Community garden at 8 Lewis St. (Photo submitted)
WESTFIELD – In April, James Pettengill of 4 Lewis Street decided to take advantage of the newly vacant lot at 8 Lewis Street to prepare the ground to plant some vegetables. Previously, the lot had a crumbling house on it that had been demolished by the city after a long process.
Soon, Pettengill was joined by three other neighborhood families and a horticulture student at Westfield Technical Academy, also from the neighborhood, and a community garden quickly sprang up in what Pettengill calls one of the highest density, lowest income neighborhoods in the city.
Former Westfield assessor Jim Pettengill at City Council in June on behalf of the community garden. (Photo by Amy Porter)
A former assessor and Planning Board chair for Westfield, Pettengill admitted he is “squatting” on the lot, where he said he has 75 tomato plants growing. Now 8 Lewis St. is being auctioned off on July 24, one of four properties in the auction; and Pettengill has received a cease and desist order for the garden.
On June 21, he came to the City Council to talk about the auction and the garden, and ask the city to consider leaving it vacant. His argument at the council was that with the cost of educating children at $7,000 to $9,000 per year versus the potential $75,000 the auction would bring in plus annual real estate taxes of approximately $2,500, selling the lot as residential property for multiple children would be a net loss over the long run to the city, costing more than it would bring in.
At the meeting, At-large Councilor Brent B. Bean, II acknowledged Pettengill’s service to the city, and made a motion to suspend the rules and refer it to City Properties. However, at the City Properties meeting on June 28, chairman William Onyski said he had received a communication from City Solicitor Susan C. Phillips that the matter had been improperly referred to sub-committee and was not under the City Council’s jurisdiction, but rather under the authority of City Treasurer Meghan Kane.
Kane also spoke at the meeting, saying the Council has repeatedly talked about bringing in more revenue for the city, which is the purpose of the auction and subsequent development of the properties.
“Turning dirt into houses and how it relates to city finances is something I have been keenly aware of for a long time,” Pettengill said, adding, “Residential costs-no matter the occupancy-will always surpass residential tax revenue.”
Ward 2 Councilor Ralph J. Figy, who worked for three years to get the abandoned house at 8 Lewis Street torn down, disagrees. “Mr. Pettengill has taken it upon himself to start this garden without permission. The City is losing taxable properties not only here but especially by the airport. It is important to maintain a solid tax base. One of the challenges of government is to balance the needs of the neighborhood with the needs of the city as a whole,” Figy said.
“I will be working with City Hall to see if we can find another parcel in the neighborhood for a community garden. I think this is a great idea but one that needs to follow the correct procedure,” added Figy.
Pettengill says he is not giving up. He believes the benefit to the city of keeping the lot, assessed at $53,500, as a community garden space is greater to the city, both in active community involvement and in saving the cost of subsidizing a residential property.
“If it wasn’t for all the benefits I see on this property, I would never have started it. I was always coming from the community garden aspect,” Pettengill said.
He said his neighbors have no yards, and no place to garden.
He said he would like to see it put under the Conservation Commission, and get the horticulture program at Westfield Technical Academy involved. He also said when he started it he didn’t know it would be going to auction this summer; now, he said, he will fight for this lot until the 24th of July.
