Seeds of a plan sown to save gardens
For more than 35 years, Harriet Hathaway worked at the information desk at Lexington Gardens, helping customers with their questions about gardening, plants and the outdoors.
“It was a fantastic place to work,” she said. Management and staff were dedicated and loyal, and many worked there for 40 years or more.
But the gardening center closed in late September, and despite a meeting with the town’s planning department and developer, its future is still uncertain.
Homes Development Corp. now officially owns the former nursery. Of key concern to town officials and residents is the future of the site’s own Victory Garden, one of the original gardens planted to encourage Americans to help the war effort and grow their own food during World War II. It was home of WGBH’s television show “The Victory Garden” in the 1980s and 1990s.
On Nov. 19, the two groups met to go over a preliminary plan without much detail, said senior planner Aaron Henry.
The 11-acre site is zoned for residential housing but what will eventually go up in terms of housing has yet to be determined, said Henry.
He stressed that the plans for the development still remain open and not set in stone.
“we’re at the extreme beginning of a process,” he said.
The planning department sought input from abutters, but their attendance was sparse.
Because the turnout was so low, the board may hold another meeting in December to get input from the community and abutters, Henry said. The department still does not have a sense of what the neighborhood might want to see.
Even more uncertain is the fate of the old Victory Garden. The developer is aware the town would like to preserve the garden, Henry said.
Certain zoning bylaws might be applied to save the garden. It is adjacent to a wetland, which requires a buffer, and if the development is cluster-style, which promotes conservation and open space, a third of the space in the development will be required to remain undeveloped.
The town has not yet established who will have jurisdiction over the garden, said Henry. The developer could sell it or give it to the town, but that opens the question of which department or entity would have responsibility for maintaining it.
Homes Development Corp. did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Hathaway said she’d love to see the Victory Garden preserved, and as much of the site kept as green as possible.
Losing the center has been a great loss in Lexington, she said download movies. It was a central place to get advice on indoor and outdoor gardening, to get gardening supplies and to work with competent florists.
“It changes the whole ambiance of the community,” she said.
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