Another meeting was held on Nov. 2 to discuss the potential zoning changes of the land next to Wolf Pack Meats (see “Saving graze,” Nov. 3). The new zoning would reclassify the lot as “Business Park/IB and IC,” which could eventually lead to development rather than conservation and agricultural use. The large community response opposing the zoning proposition did little to sway the City Planning Commission away from that option. Wendy Baroli from Grow for Me Sustainable Farm is establishing a focus group to counter the City Planning Commission’s proposals.
In a letter written by Baroli and distributed among local agricultural organizations, she states, “If we pave this 104 acres, cover it in warehouses, and more empty commercial store fronts, we have once again allowed ourselves to lose a part of our collective soul. We as humans are rediscovering our relationship to food. We as producers, educators, and consumers must realize you cannot eat money or balanced budgets, your children cannot eat asphalt nor concrete. Your lives will not expand and breathe when closed in by mountains missing in the view shed because a planned tree lined sidewalk with bike lanes are the compromise you made to allow buildings and development on the last piece of farmland that you actually own.”