat healthy. While I love to buy pineapple at Stop and Shop and we rely on the global food chain, I think we’ve lost balance with the local food chain. I’d like to shift from thinking of food as a convenience to get to other thing to making it the main event. That’s helped me focus on the local food movement of Grafton.

You can make pasta with local grain and eggs, but my daughter thinks pasta comes from a box! So that’s my goal with my 20 by 20 plot- to grow wheat, harvest it, turn it into flour, and make pasta. And then go over to Ed’s plot and borrow tomatoes, and go to Ken’s and borrow carrots, and make a full meal that’s totally locally grown. I’ve seen it online, and I don’t know anything about the milling process, but I’m just going to wing it [laughs]. Some guys live to fix their VCR, and I’m not that kind of guy.

SM: Why are you drawn to local food production and people growing their own food?

MU: I want my kids to have memories. I think that’s part of my role as a dad. I want Isabel to think back when she’s 36 to that time when she was chomping on an apple at the farmer’s market. And I want Zach to remember running around the community garden, watching Ed and Marian grow basil. I want them to have neat, real memories, not just of Sesame Street.

SM: What have you learned about the Grafton community from your work on the farmer’s market and the community garden?

MU: I’ve realized that the community is ready for these things. The community was ready for the farmer’s market. I think they’re ready for more environmentally friendly practices, whether they’ve come to terms with the cost of conventional practices or the philosophical benefits of going green. The support we’ve gotten from the community is exceptional. Grafton is full of people who commute to work and work really hard, but they haven’t lost site of the value of supporting environmentally friendly activities. 

homemade eggs

March 18, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I'm with Adam. Nothing says rebirth like boiling eggs in everything you can think of. 

The sun finally came out in Grafton. I just interviewed the organizer of the local farmer's market and community gardens. His exuberance and energy was infectious, and reminded me that greener things are just around the corner.

The cruelest month in New England

March 11, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I have found New Englanders to be warm and welcoming once you've stepped into their home. Otherwise, they steel themselves against the bitterness of March and drive, tight-lipped, from one warm place to the other (Greg says, "well, that's because the chowder's on." Rhode Islanders are the worst). 

Ah, but here is this week's column on community planning for the Grafton News:

Toward a more participatory vision of planning and development

In my half year as a Grafton resident, many of my conversations with locals include a longing to slow residential development and rediscover the heart and soul of Grafton. Although Grafton has direct democratic participation through Town Meeting, ordinary citizens feel unable to affect the larger dynamics of community development. Despite many avenues for citizen voice, the rules of development, codified in our zoning by-laws, seem out of reach. Engaged residents soon realize that neither the planning board nor Town Meeting are designed for deliberative problem-solving.

The planning board is committed to abiding by citizen-created zoning laws, but it is the last place to look for broad citizen voice in planning. Simply, the planning board most often acts as an administrative board that implements by-laws, not to incorporate the full spectrum of community knowledge in planning. In a special permit application, notified abutters and interested residents have the opportunity to briefly outline concerns regarding the application; and while the board is obligated to hear public input on planning decisions, it must abide by zoning by-laws, even if they do not follow public preferences.

But residents can always change zoning through Town Meeting. However, zoning by-laws are often written in confusing legalese that may limit access for citizens who are not trained in planning. Zoning attorneys, real estate developers, and planners are more equipped to make zoning changes for Town Meeting, but have a vested interest in particular forms of development. Residents with an interest in community development are less likely to obtain, read, or understand zoning by-laws, and are thus ill-equipped to shape planning decisions by submitting an article to the Town Meeting Warrant.

As a member of the planning board, it’s frustrating to see community residents feel antagonized or sidelined by our current governance systems. Bringing more people into community planning can shift a process from adversarial bargaining between developers and residents to a collaboration between many stakeholders. Such process would not only improve what zoning changes come to Town Meeting, but give citizens the skills and sense of ownership to support comprehensive community development.

How can we make sure our neighborhoods keep their character? First, start talking with other people about what makes Grafton a place worth living. Talking about a place we love is infectious and generative. Second, learn more about what other communities do to create value-driven community planning. For example, Traditional Neighborhood District zoning helps make places diverse, dense, and walkable. Shutesbury created its own flexible rules, Natural Resource Protection Zoning, to protect open space within each new development. The Orton Family Foundation helps small communities “adapt to change while maintaining or enhancing the things they value most.” The more we understand what is possible, the more equipped we will be to make that perfect Town Meeting Warrant. And finally, join a committee. Get elected. In addition to being good citizens and neighbors, we have to do real work, together, to rediscover Grafton’s heart and soul.