Dozens of neighbors and a handful of elected officials braved steep slopes and loose dirt May 11 to break ground on a small plot of land that will become a new Fremont P-Patch.

The Hazel Heights p-patch at 4200 Baker Ave. N.W. will hold 19 gardening plots and should be ready to use by this fall.

The lot was purchased by the neighborhood after the death of the lot's neighbor and namesake Hazel Hurlbert in 2003. In 2005, the Hazel Heights steering committee was formed.

After that, it was a matter of raising money and waiting for city funds to be available.

Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin, a featured guest at the event, said it is a goal to provide enough funding for P-Patches in the future so that there is never a waiting list.

The steeply sloping lot is the only P-Patch in the city to require a master use permit and an environmental review, escalating costs.

But because of its location, Hazel Heights offers views of Fremont, Ballard, the Lake Washington Ship Canal and the Olympic Mountains.

The P-Patch will feature an 8,000-gallon irrigation water cistern to be fed from rainwater from two neighboring roofs in the hopes of reducing storm water runoff.

It is important that funding be made available for small-scale waste water projects like this, King County Council member Larry Phillips said at the event.

One of the plots, as well as a fruit tree on the site, will be used to provide food for local food banks.

Washington State Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles said she plans to bring legislators to the P-Patch once it is complete to show them how important these projects are.