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Politics & Government

Cedarbrook Community Gardens Must Move, Surprising Gardeners

Land will be site of new building housing Lehigh County coroner and emergency services, and Cetronia Ambulance.

Frank Lopiccolo was stunned when he received a letter, dated Aug. 26, from the Lehigh County Farmland Preservation Program -- Cedarbrook Community Gardens need to move.

For five years, Lopiccolo has farmed a plot of land at the community gardens, near the intersection of Broadway and Parkway in South Whitehall.

The letter from Kathy Borger, garden plant program administrator, said the community gardens will be moved to a new site across the street from Cedarview Apartments on Dorney Park Road. 

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The letter informed the 95 people with 20-by-40-foot plots that the new site will have access to water -- a pond is nearby -- and that “the good quality soil at this location should be great for growing vegetables.”

That is little consolation to Lopiccolo and to Dean Black of Allentown, who said Thursday he was surprised and disappointed to get the news.

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Cedarbrook Community Gardens have been at their current site for roughly 20 years. 

However, Glenn Solt, director of general services for Lehigh County, said the land is being cleared for a good purpose.

Plans have been under way for a new building that will house the Cetronia Ambulance Corps, the Lehigh County coroner and county emergency services. Solt said the county hopes to erect the new building next year.

The Cetronia Ambulance Corps has sought some to augment its own fundraising efforts for the new building. The new structure would help the ambulance corps bring its services under one roof.

Lopiccolo said he didn’t anticipate the move, adding, “We don’t know what to do.”

Lopiccolo's crops include tomatoes, eggplant, beans, green peppers, zucchini, garlic and onions. In addition, he grows several varieties of squash, including some that were grown with seeds from Sicily.

Lopiccolo loves to grow a garden of vegetables, like two generations before him. “I come from Sicily and my grandfather, my father, used to own a big farm” near Palmermo, he said. Lopiccolo is retired so he has time to tend his plants.

A couple of rows over, Black has grown vegetables at the community gardens for two years. His garden includes sweet potatoes, leaks, string beans, winter squash, green peppers, cucumbers and cauliflower.

Black said he has a small area for a garden at home, but insufficient space to grow everything he enjoys harvesting. “This extends what I can do at home and it’s my hobby,” Black said. “I always liked gardening.”

Borger’s letter to the gardeners was short on details. “I will inform you of the details of the move as soon as they come available,” the letter said.

Borger said Thursday the gardeners will be able to finish out the season. Plots at the new site will be available next spring.

Borger’s letter also stated there will be “no residential homes in direct view of this new area.” However, Borger said Thursday that she was not aware of any complaints from residents whose homes are near the current site for the community gardens.

This is the first year the Lehigh County Farmland Preservation Program is overseeing . Prior to this year, Borger said, the gardens came under the purview of the Lehigh County Office of Solid Waste.

Borger praised the people who use the community gardens: “The gardeners are great, and they’re so passionate about what they do.”

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