64 W. Ross St., May 2025, where Smith intends to build a community garden
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
The Wilkes-Barre zoning hearing board conducts its monthly meeting on Wednesday.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
Jamie Smith, standing at the podium, addresses the board regarding his plan for a community garden. Councilman Tony Brooks stands to his side, in support of the project.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE — A community garden and youth educational space was one of a handful of applications approved at Wednesday’s monthly zoning hearing board meeting.
Jamie Smith, a Wilkes-Barre resident who has championed the project for the last 18 months, was approved for a special exception to establish the garden under “uses not addressed in the ordinance.”
The property at 64 W. Ross Street, which is currently a vacant lot, was also approved for a variance to waive 24 parking spaces for the proposed use.
Smith was also approved for the construction of a 25-by-25-foot storage/pavilion structure for the space.
He wants to build a perennial flower garden where kids from Wilkes-Barre Area schools can come to learn about nature, planting, and wildlife.
“I want it to be something the community benefits from,” he said.
Wilkes-Barre City Councilman Tony Brooks put his support behind the project, telling the board that he felt the garden was “the best use for this land.”
“I look forward to this. Anything to clean up the neighborhood. I really love this idea,” Brooks said.
Smith expects to start designing the garden in the fall.
Smith first approached the city about creating the garden in May 2025, when he told city council that he intended to acquire the blighted property from the South Valley Land Bank.
That process took nearly a year to complete, due to IRS liens that had to be resolved. Smith said at Wednesday’s zoning meeting that he recently signed a sales agreement for the property.
According to his website, Smith has been a resident of Pennsylvania since 2011 and founded the Social Fabric Collective in 2015, which is a nonprofit organization that provides professional photography equipment and education to school students.
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