Neighbors who joined together fifteen years ago to push the City to demolish two burned out West Philadelphia homes are fighting for the community garden they developed in the place of those homes. It seems that earlier this year, half of the garden chugged its way through the Sheriff’s office and landed on the Tax Sale list.

The gardens comprise two lots where once stood vacant abandoned homes located at 1008 and 1010 S. St. Bernard, located between 49th and 50th Streets between Springfield and Warrington Avenues.  The lot up for Sheriff’s Sale is 1010 S. St. Bernard. Taxes have not been paid on the home since 1980, according to city records.

Garden shot from SBCG site

Members of the St. Bernard Community Garden, now composed of more than 50 households, half of which are homeowners, according to Trevor McElroy a member of St. Bernard Community Garden and St. Bernard resident, helped postpone the sale for this property until December 19th. The City, through Blackwell, has in turn pledged to bid the maximum amount it can, which is about $48,600, the amount owed in back taxes.

Another garden shot from SBCG site

According to McElroy, members fostered unsuccessful attempts to obtain the land or contact the owners of the parcels and have thus operated it as squatters since 1995. McElroy claims members wanted to purchase the lots. Though McElroy is a renter, he says its gardens like this that make renters want to buy homes in the neighborhood.

Looking overgrown in December

“You gotta keep a balance somehow about what’s alluring in the neighborhood as it is changing,” he said. “I would love to live in this neighborhood for a long time because of my investment in it.” Before St. Bernard, McElroy was a member of another West Philly neighborhood garden that realized a similar fate. “If they keep closing neighborhood gardens all the time I won’t wanna live here.”

Looking down the block

St. Bernard Garden members are still trying to purchase the lots and will host a fundraiser at Dock Street Brewery Saturday Dec. 15. It’s ten bucks for a slice and a beer. Members have raised around $10K so far through dues and other avenues. We covered a similar story in August where West Philly neighbors lost a garden to a developer. Blackwell was involved in that story as well. A home across the street from the garden sold for $300K in 2010, so the lot is certainly worth tens of thousands of dollars. At next week’s Sheriff Sale, we wonder whether the developers in the building will be familiar with the story, and perhaps hold back on the aggressiveness of their bids in deference to the neighbors. But we can’t say we’re holding our breath.

–Lou Mancinelli