Plans for urban farm on Howard move forward

The Skokie Park District is seeking to lease three acres of Metropolitan Water Reclamation District land near Howard Street as the site for a new urban farm.

The property, just east of the North Shore Channel channel at Howard is in Skokie, unlike MWRD land east of the channel north of Main Street, which is located in Evanston.

Skokie Park District commissioners voted recently to authorize the district's executive director, Mark Schneiderman, to try to reach a lease agreement with the MWRD so the Park District can partner with an Evanston-based nonprofit, The Talking Farm, on the project.

"We heard what they were about and we became very interested in what they're trying to do," Schneiderman said. "They were looking for a permanent home for an urban garden and they found property that looked right for them."

An organization like The Talking Farm cannot lease property directly from the MWRD. The Park District, on the other hand, can lease the property from the MWRD for as little as one cent and then bring in The Talking Farm to operate it.