For City Council Meeting March 11, 2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
APPROVAL: Tanya Williams, City Manager
FROM: Tim Sullivan, Assistant City Manager
Title
Request City Council Approve a Lease Agreement with Grace Lutheran Church to Continue the City's Onsite Community Garden Program.
Body
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council approve a Lease Agreement with Grace Lutheran Church to continue the City's onsite Community Garden Program.
BACKGROUND:
The City of Rialto currently operates a City Community Garden located at 539 N. Acacia Avenue. The Rialto Community Garden is located behind Grace Lutheran Church on Church property. This garden is located on approximately 2 acres and has 89 plots for planting. Existing plots are comprised of both raised beds and ground-level plots. Each plot is set up with its own water spigot. In addition, the garden has an orchard, shade area, and tool shed. The Community Garden partnership between the City and the Church began in 1997.
The Rialto Community Garden was built for residents who have limited or no yard space for small gardens. When the garden was first built, the City intended to provide space for people with common interests to gather, socialize, and grow food for their own use. It was also intended to provide an opportunity to educate the community on composting and other environmentally friendly gardening techniques.
The garden's side benefits have been providing low-impact exercise and better eating habits for the gardeners, which has improved their health, a common goal of Healthy Rialto. It also gives gardeners some relief on their grocery expenses. In recognizing these benefits, the City chose to subsidize the cost of the plots by charging a nominal fee of just over $4.00/month.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION:
The original agreement included as Attachment 1, between the City of Rialto and Grace Lutheran Church, is in the form of a letter signed by a church representative and the C...
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