Planning Commission Delays Vote on Open-Air Market

It’s a bustling open-air market with stands selling steaming hot corn, tortillas, toys and clothing. It’s crowded in the mornings and jammed on the weekends. There’s only one problem: It’s not legal.

And as of Thursday, El Mercado at 1st and Lorena streets in Boyle Heights still isn’t.

The Los Angeles Planning Commission delayed a vote for two weeks on a proposed change in the market’s zoning after a nearly four-hour meeting that brought together an unusual mix of politicians, City-Council-members-turned-lobbyists, attorneys, Boyle Heights residents and about three dozen of El Mercado’s vendors, many with small children in tow.

The vendors, like the gardeners who are fasting on the steps of City Hall to protest the council’s ban on leaf blowers and the street vendors who also came under council scrutiny, are mostly poor, Latino immigrants working to support families.

As a result, some politicians and council observers say lawmakers and others setting the city’s policy need to come to grips with the tremendous needs of the working poor, many of whom are newcomers to the United States.

State Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), who spoke before the Planning Commission in support of the zoning change, said he believes these are the people who “get lost in the shuffle,” and that the economic tools they need to survive are being stripped from them without regard to their livelihoods.

“I think we--those of us who debate public policy--have to understand there are some deeper consequences and special needs in these emerging communities,” Polanco said. “They are not the enemy. In some ways, they are doing the toughest work. They are poor, hard-working people. . . . They are doing it the American way . . . and the city should be working for them.”

But City Councilman Richard Alatorre and Supervisor Gloria Molina, who oppose the zoning change, say that although they do not want to throw the vendors out on the streets, they want the market’s owner, Pedro Rosado, to operate legally.

“The problem is that I don’t trust him and nor does the community,” Molina said. “You have poor people here trying to fight City Hall. If this was happening in Hancock Park or some other affluent area, you can bet it would have been stopped a long time ago.”

But while Alatorre and Molina sympathized with the vendors, they said residents--who complain about parking, traffic, noise and trash from El Mercado--also have rights.

The city and county have been after El Mercado for years, taking the owners to court, denying permits and even targeting it for building and safety inspections. A Superior Court judge last summer issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the sellers’ stands in the parking lots.

Nadine Diaz, who lives near the market, appealed to the commissioners to deny the proposed change because of the nuisance it has become in her neighborhood.

“We are not a rich neighborhood, we are not affluent,” Diaz said. “All we have are our homes. If the zone change is granted, only one man will benefit.”

Rosado said he collects $300 to $500 per month from the 40 or so vendors on the site. He said he is attempting to change the zoning laws from multifamily residential to commercial so that he can build a structure for the vendors.

“It is 40 families, that is how I look at it,” said Rosado, who has hired former Councilman Art Snyder and attorneys to help him maneuver through the maze of City Hall zoning laws. “It would be sad to see them end up in the street.”

Officials said the city’s land-use plan allows for the zoning change, but that the decision is up to the council.

Three planning commissioners appeared to be sympathetic to Rosado but delayed action until they could receive assurances that he would comply with city laws if he receives preliminary approval for the code change.

Julian Warner, an attorney representing Rosado, said he is unsure how to make those assurances. “We’re going to put our brains together and see if we can come up with something,” he said.

Commissioner Marna Schnabel said the panel shouldn’t penalize Rosado for not complying with the law up until now, but warned that the city will enforce its laws--if the zoning change receives City Council approval.

“This is an opportunity,” Schnabel said. “We will enforce it . . . or you’re out of there.”