If you are gardening on a vacant lot (or interested in doing so), you must get the owner's permission. In many cases, you can take ownership of the lot to ensure that you can continue to garden on the property.
Step 1. Find out who owns the lot.
NGA can help you determine who the owner is. You must know the address of the lot. Email nga-staff@ngalandtrust.org or call the NGA office at (215)988-8797.
Step 2. Get permission to garden or take ownership of the property
If the lot is city owned, apply to acquire a city owned sideyard or lot.
View our guide: Applying for a city-owned property as a sideyard.
You must get permisssion from the city to garden on the land.
If the lot is privately owned, send a certified letter to the owner asking for permission to garden on the land.
You should also ask about the owner's long term plans for the lot (i.e are they planning on selling/developing the land).
If the owner no longer wants the property and the property is tax deliquent, you may be able to acquire the property through the city's donor/taker program
View details on the The City of Philadelphia's Donor/Taker Program.
If you can't locate the owner, it may be possible to acquire the land via Sheriff's sale. To do so, the property must be vacant and tax deliquent.
View our guide: Sheriff Sale - Instructions For Community Gardeners
NGA can assist you with any of these steps!
Contact us 215-988-8797, nga-staff@ngalandtrust.org.
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