Readers comments on today's New Mexican article

• Roberto Camp posted at 3:49 pm on Wed, Aug 12, 2015.

    Santa Fe has become very nasty lately, and that buck stops with City Hall. It´s time for some real zoning and regulations that mesh with and protect the city´s unique character.  
   

• Emily Renfro posted at 12:06 pm on Wed, Aug 12, 2015.

  This is so sad. I was there last week and enjoyed the chard, zuchinni, leeks, cukes and onions all week long. Walking down the arroyo path to the veggie stand was a healthy, stress-free way to shop. They could haul their produce up the block and legally sell it out of a truck parked on Yucca, but not at their sweet, shady stand just off the arroyo complete with iced tea and fragrant flowers....nonsensical to say the least.
  At what point does the benefit to the whole community out weigh one annoying neighbor?
  Shame on you city council. Shame on you, annoying neighbor with too much time on your hands.
  Merci mille fois Poki et Dominique!

   

• Linda Sperling posted at 11:03 am on Wed, Aug 12, 2015.

  This is just heartbreaking. The Urban Gardening Movement (yes, there is one) is gaining ground everywhere but in the so-called City Different: How much more unenlightened can Santa Fe get? We who buy our produce at the Farmers' Market will miss Gaia Gardens very much.

   

• Jeff Vigil posted at 10:36 am on Wed, Aug 12, 2015.

  
  
  This is what our society has become. Instead of doing what is good for the community, our politicians listen to the single voice, whether it be a corporation or a neighbor who just doesn't get what is going on. How can a local organic farm hurt the neighborhood. Kids get to learn how to farm which is a skill they made need if we continue down our current path. Parents remember what is was like when their families had small gardens. This is exactly what we need to be teaching our younger generations.

   

• syd bee posted at 8:27 am on Wed, Aug 12, 2015.

  
  
  I've been following this situation, and I understand political wheels can move slowly, but shame on the City Council for dragging its feet. And yes, it did drag its feet. As big businesses surreptitiously and swiftly buy up seed and water rights with one hand (look it up) as they poison our water with the other (e.g.: current Animas River nightmare), urban farming, and creating local food and water sovereignty, is the way we can help ensure our children's healthy and sustainable future. I fear this will have a chilling effect for other urban farmers.

   

  • Maggie Macnab posted at 9:50 am on Wed, Aug 12, 2015.

    
    
    The city council and mayor surely didn't drag their feet on the MorningStar development on Pecos Trail, upturning generational restrictions for this historic neighborhood without a second thought—even with hundreds of protesting neighbors actively voicing their concerns at city meetings. But something for the overall good of the community? Forever delayed by an ordinance that any garage sale can get around. This is true transparent politics.

     

  • Steve Salazar posted at 10:29 am on Wed, Aug 12, 2015.

    
    
    What did the Animas disaster have to do with farming in Santa Fe? With seeds and water rights in the middle of Santa Fe?
    
    

     
    • Maggie Macnab posted at 3:21 pm on Wed, Aug 12, 2015.
      Seriously, Steve? What does the patenting of seed genomes (as if a product of nature—humans—can patent our very source), and the pollution of millions of gallons of irrigating river water (caused by the EPA, yet!) have to do with farming? Open your mind a little more to understand the massive destruction of community underway. Microcosm=macrocosm, the point several commenters are making today on this article.

       

• Alasdair Lindsay posted at 7:58 am on Wed, Aug 12, 2015.

  
  
  I wish I had known about Gaia Gardens before this! This is an abomination. What is wrong with people that protest this type of endeavor in their neighborhood? An organic farm supplying great food to a local community should be supported by this city and should be encouraged. I thought Santa Fe was more progressive than this. The complaining neighbors and the city bureaucracy should feel really proud of their efforts to eliminate someones livelihood and neighbors access to healthy food.

   

• Maggie Macnab posted at 6:30 am on Wed, Aug 12, 2015.

  
  

  
  

  This situation exemplifies the current world macrocosm at a local scale. As we continue down the path of no return, we are complicit in the destruction of own communities by allowing Gaia Gardens to close. The core of our well being—the food we put into our bodies—is under assault, incredibly from a neighbor and a couple of cronies who have a problem with an urban garden when it has overwhelming support from everyone else. There is nothing more authentic or indispensable to the continuance of life than a farmer working within the rhythms of nature to support us all. There is nothing more passively self destructive than to allow a few to direct the well being of all. Mayor Gonzales, you ran on a community platform. Council members, your job is to support that community. Clearly, special interests trump community interests. With all the support the community has shown Gaia Gardens over the last few years, and all the work of everyone involved to keep it going, you are derelict in your duties to your community. It is sad and truly shameful to see Santa Fe becoming the antithesis of what was once a whole and unique community.
  
  
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