Solved: Plant the South Central Farm on the Warehouse Roof

The locals who have been farming for the last 14 years on the land now known as the South Central Farm don't want to move; but the man who owns the property wants to turn it into a warehouse. What to do?

A brilliant idea popped into the head of a reader of a blog called sustainablog which is crazy and simple enough to work: put the farm on the roof of the damn warehouse! (hattip Curbed LA)

The commentor, using the out-side-the-box thinking we could use more of around here laid it out, and it was later reposted in Treehugger.com:

If he's building a warehouse, why not simply build up a stronger roof and have it be an earth roof where they can continue farming? Is that in some way illegal? That way you get the warehouse AND you get the farms. So what if you have to walk up a flight of stairs before you get there? Warehouse roofs are flat, cover it over with two feet of good earth and then plant away. Irrigation isn't a problem either. Just run lines from the water supply of the building. Put in meters. Done deal.

Any sort of a deal would be good, especially a done deal, particularily in the wake of a recent LA Weekly article where developer Ralph Horowitz claims that the city never made him the $16+ million offer in conjunction with the Annenberg Foundation and the Trust for Public Land.

"‘An offer of a proposal’ — I never even heard of that,” Horowitz was reported telling the L.A. Weekly. “I don’t know what that means, it has no significance whatsoever.” Later he clarified that he did not reject the offer since there was none. “There was nothing for me even to respond to. There was nothing to reject.”

Perhaps the mayor can offer Mr. Horowitz this win-win solution, but maybe he should first talk to the people at the International Green Roof Association for some ideas.