Relocation of Farmers’ Market Gets Backing

After listening attentively to the concerns of organic farmers, downtown merchants and Ventura shoppers, the Planning Commission on Tuesday night unanimously overturned an appeal by a downtown antique dealer who protested relocation of the Saturday morning farmers’ market.

“I would hope the businesses downtown can support this move, even though they are so different in makeup,” Commissioner Sandy Smith said before the vote.

Construction is set to begin next month on a parking structure near the corner of California and Santa Clara streets, where the farmers’ market is now held. The market is scheduled to move two blocks west to a public parking lot at the northeast corner of Santa Clara and Palm streets.

But saying the farmers’ market will eat up valuable parking places in its new location, Attic Treasures’ owner Don Goolsby appealed the city’s decision to grant permission to agricultural vendors to move to the new site.

“I’m not against the farmers’ market,” Goolsby said, adding that he has gotten a letter from one customer who says she does not even shop downtown any more because parking is such a problem on Saturdays.

“But we’re not at a point where we can entertain a farmers’ market when we can’t even meet the parking needs of our customers,” he said. “Once we get the parking structure downtown, then let’s talk about having the farmers’ market across the street.”

Goolsby filed his appeal in late February. Since then, he has worked with 15 other downtown businesses to gather signatures of people opposing the move. Goolsby said he was up until 11:30 Monday night gathering letters from all the merchants who could not attend Tuesday’s meeting.

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Joy Parker of Beverly Fabrics on Main Street, whose parking lot will be taken over by the farmers’ market, told the commission that she could not afford to lose her Saturday customers. The lot has 97 spaces, of which 88 will be used by the market.

“Saturday is our busiest day of the week,” she said. “We can’t financially afford to lose one-third of our business on Saturdays.”

But other downtown merchants argue that the market brings thousands of people downtown.

“I have people walking in and out of my store every Saturday with their arms full of vegetables,” said Ron Ellis Smith, owner of Smith & Smith on Oak Street. Smith, who supports the move, will lose access to his business’ private parking lot Saturday mornings because it will be blocked by the market.

Karen Wetzel, operations manager of the Ventura County Certified Farmers’ Market Assn., which runs the market, argued that the farmers’ market is the best thing downtown has going for it.

“We’re the city’s most successful revitalization project,” she told the commission. “For 11 years, we’ve been bringing in California farmers and customers from all over the county, week after week.”

Wetzel presented 1,694 customer signatures in support of staying downtown and in support of the move.

Tim O’Neil, president of the Downtown Ventura Assn., says he sympathizes with Goolsby, but believes that the new site is the best choice, given the alternatives.

“This may not be the best location ever,” he said. “But it is the best of the alternatives that we have. . . . I’ve seen the petitions, seen the concerns, but I think the objections are kind of overblown.”

The open-air market was started in 1986 as a downtown redevelopment project. Since 1989, it has run as an independent, nonprofit farmers’ cooperative.

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The market was originally held at Figueroa and Santa Clara streets until 1991, when the 2nd Court of Appeal building was constructed at that site. The market was then moved to its present location. Now, the market is being forced out again--this time by a four-story, 500-space parking structure.

Wetzel said she was surprised by the appeal because she had worked extensively with city staff and downtown businesses to find the best new site.

Pat Richardson, the city’s redevelopment manager, said the city looked at six possible street locations and two other city parking lots for the market. They settled on the lot at Santa Clara and Palm because it is closest to the center of downtown, has good traffic circulation and can be closed off without disrupting the neighboring bank.

Goolsby vowed not to give up.

“If we don’t get this, someone else will appeal,” he said. “This isn’t the end of it.”

The proposed new site goes before the Ventura City Council for a final vote before the market can move.