City of Wilmington holds meeting to discuss pilot program for median gardens along 5th Ave

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Located along North 5th Avenue, a median dividing the roadway has been turned into a colorful and unique garden by residents.

It’s one of the reasons why Lloyd Singleton, a board member for the Alliance for Cape Fear Trees, enjoys living nearby.

“Well I live in the area and I’ve enjoyed the charm of the community garden in our medians,” Singleton said. “The garden seemed to be very eclectic and it was all kind of community driven and it wasn’t a defined landscape plan by an architect. It was actually just normal people doing what they thought looked good and it was kind of fun.”

The median has been decorated with flowers, plants, and items like bird baths and benches.

However, back in October, the city posted notices that the median would need to be cleared.

Amy Beatty, the city’s director of parks and recreation, said there were several concerns the city had about the median.

“In an attempt to beautify the area with great positive intent, inadvertently, you know, has created a bit of a safety hazard and you know, blocking sightlines from drivers and we really are just trying to make it as safe as possible for pedestrians, drivers,” Beatty said.

On Monday night, the city held a community meeting to discuss the future of the median gardens.

Beatty said it served as an opportunity to let the city suggest a new program that would allow the continuation of the garden.

“We are going to pilot a program where folks who are interested in community gardens, median gardens, we’re going to provide an avenue to work with them on that.”

The residents, not the city, would be responsible for maintaining the garden as part of the program, including cutting and trimming any grass and other vegetation.

However, Singleton sees this as a great opportunity for 5th Avenue to become even greener.

“I think it’s a good opportunity for community to have input and actually maybe grow food together. Be a true community by using that common space in our medians. I think also the opportunity is for a really good tree canopy that is the appropriate height. And I think it’s, it’s a great opportunity to increase our plant diversity.”

Beatty said interested residents have until February 1st to sign up for the pilot program, but they must be part of a group to be approved by the city.