The Washburn Community Garden, located on the city block between 9th and 10th and Division and Ferry, is in the heart of the Washburn neighborhood. Over the 12+ years of its existence, it’s been a gathering place for gardeners and neighbors, as well as a learning space for children and anyone interested in gardening. For a variety of pollinators and local birds, it’s home, and its wild beauty is respite for everyone who comes across it.

This fall, the Mayo Clinic Health Care System, along with 360 Development, announced their plans to demolish the Washburn Community Garden—the neighborhood’s only public green space—to build housing. While few would disagree that housing is needed, we believe that destroying an invaluable and much-loved garden is not in the community or the city’s best interest.

The land where the garden sits is zoned for single-family housing, so for the proposed development to proceed, that zoning must be changed to allow for higher-density housing. While we are entirely opposed to the demolition of the garden, this petition is being circulated to specifically address the zoning change and any requests for variances, and to let the council and city planners know that there is no support for that change.