The Fate of the Rest of the Community Garden

At the end of 2013, there was much contention about Habitat for Humanity's expectation, based on a promise allegedly made some years before that by longtime former mayor Rick Scalera, that they could have the land on the northeast corner of Columbia and Second streets to build their single family passive houses. The problem was the land in question was a community garden where forty families had plots and grew a significant amount of their food.

The compromise reached at the time, vaguely reminiscent of the Judgment of Solomon, was to divide the plot in half. Habitat for Humanity could have the two larger lots at the eastern half of the garden; Hudson Urban Garden could continue to cultivate the three smaller lots at the western end.

The decision had the same effect as the Judgment of Solomon, if what Solomon proposed had been carried out. The garden ceased to be. The families who had plots in the garden found other places to grow their vegetables--in the raised beds on the lawn beside the First Presbyterian Church or in the new River City Community Garden on North Front Street, and Habitat for Humanity built their two passive houses.

Last week, it was announced that "Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency (HCDPA) is accepting sealed bids for the sale of real property located at 202, 204, 206 Columbia Street for the purpose of construction of low to moderate income housing and/or uses compatible with the Urban Renewal Plan"--a plan incidentally that is now more than thirty years old. The bids are due by 1:30 p.m. on June 9, 2016, at which time the HCDPA board, made up of four ex officio members--the mayor (Tiffany Martin Hamilton), the Common Council majority and minority leaders (Tiffany Garriga and Abdus Miah), the chair of the Planning Board (Tom DePietro)--and one community member (Barbara Hall), will open the sealed bids and decide who gets to purchase what's left of the garden. The announcement and the invitation to bid can be viewed on the City of Hudson website.
COPYRIGHT 2016 CAROLE OSTERINK