The Abridged version:
- At its meeting Wednesday night, the West Sacramento City Council discussed the lease for the property it owns at Fifth and C streets. For years, Three Sisters Gardens has rented it on a month-to-month basis.
- Operators of Three Sisters Gardens say a more permanent lease is needed so they can invest in the property. The city is considering the site’s zoned commercial use, including potential housing development.
- City staff provided three options for the lease, including keeping it the same, extending it to 10 years, or extending it for a shorter amount of time and raising the rent to market price.
For years, the future of Three Sisters Gardens’ urban farm at the corner of Fifth and C streets in West Sacramento has been in flux.
The organization rents the land from the city for $1 per year, and since 2024 the lease has been a month-to-month arrangement. Operators say that has made investing in the property difficult, precluding them from building permanent structures or pursuing larger grants. The city is considering its zoned use for potential commercial development, including housing.
“It’s been really tough on a month-to-month lease,” said Three Sisters Gardens Director Alfred Melbourne in an interview ahead of the meeting Wednesday night.
Three Sisters wants 10-year guarantee
Because of that, Melbourne and others have pushed the city for a 10-year lease on the property, formally submitting a request in February. On Wednesday night, the city council discussed that request, along with other options for amending the lease at Fifth and C.
In the report provided to the city council ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, staff noted that the city’s original intent for the property when it purchased it in the 90s was to redevelop it into housing and commercial space.
The report also pointed to the property’s location on a prominent corner in the Washington District, “which has seen increasing infill development in recent years.”
What’s next for the Three Sisters lease?
A vote isn’t scheduled, but staff asked the council to provide feedback and direction on whether the city should extend the lease to 10 years, keep it month-to-month or extend it for a shorter period and raise the rent to market rate, which would be approximately $2,000 per month.
For more than an hour, leaders discussed options and asked staff questions about the property, its history and the proliferation of the urban farm movement across the region. Some called the urban farm a “bright light” and a “consistent presence,” but councilmembers also expressed concerns about the ability to develop the land in the future — as West Sacramento grows and the I Street Bridge gets redeveloped.
While the site is commercially zoned, it has been operating as an urban farm since the Center for Land-Based Learning took over the vacant property in 2014. The lease later transferred to Three Sisters. Staff emphasized that it was intended for temporary use as an urban farm.
Three Sisters Gardens is a West Sacramento-based nonprofit. It provides youth gardening programs, a community giving program, community-supported agriculture boxes and education.
More stability could lead to more funding
Melbourne said that with a more permanent lease, the nonprofit could leverage funding to build a more permanent structure on the Fifth and C property and bolster the program.
The organization is in the running for a grant from the Yocha Dehe community fund, he said, and having a longer lease would make them a more attractive recipient.
In presenting the issue to the council, Deputy City Manager Doug Drozd said that there were three questions to consider: “What is the highest and best use for this property? Second, what is the city’s approach to public asset management and subsidies for local nonprofits? And third what precedent would this decision set for future use of city owned properties?”
The council did not make a decision, nor was it unanimous in its feedback about a preferred option. Giving direction to staff, Mayor Martha Guerrero asked for a fourth option to be considered: Expansion to other properties.
“I want to see more of this in West Sacramento,” she said.
Daniel Hennessy joins Abridged from the California Local News Fellowship. He’s a reporter covering Yolo County.