The Green Gate Farms occupies a portion of 250 acres purchased by Roberts Resorts of Arizona earlier this year, and it was not included in plans laid out for the gated manufactured home and recreational vehicle community (MHC), leaving the farm owners anxious it would be razed.
However, Scott Roberts, the chairman of Roberts Resorts, met with the farm owners and agreed to a new three-year lease after the current lease runs out next August. The two sides will also explore a “conservation easement” that would create a nonprofit land trust, guaranteeing the land could only be used for farming.
Roberts is also considering how Green Gate may be incorporated into his development, saying he wants it to be “one of the most unique and forward-thinking” in Austin.
Skip Connett, one of the farm’s owners, said, “Until yesterday it didn’t look very good because we couldn’t agree on how big this farm needs to be. It took a while for us to build some common ground.” Connett and his wife, Erin Flynn, have operated the farm since 2006, providing organic produce to nearby low-income residents in an area considered a “food desert.” The farm also serves as a community garden and runs a job-training program for teenagers.
Independent consultants will assess how the farm may need to be altered, if at all. Meanwhile, farm supporters have begun an initiative to save the 113 year-old barn that was part of the original farm, and now provides space for several farm programs. ##
(Photo credit: mystatesman/Tom McCarthy, Jr.–113 year-old Big Red Barn the farm supporters hope to save.)
