SANTA ANA : Council Rejects Plan for Open-Air Bazaar

The City Council decided Monday that a group of swap meet vendors, put out of business by the courts in March, will not be allowed to run an open-air Christmas bazaar at Centennial Park.

The vendors, who lost a three-year legal battle against the city to keep the El Mercado swap meet in operation at Rancho Santiago College, had sought an exemption from a city ordinance prohibiting outdoor swap meets.

At its regular meeting Monday night, the council rejected the proposal, which would have allowed the open-air bazaar to be held in the city for three weekends before Christmas.

Councilman John Acosta asked the council to approve the event “in the Christmas spirit,” but his motion failed for lack of a second.

Outdoor swap meets have been embroiled in controversy since 1987, when city officials shut down a popular swap meet at Santa Ana Stadium after receiving complaints about trash and noise.

The event then moved to Rancho Santiago College, and the city spent more than three years trying to shut it down. It finally succeeded in March, when a Superior Court judge ordered the event closed because it violated city zoning laws.