Five Points Bakery – Buffalo’s First Grass Parking Lot!

It’s finally happened. Two business partners have created a fully sustainable parking lot. Of course the entrepreneurs in question are Kevin and Melissa Gardner, who have just finished installing the city’s first grass parking lot. The grass parking lot has a 6-8” base of compacted sand and stone, topped with a topsoil-filled reinforced grid, according to The Gardners.

They say that the grass lot was made possible thanks to the new Buffalo Green Code, and that they hope that the fully permeable lot will be an inspiration for others to follow.

Time and time again, we see businesses taking the easy way out, and not thinking about the environmental repercussions of laying loads of asphalt.

I’m not saying that all new parking lots should be grass, but I am saying that there are viable alternatives, such as permeable pavers (some made by a company with Buffalo roots). In the case of Five Points Bakery, Kevin and Melissa decided to go with True Grid permeable grid under the grass, which helps to keep everything in place.

The new grass lot is just one component of the bakery’s new expansion plan, which includes a patio courtyard setting, a an event space, and a building extension featuring green rooftops.