The La Mirada Community Gardens must close….
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The La Mirada Community Gardens must close. Here's why.
Priscilla Bonjouyok picks vegetables from her garden at the La Mirada Community Garden at Fountain of Life Church in La Mirada on Tuesday October 4, 2016. The community garden is being closed down because the church has been told it will lose its tax-exempt status for that acre of property. (Photo by Keith Durflinger/Whittier Daily News/SCNG)
By Mike Sprague | msprague@scng.com | Whittier Daily News
PUBLISHED: October 6, 2016 at 7:17 pm | UPDATED: August 29, 2017 at 4:10 am
LA MIRADA >> The city's Community Gardens will close at the end of 2016 after county tax officials told the church where it's located that its tax-exempt status doesn't apply to the one-acre site, meaning it will have to pay property taxes.
The gardens has been located at the back of the church property at 13518 Biola Ave. since the city closed a similar garden behind Los Angles County Fire Station 49 on La Mirada Boulevard to make way for the city's Activity Center. The gardens there dated back to the late 1960s.
Steven Beyer, president of Fountain of Life Community Church, said the church has no choice but to close the gardens.
"Unfortunately, the county has changed the way they look at the gardens and so they're assessing property taxes that we can't afford," Beyer said.
"They don't consider the community gardens to be part of the church's use of property," he said. "We think it's rather unfortunate and we don't understand."
The Los Angeles County Assessor's Office decision could cost the church tens of thousands of dollars, Beyer said.
Michael Kapp, spokesman for the Assessor's Office, said he couldn't speak specifically about this property, but agreed the church would lose its exemption for the one-acre site.
"We're only talking about the one acre of land," Kapp said. "That portion should not be exempt. A community gardens is not a church activity."
Lori Thompson, director of community services for the city, said the gardeners are being notified of the decision to close.
In addition, city officials are looking for a new location, but Thompson said she's uncertain if one could be found in the city.
The gardens has 42 plots, some divided in two. And it's generally full, Thompson said.
The gardeners pay $120 a plot, money that goes to the church. Some say they're devastated by the news of the closure.
"I'm very saddened and shocked," said Diana Voegeli, who has been gardening since the property was behind the fire station.
"We should have been given more notice, say one year," Voegeli said. "We might have been able to transition to another location."
Voegeli said many of the gardeners also give away some of their food to the Grace Evangelical Free Church's food bank.
In fact, Voegeli and Jeanne Jenkins have a separate plot that provides only for the food bank.
Gardeners say the activity is like a therapy for them.
"For a lot of people, it's the time to get away from everything," Jenkins said. "It's my time to get in touch with me."
May Takata said the gardens is a great place for retired people.
"Where will retired people go if they don't find a (new) place?" Takata asked.
Gardeners said they grow all kinds of crops, including potatoes, basil, carrots, beets, blackberries, beans, squash and lavender.
The church may some day use the site as a preschool or day care, Beyer said.
Mike Sprague
Mike Sprague started at the Whittier Daily News in April 1984. Since then, Sprague has covered every city in the Whittier Daily News circulation area, as well as political and water issues. Sprague received a bachelor's degree in communications and a master's degree in political science, both from Cal State Fullerton.
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