Proposal for Farmers Market Criticized : Moorpark: Concerns about safety and harm to existing businesses are cited. City officials will meet with Chamber of Commerce leader and merchants.

An ambitious plan to revitalize downtown Moorpark through a weekly farmers market has drawn criticism from city officials, who say the proposal could hurt existing merchants by allowing growers to undersell them.

“I have a problem with this,” Mayor Paul Lawrason said at the council’s Wednesday meeting. “I would like to see it. . . . But I don’t want to contribute to depressing the existing businesses. I can’t abide that at all.”

Councilman John Wozniak said the market as currently proposed is also a safety risk, because it would be held at the city-owned Metrolink station and shoppers would be forced to dodge passing freight and Amtrak trains in between browsing for oranges and avocados.

Moorpark Chamber of Commerce President Francis Okyere, who proposed the market as a way to boost interest in the city’s sleepy downtown, responded angrily to council criticism at the meeting and later threatened to take the event to some other area of the city.

“If the downtown merchants are so against the idea, we’ll move it,” Okyere said. “We’ll have it somewhere else.”

After assailing specific elements of the proposal, council members agreed to hold a meeting Tuesday with Okyere and downtown merchants to see if there is some way to piece together the concept they all generally support.

Lawrason said Thursday that he has always liked the idea of the market, but is concerned that plans to sell cut flowers and other items may cut into the sales of existing businesses.

“I want it to be an event which will stimulate activity down there,” Lawrason said. “Without having a serious impact on existing businesses.”

The mayor’s concerns were echoed by Joy Cummings, president of the Moorpark Old Town Merchants Assn., and Kathy Amador, owner of the Moorpark Flower & Gift Emporium.

“I can compete with any other business you bring in here,” Amador told the council. “But I cannot compete with a grower. There is no way. I can’t compete with grower prices and I really need to be assured that this isn’t going to happen.”

Okyere said the chamber has made efforts to ensure that existing shops would not compete directly with market vendors and was committed to staging the event to benefit downtown merchants, not harm them.

“This farmers market was to give the general public a weekly reminder of the existence of the downtown,” Okyere said. “We were never trying to put anyone out of business.”

Of Lawrason’s concern over the market competing with existing businesses, Okyere said, “It’s unrealistic. He can’t control competition. Economically and politically it’s a very flawed thought process.”

As proposed, the market would be operated by Cynthia Korman, who currently runs the Ojai farmers market. Korman would take a percentage of any market profits and the rest would go toward advertising aimed at focusing interest in the downtown area, Okyere said.

The market would be open in the Metrolink parking lot on High Street from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays and would feature the goods of 15 to 20 growers, including avocados, fruits, vegetables, herbs, coffee, fish, honey, eggs, pasta and bread.

But profits would be minimal during the first year or two of operation, Okyere said, and would only mount after the market became established over time. Because of this, the chamber had asked the city to waive its fees and allow the market free use of its Metrolink lot.

Councilman Scott Montgomery did not share Lawrason’s concern over competition, but said the farmers market should be treated like any other downtown business and made to pay city registration fees and rental fees for use of the Metrolink lot--something Okyere said would effectively kill the proposal.