Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Farmers’ Market to Start at College : Shopping: Organizers’ initial choice to use the City Hall parking lot became a bone of contention with Newhall Land & Farming.

An outdoor market that put Santa Clarita and a major developer at odds over who controls the City Hall parking lot will begin operating Sunday.

The Santa Clarita Certified Farmers’ Market starts its weekly stint at the College of the Canyons parking lot, bordered by Valencia Boulevard and West Avenue, with an 8:45 a.m. grand opening.

About 5,000 residents are expected to purchase items ranging from apples, peaches and corn on the cob to squash, tomatoes and peppers, said Karen Wetzel, market manager for the sponsor, the Ventura County Certified Farmers’ Market Assn.

Organizers searched for seven months before agreeing to pay the college $30 an hour to hold the market Sundays from 9 a.m. to noon. The fee for COC employees to staff the campus during the event will be paid by the association and will not affect the prices of the produce, Wetzel said.

“We’ve always liked the college. We finally just had to make the commitment for the site,” Wetzel said.

The association hoped to use the City Hall parking lot for free, prompting a difference of opinion between Santa Clarita and the Newhall Land & Farming Co. The seeds of disagreement were the Covenants, Codes and Restrictions that apply to the lot to ensure consistent development along the portion of Valencia Boulevard that includes City Hall.

Newhall Land monitors the 25,000-square-feet expanse of asphalt as its original owner, and declared that a farmers market would violate the CC&Rs; and make their enforcement difficult in other areas of the city.

Santa Clarita’s city attorney ruled that the CC&Rs; could allow the market, but the city did not force the issue and Newhall Land agreed to help the association search for a substitute site.

The market is to include 35 to 40 growers from Los Angeles, Ventura and San Diego counties, San Luis Obispo and Fresno.

Wetzel said participants should expect to do a lot of walking at the event and bring either recyclable bags or a wagon in which to carry their purchases.