Green thumbed residents of the District of North Vancouver have reason to celebrate now that the municipality has agreed to allow the district's first large-scale community garden on public land.

District council voted in May to dedicate a slice of Lillooet Road Park for the purpose. The teardrop-shaped piece of property, between Lillooet and Old Lillooet Roads, will be home to 5,800 square feet of tilled area, including 45 small plots to be cared for by individual residents and a larger demonstration garden that will be used for educational purposes.

Council also approved a one-time $15,000 grant to help kick start the project.

"It's a place where . . . members of our community who don't have a garden of their own can come together . . . and build a space that's beautiful and inviting and creates that sense of community," said District of North Vancouver social planner Cristina Rucci.

Although the North Shore's other municipalities have had similar gardens for some years now, the Lillooet project is a first for the district. Last summer, the municipality approved smaller grants for Molly Nye House, the North Shore Youth Safe House and Maplewood Farm, but none of those projects are on the same scale, said Rucci.

The idea for a garden has been circulating for several years, she said, but it wasn't until July 2009 that council discussed the notion in earnest, and approved a grant for the purpose and a set of guidelines.

Following that decision, the municipality put out a request for applications, ultimately awarding the contract to the non-profit North Shore Garden Society, which will use the money to create and maintain the facility.

On April 29, the district and the garden society hosted an open house for residents of the area immediately surrounding the park to assess support for the plan. Forty-two people showed up. Staff concluded that the few concerns raised could be addressed and recommended to council that a revised plan be approved.

There are no immediate plans to release any more district land for similar projects, but Rucci believes they may materialize in time. "It's kind of hopeful now that we have polices in place," she said. "We haven't heard any community interest for another large one, but I'm sure it's coming."

There's no guarantee they will come with any public money, though, she said, as council made clear that the Lillooet grant was a one-time deal.

West Vancouver has had a community garden with almost 30 plots on the waterfront south of Argyle Avenue for a number of years. The facility's future is uncertain, however, in light of a new municipal waterfront plan that calls for the expansion of parkland west of Ambleside Park.

"We're trying to figure out a way to accommodate those people with our future development plans," said Stephen Jenkins, West Vancouver's manager of sustainability. "That may entail them moving to an alternative location or incorporating them into our designs for that area."

Late last year, the municipality built an edible garden at the West Vancouver Community Centre using donated funds. The roughly 300-square-metre facility boasts about 15 fruit trees as well as strawberries, blueberries and other plants. For the moment, district staff are tending it, but it hopes to turn control over to the community in the near future.

West Vancouver is expecting to build more.

"In our climate action plan, we've identified edible gardens as a priority," said Jenkins. "We're looking for places to expand."

The City of North Vancouver opened the 50-plot Lower Lonsdale Community Garden on East Second Avenue in 2004. It opened a new 60-plot facility west of Queen Mary elementary earlier this month. Both have long waiting lists.

The city has no solid plans for more in the immediate future, but Michael Hunter, the municipality's manager of parks and environment, thinks they're on the way.

"If you look at the long-term for a truly sustainable community, urban agriculture is going to be a big part of that," he said. "We need to come up with an overall plan now; we have to go beyond the one-off projects we've had so far."

jweldon@nsnews.com