ECHO PARK : Farmers Market Draws Opposition

Starting up a farmers market in Echo Park seemed like an innocent enough idea. Or so David Williams thought.

The very idea of bringing a Saturday morning open-air market to the eclectic community has drawn the wrath of business people resentful of the competition, residents who fear it might draw crime and others who believe it would encourage illegal vendors.

“I didn’t realize it would reach the intensity that it has,” said Williams, 35, who brought the issue up for debate at a recent meeting of the Echo Park Improvement Assn., a community organization. He also met with the local chamber of commerce.

Proponents of the market, tentatively planned for an area near a park, see it as a chance for neighbors to mingle and the community to burnish its rough image. The market, which would require a four-hour closure of Echo Park Avenue on Saturdays, also would feature bakery goods and crafts.

Williams has assumed the task of launching the market. According to state regulations, he must find a sponsor, such as a branch of the city government or a nonprofit organization. Many markets are started by community members who create a local farmers market advisory committee. Start-up costs usually average $12,000.

“I think Echo Park is a gem that needs a little polishing up,” said Williams, a resident who works as caterer outside the area. “Echo Park is known for gangs. But it’s simply not the only thing that Echo Park is about.”

But some business owners say such a market would drain the already struggling local economy and would lure illegal vendors and crime. Residents buying their fruits and vegetables at a farmers market, some argue, means stores will get fewer customers and may be forced to cut employee hours.

Linda Phan, whose father owns A1 Grocery Warehouse a block from the park, said she is concerned that those coming to the market would disrupt the store’s business.

“It’s a great idea, but it would affect our business during the day due to traffic and the activities,” Phan said. “It would be an inconvenience because it would attract more people from different areas.”

New farmers markets usually face some opposition, generally because of worries over parking space and fears of drawing “undesirable people” to the area, said Marion Kalb, director of the Southland Farmers Market Assn., a nonprofit group paid by farmers to help start and promote new markets.

In Hollywood, some community leaders and organizers of a new farmers market said it has been successful.

Leron Gubler, executive director of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, said the market has pulled people back into the neighborhood and helped businesses.

“It gets people in the habit of coming to Hollywood Boulevard,” Gubler said. While at the Sunday market, he said, people might “see a store that interests them and they might come back. I think it’s a very positive thing.”

Because the Echo Park market would require the closure of city streets, Williams must persuade at least 50% of residents near the proposed site to sign a petition in favor of the market. Since Williams also plans to use part of the park to create space for crafts, he must gain the approval of the city’s Recreation and Parks Department.

Mike Leum, the vice president of Pioneer Market, a family-run business that has been in the neighborhood 50 years, said his business and others would suffer if a weekly market was created.

“On the one hand, the concept is a wonderful concept because it gets people of different ethnicities together,” Leum said. “But, in my opinion, you don’t need retail to do that. If you want a cultural experience, let’s have music or art in the park.”