You know those ideas that are so brilliant they seem like no-brainers?
Scott and Wendy Hoffenberg came up with one this spring: Along with a next-door neighbor, they converted the grassy median in front of their Boulder home into a produce garden.
Seeds were planted, manure was spread, mulch was distributed, marigolds were set out as organic pest control.
Nature being nature, the median was soon a riot of plants.
Then someone complained that the Hoffenbergs were violating a city ordinance that says you can’t erect anything in a median that blocks public access. The garden has a three-sided wire fence that serves as a bean trellis.
“The city is run on a complaint basis,” Scott told me. “No complaint, no violation. But if someone complains, and to date only one person has, they throw the book at you.”
The book in this case is a heavy one: Fines of up to $2,000 a day, and the city has the right to remove whatever they deem in violation.
Proud urban farmer that he is, Scott gave me a tour of his garden, which sits in the 700 block of University Street.
The garden is 13 feet by 70 feet. That’s 910 square feet, the size of a two-bedroom apartment.
A carpenter by trade, Scott pointed out the flourishing zucchini, tomatoes, beets, herbs, lettuces, edible nasturtiums and onions. Pole beans thread through the 40-inch-tall fence.
It didn’t look like much of a barrier. The street side is open, and the stretch bordering the sidewalk has four entry points. If you want to pass through the garden, you can.
“At first, the city said we even had to take out the tomato cages, but they’ve backed off on that,” Scott said.
He shook his head. Back in May, he thought the only threats to his garden were aphids and cutworms.
“There are hundreds of right-of-way encroachments in town,” he said. “Flower gardens, rock gardens, swings hanging from trees. But this?”
On Monday, the City Council agreed to look into the situation. The Hoffenbergs have dealt with Jeff Arthur, an engineer in the public works department.
“He’s a nice guy,” Scott said. “Unfortunately he’s not the decision maker. Otherwise I think we’d have found common ground to resolve this.”
The whole thing seems too Boulder for words. Still, the Hoffenbergs might be in luck.
When it’s not issuing foreign-policy proclamations, the Boulder City Council must tend to more pedestrian matters such as filling potholes and ruling on ordinances.
And in a community where so much verbiage is uttered about developing sustainable food sources, council members — who after all, enjoy getting elected as much as the next politician — can’t afford to look like a pack of brown-thumbed fussbudgets.
Councilman Macon Cowles suggests the ordinance be stayed until the end of the growing season. So there’s one vote for the tomatoes.
For Scott, the garden has given him new roots in the city.
“People go out of their way to walk by here and check on how everything is coming along,” he said. “We’ve lived here 20 years and are meeting neighbors we’ve never met.”
He looked down the street, appraising the expanse of grassy medians. “Think about it,” he said. “There’s probably an acre of right-of-way land in Boulder that could be used for community gardens.”
Now if only the City Council will eat their veggies.
William Porter’s column runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at 303-954-1977 or wporter@denverpost.com.
