Council committee advances land-swap ordinance to help preserve community gardens

The Committee on Public Property and Public Works advanced an ordinance that would create a formal property-exchange (land-swap) procedure intended to help community groups secure gardens and assemble fragmented parcels for public or affordable-housing uses.

Council Member Garcia, who introduced the bill with co-sponsors, told the committee the change is designed to restore a tool that city land agencies have used historically. "We found out in April that the Parker administration made the executive decision in February to deny any new swap request," Garcia said, arguing the ordinance would increase transparency and reduce staff time needed to complete exchanges.

Community gardeners and neighborhood stewards gave extended testimony in support. Malikica Hart Gilpin, co-founder and executive director of One Art Community Center, described using the swap process to secure privately owned land adjacent to the center after a developer purchased it and urged codifying the practice to protect long-term stewardship. "These green spaces…are sacred spaces where we can collectively heal and find joy," she said.

Jenny Greenberg, executive director of Neighborhood Gardens Trust, said land swaps have been essential in multiple cases and provided concrete preservation outcomes: "To date, we've preserved 63 gardens and are currently working with 20 additional threatened sites," she told the committee, explaining that the bill would allow deed restrictions to be applied to the parcel ultimately preserved while removing those restrictions from the exchanged parcel.

Supporters framed the ordinance as flexible: it would allow the city to trade underutilized city parcels for privately owned lots in the same neighborhood so that a developer could receive a comparable parcel while the community secures the garden or open space. Ryan Spack, a local developer, said trades can be "smart economics" that enable both housing and open-space preservation.

Committee members pressed for clarity about the administration's directive halting swaps; Garcia said the directive had not been produced in writing despite repeated requests. After witness testimony and committee discussion, the committee approved an amendment to the bill and voted to report bill 260423 from committee with a favorable recommendation and a request that council suspend its rules to permit first reading at the next session.

The next formal step for the measure is a first reading before full Council; the committee did not take the process further today beyond its recommendation.