Ludington's Community Garden of Garbage and Grasses

[XLFD]

Ludington's Community Garden grew from the demolition of the downtown bowling alley in the 200 block of West Ludington Avenue.  For a couple of years, people in the community have been allowed to grow vegetables in wooden enclosed areas, in what has been trumpeted as a great idea for this currently idle space in the downtown. 

Ludington leaders have big plans for this area and beyond.  They would love to put in a multipurpose convention center/hotel/retail space in the block which would necessarily relocate the fire department and other businesses in the block, but they are falling short in being able to fulfill that dream for now.  If such a plan does achieve fruition, it will be greatly subsidized by the local and state taxpayers, as I have learned from a recent FOIA reply.  But that is for another article. 

In this one, we will focus on the current use of the block and how it runs counter to several recent moves by the city council in order to better control blight issues in our fair city.  In the middle of May, the City of Ludington Daily News (COLDNews) dutifully reported this year's plans for the space:

"Ludington’s community garden space is becoming more of a pocket park, with a stage, more picnic tables and benches, a rain garden, miniature teepees and more, along with the artwork already in place on the surrounding buildings... 

Brandy Henderson, Ludington Area Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director, said the group wanted to clean up the space and turn it into another community park. 

Henderson, Jordan Miller, John Henderson, Todd and Julie Schrader, Nick, Heather and Aiden Tykoski, Jordan and Heather DeVries, Carrie Kosla, Michelle Hemmer, Laura Paine, Chris and Eva VanWyck, and Anita Wilson spent the day Sunday transforming the space. 

They used pallets and donated wood to build a stage, planting some of the raised gardens, digging to start the rain garden, and preparing the site for some help from the public this coming Saturday, May 23. The community will be asked to help paint the tables and benches and otherwise beautify the space in downtown Ludington...

If the block is developed as hoped and some mixed-use project is created in the future, the park pieces will be moved. 

The community wants to see the block at its highest and best use, Tykoski said, but until a development, “we’ll make it a fun gathering spot.”"

http://www.shorelinemedia.net/ludington_daily_news/news/local/artic...

The community garden is being transformed into a downtown Ludington pocket park, here with local community leaders donating their time Sunday afternoon. A public work bee will be held Saturday, May 23.

The work on May 23 and May 26 did produce some results.  The community garden before that had been left neglected since at least the previous year, and was basically an eyesore.  The two days of community work and the additional work on the planters and planting done on June 2 by LHS students had a stage at the site, some order to the chaos, benches, and even a wooden walkway.  But after May 26th, with several projects left undone including clean-up of scrap wood the community garden sat, and sat... and sat with the unfinished projects and leftover scrap wood left on the lot. 

Here is a picture taken on July 1, over five weeks after the tepees were started and the scrap wood was put in a pile behind them (that's a pile of weed-infused earth to the right): 

From this angle, you can better see the scrap wood pile and the incompleteness of the tepee construction, you'll also notice a bunch of weeds:

Over the winter, our city council in order to fight urban blight enacted an ordinance to regulate people who leave junk on their property.  Junk was defined as: "all waste material, including but not limited to ... waste building materials...".  This is clearly junk.

Sec. 18-152 of the Ludington City Code says:  "No person shall place or store any junk... on the exterior portion of any property in the City of Ludington...".  This junk is clearly on the exterior portion of the property.

Sec. 18-153 of the Ludington City Code says:  "First offense. A violation of this... shall constitute a municipal civil infraction.  This should have been caught in the intervening six weeks by our vigilant code and law enforcement teams and written up as an infraction. 

You know they won't do this, because this is their own bailiwick, but hear what happens when they do this to a common citizen's property.

Just last year, the City of Ludington went onto a man's property and took 'junk' which wasn't junk.  It was actually valuable building materials and other construction equipment and personal items worth hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.  They charged the homeowner for having them commit this theft giving them a sizable bill for transporting the 'junk' to a landfill.  This home is in my neighborhood.

The City code enforcers justified this by saying that they sent a certified letter to the homeowner telling them of their intentions and had a court date made.  But within the city's records (received through a FOIA request), they never had a return service for this letter or for the court hearing.  The homeowner claims to have never received such letters, which is seemingly verified by the lack of a return service.  The result was that a court hearing was convened and the homeowner never showed up.  A default judgment occurred and your city leaders invaded this man's property and took his valuable 'junk'. 

Yet, even after some hasty rearranging of the 'junk' at the community garden before the Fourth of July parade, the junk remains in the exterior of the community garden, blocking the artwork, as seen in this picture taken on July 5th: 

If you look at the picture you can see more of the hypocrisy of our city government.  Some of the weeds to the left of the pictures are over 60 inches high.  Reportedly, people are getting notices all over the city for grass that hasn't yet reached the city's new limit of ten inches, but on their own community garden, their weeds are over six times that length. 

Yet our city has already invaded our fellow citizens' private yards this summer (as confirmed in FOIA responses) in observance of a new 'tall grass ordinance' to mow lawns at an incredibly high figure and attach a 25% 'administrative fee' for their own enrichment.  They are under exactly no obligation by their new ordinance to notify you of this service after they have noticed your lawn is in supposed violation. 

They can freely violate the laws that they make you pay dearly for without even having to notify you of your violation.  This is what is considered just and fair by your current city leadership, and is why that leadership needs to undergo a drastic change. 

[stump]

I hope the city doesn't use the fuel tank anymore, the rear leg has seen better days. If it falls off there would be a fuel spill that would cost thousands to clean up. Those barrels must be future trash barrels awaiting paint and placement in our parks , right? Aquaman? did you check to see if any had any liquid in them?If so it's improper storage of hazardous waste, not just junk barrels.

[stump]

Road salt? who would put salt in a steel drum? They do look like the removable lid type barrels upside down, maybe? still a eye sore for the neighbors.

[Jasper]

The "Community Garden" is a total and complete eyesore for downtown Ludington.  The mural does not even "blend" with the rest of the area.  Condo's, retail shops, and this "acid tripping" mural?  So, not conducive with the surrounding environment.  What are the city planner's even thinking?  

Was there not a house several years ago located near HOF the owner's painted, and the COL had a coronary over?  And this was "private property."  The COL should be ashamed, or even embarrassed of this "community garden."    

[AQUAMAN]

Has anyone even heard of a community garden since the mid-sixties when hippy colonies were in fashion? I really doubt it, at least I haven't. As for the COL barrels, do you really think they stored road salt in them? Really. If so, I have some Az. waterfront property for sale too. That was a lame excuse and lie if I ever heard one. These barrels had very hazardous materials in them years ago, and the labels as such were removed. That tank was also a HW material storage, probably for dispensing other clean-up chemicals used to clean up tables and benches before putting them on the beach. My gosh guys, don't expect the COL to give you evidence of their continued coverups and corruption, cause they aint giving that factual info. to anyone. 

[XLFD]

Community gardens are part of what makes a community sustainable and resilient, Aquaman.  The commie gardens seem like something out of the counterculture 1960s, but are more linked to our new countercultural movement defined in Agenda 21. Detroit and other major cities have seen community gardens spring up over places that previously had the houses and factories demolished and had nothing residential or commercial to replace them. 

I remember the controversy over that house, Jasper, it was significant and most of it seemed unwarranted.  I would agree with you about how it fits in with the rest of the community, but then I'd be vilified by the area's cultural economic development team that love it (LOL). 

[AQUAMAN]

Was that the house to the very west of HOF? It's gone now? If so, I know the original owner that died in the late 80's, Otto Keson, master painter. I browsed the Community Garden link X, thanks. However, what I saw was an emphasis on agriculture: bee keeping for honey, food dehydrators, baking pizzas in cob ovens, growing nutritional food for harvests, creating interaction between varying races, cultures, and educating one another, working in peace and harmony, removing eyesore spots in the city, etc.. It also says they have artists selling paintings, birdbaths, birdhouses, bat houses, and other artworks.  I don't see any of that here in Ludington, but, maybe they are hiding all this good stuff over there, lol. Are they even growing anything, flowers? A true garden has to have something more than fake tee-pees and left-over building materials, wouldn't you think? 

[Jasper]

I stand corrected by this this article...the COL could do nothing back in the day about this house that was painted in protest of House of Flavors.

 http://www.shorelinemedia.net/ludington_daily_news/archives/article...

[Willy]

Looks like they finished the job and cleaned up the garden while trying to make it look presentable.

[AQUAMAN]

Willy, can you post a masterful photograph of the area now? Thanks. 

[stump]

Willy, you must have been driving east when you looked, It's all piled up on the south west corner now. Same junk, different area.

[XLFD]

Just before July 4th, they organized the garbage into piles and better organized the plant boxes, but the junk's still there, with no sign of code enforcement in the week that this thread has been up.  The weeds around the junk wood are now just under 6 feet tall (at 67 inches). 

[John Doe Jr]

Go over there and mow the lawn. Send the bill to the City, for what they charge.