On Jan. 10, the Sunnyvale City Council approved a five-year agreement with the group to turn an empty lot at Charles and Olive streets into more than 100 individual gardening plots. Sunnyvale residents will be responsible for planting, tending and harvesting whatever is grown in the plots. The project will be under the supervision of Master Gardener Josh Salans and the members of Sunnyvale Sustainable Gardening.

The most controversial piece of the issue during the last two years of planning and debate was the location. The lot at Charles and Olive is owned by the city and has always been set aside for future expansion of city hall or to sell.

The agreement is on a renewable five-year basis to give the city a way out should it need the land in the future.

"In the interim, why not have a community garden at the location?" said Parks and Recreation Commissioner Vice-Chair Robert Locke. "We can take this opportunity to roll up our sleeves, get our hands dirty and develop some 'sweat equity,' in the form of this garden."

Locke was just one of some 25 supporters in council chambers for the meeting--many wearing Sunnyvale Sustainable Gardening T-shirts. Salans said over the last year and a half, group members have faithfully attended their weekly meetings to discuss all aspects of gardening.

A frequent point of discussion at the meeting was that Sunnyvale is the only city in the area that doesn't have at least one community garden. Palo Alto has at least four, and San Jose has close to 20 within its city limits.

"We really are behind the times on this issue, and having the garden in the middle of the city will make it a showpiece," said Sunnyvale resident and former Leadership Sunnyvale President Margaret Lawson.

Salans and the group have always wanted the Charles and Olive site for the garden because of its location. The primary alternative site was a portion of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission-owned land at the John W. Christian Greenbelt near Manzano Way.

That plot was less desirable to the group because it is located on the far northeast portion of Sunnyvale, as opposed to the city hall area, which is closer to the center of Sunnyvale.

Having the garden close to the center of Sunnyvale makes it accessible for all residents and helps the plots act as a balance to the man-made downtown structures.

The garden itself is fully funded by two grants from the Satterberg Foundation, a philanthropic organization dedicated to supporting children's programs, education and environmental work.

"This is precisely the reason we were set up," said Satterberg member David Lazarus, a longtime Sunnyvale resident and gardener who is going to be building the fence around the garden.

The Satterberg Foundation originally offered Sunnyvale $10,000 for a 15-plot senior garden and $30,000 for a 40-plot community garden, but Salans lobbied to combine the two into one central community plot.

The plots will be broken up into 81 1-foot-tall gardening beds, 10 2-foot tall beds for handicapped access and a dozen master gardener demonstration beds of various sizes. Annual use of the beds will be $50 for a 4-foot by 16-foot bed and $35 for a 4-foot by 8-foot bed.

Salans said the Sustainable Garden group hopes to get through the permitting process quickly and break ground in February while the soil is still wet. If they can get the plots, fences and walkways built, they could be growing by summer.

For more information on Sunnyvale Sustainable Gardening, write to Josh Salans at jsalans@aol.com.