Last of ComEd garden plots may disappear in Des Plaines
For years, Harshad Patel has cultivated two plots in the Des Plaines community garden, growing a variety of beans used in traditional Indian cooking.
The 73-year-old retired Mount Prospect resident says he enjoys gardening and tends his plots every morning, sometimes with help from his wife.
"We do it for our health," Patel said. "It keeps us fit."
But after more than 30 years, the garden plots residents have cultivated under the ComEd power lines near Terrace School will soon disappear.
ComEd spokesman Jeff Burdick said ComEd has been phasing out similar gardens in other communities over the years as leases expired. In Des Plaines, its lease was with the Des Plaines Park District, which administered the plots.
"Once we started phasing out, in the interest of fairness to all communities, no matter how well an individual program is being run, ComEd can't allow garden plots in some communities and not in others," Burdick said.
Burdick said he has no idea how many communities have utilized ComEd rights-of-way for garden plots over the years. Des Plaines, he said, is one of the last.
Yet, with ComEd's more than 5,500 miles of transmission line right-of-way throughout northern Illinois, it's entirely possible there are other garden plots out there the utility giant knows nothing about.
For instance, the Mount Prospect Park District runs 27 such plots - each 25 square feet - on four-tenths of an acre east of Busse Road and west of Linneman Road - under ComEd power lines that are not mentioned in any lease agreement.
The park district leases about 3 miles of ComEd right-of-way from the Northwest Tollway north to Dempster Street and east to Mount Prospect Road.
Like Des Plaines, the plots have been around for roughly 30 years, said Lou Ennesser, Mount Prospect's director of parks and planning.
"Long before the ComEd lease was executed, there was some sort of verbal agreement for the garden plots," Ennesser said. "We do not have any record of (it). It's one of these things that had its own little life and didn't bother anyone, and no one paid attention to it. Until now. I can't imagine that we are the only entity out there with garden plots."
Ennesser said no one ever bothered him about the garden plots until now, after ComEd told the Des Plaines Park District that its plots had to go after this summer. Now, ComEd has also told Mount Prospect its time is up.
ComEd ceased allowing new leases for garden plots a number of years ago. Burdick said ComEd is willing to extend its lease with the Des Plaines Park District on the land, but only for other approved recreational uses.
"What can we do?" said Patel in resignation. "The property is not ours. If they give it to us, we'll use it. Otherwise, we won't use it."
The 136 plots in Des Plaines lie on an acre east of Westgate Road, just north of Terrace Elementary School, with two giant transmission towers looming above.
A second ComEd property directly west of the garden plots is lined with towers stretching all the way to Mount Prospect. That property serves as open space with bike trails and walking paths running through it.
Beneath the power lines on the Des Plaines side grow a variety of produce - tomatoes, corn, cabbage, beans, squash, eggplant, chili peppers, herbs and spices - and flowering plants fed by two ground-level water tanks supplied by the Des Plaines Park District.
The plots, planted in May, are usually cleared in October, at the end of each summer harvest. Only after this year, the land will likely be used for other recreational purposes.
The Des Plaines Park District, which has administered the Community Organic Garden Program since 1978, usually has a waiting list of people wanting to use the plots.
"We sell out every year," said Gayle Mountcastle, superintendent of recreation for the park district. "It's an extremely popular program. We've been told people are using this as a source of food in this economy. It's very tough for us to tell people that this is going to go away."
Park district officials are trying to identify alternate open space sites for the garden plots. They have reached out to Oakton Community College, Maryville Academy, area school districts, the chamber of commerce, and also are considering the park district's own facilities.
Right now, residents are charged $22 for the use of a 20-square-foot plot for a season; nonresidents pay $33. Each family is allowed to rent only two plots per season.
"It's a form of recreation that is unique for us to be able to offer," Mountcastle said.
Since 1978, the park district has had two lease agreements with ComEd, which expired a few years ago. The two entities started renegotiating the lease last fall, when ComEd made its intention known about eliminating garden plots altogether.
Mountcastle said ComEd initially cited safety issues with the garden plots, and later said that it was a financial decision to get rid of them. She said she is not aware of any problems ComEd has had with the plots in all these years.
Burdick said the decision was made due to limited resources to monitor what goes on under these power lines, and for safety reasons.
"ComEd no longer has the personnel available to oversee these kind of property uses on our right-of-ways," he said.
That includes ensuring there is no unauthorized gardening going on, he added.
Garden plots also can introduce hazards - such as unauthorized construction of sheds and elaborate watering systems - for repair crews who need unimpeded access to maintain overhead power lines, Burdick said.
"We also have regulatory requirements at the federal level to maintain clear access of our transmission line rights-of-way," Burdick said.
After this planting season, the Des Plaines Park District is responsible for restoring the land to its original condition, according to the terms of its lease with ComEd. The park district may consider other permissible uses such as bike trails, ball fields, and prairie restoration.
Burdick said ComEd has been working with Des Plaines on a recreational lease for a bike trail that could link to the Mount Prospect bike path.
Mountcastle said the park board will consider other recreational uses for the property. She added, ComEd now wants to charge $1,500 for a 20-year lease for use of the land that was previously free to communities for gardening.
"We see that as something that we will highly consider because it will keep it as open space," she said.
As for Mount Prospect, Ennesser said the park district is negotiating a new lease with ComEd incorporating the garden plots to allow them for at least another year. The district may consider finding a new gardening space for the 20 participants who currently rent the plots for $12 per season, he added.
"I think it would certainly be a loss to the people who tend the gardens," Ennesser said. "If they did go away, sure we would make an attempt to try to relocate them someplace else."
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