Return of El Mercado Outdoor Vendors Hits Snag

If there is any lasting truth about the 25-year controversy surrounding El Mercado de Los Angeles marketplace in Boyle Heights, it is this: No solution is as simple as it appears.

Roughly 20 outdoor vendors, who had operated illegally at the Eastside market for years, had been told by Councilman Nick Pacheco that they could return this weekend to the El Mercado parking lot at 1st and Lorena streets. They had agreed to quit selling in the lot last November until a compromise could be reached.

While some of the vendors plan to reopen their stands today, what was supposed to be an agreement among neighbors, merchants and El Mercado’s owner appears headed back to court.

As part of a plan brokered by Pacheco, the vendors agreed to temporarily vacate El Mercado while building owner Pedro Rosado made roughly $700,000 in improvements to placate neighbors--like putting in more toilets and improving exits and entrances so that cars don’t crowd nearby streets.

Rosado, who does not have a certificate of occupancy for the outdoor vendors, is seeking a zoning variance permitting the parking lot sales. His hearing is scheduled for June.

During a council hearing Friday, Pacheco announced that Rosado had met all the conditions of the compromise plan, including construction of permanent vending booths, expected to be finished in three weeks.

In turn, Pacheco said he will support Rosado’s variance application.

The agreement was touted as a sensible approach to solving the collision between neighbors and the thousands of El Mercado customers.

“I made sure I listened to all sides very carefully,” said Pacheco.

In exchange for temporarily abandoning the outdoor sites while Rosado made his improvements, Pacheco said, the vendors were told they could set up shop before approval of the variance.

One problem.

As the vendors again sell their jewelry, churros and fruit on an El Mercado parking lot ramp, members of the Boyle Heights Residents Assn. are planning to return to court.

As part of a lawsuit filed on behalf of residents by Los Angeles County against Rosado and the city, they plan to seek enforcement of a Superior Court injunction that bars outdoor vending at El Mercado until the city variance is granted.

“We’ve suffered economically and morally through this whole process,” said Maria Garcia, a mother of four who voluntarily abandoned her outdoor toy stand in November.

The residents said their action is not an attack on vendors, but is an attempt to corral Rosado.

Saul Medina, 33, who lives near El Mercado’s Concord Street entrance, said Rosado is responsible for years of parking problems, vandalism and litter.

“He’s like a child,” Medina said of Rosado. “You have to scold him repeatedly and show him what to do. Why should he get away with breaking the law?”

Julian Warner, Rosado’s attorney, said Rosado has done everything the city has asked him to do. “At this point, El Mercado does not have a single complaint against it from a city agency,” he said. “There are no violations.”

Pacheco, originally expecting to applaud the vendors’ return in a Cinco de Mayo celebration, said the likely holdup “has been disheartening.”