Kenneth Village Farmer’s Market
July 3 Debut On As Scheduled 5

The Kenneth Village Farmer’s Market will debut as scheduled, July 3, from 3-7 p.m. Originally planned as a weekly event, the permit issued now limits it to four weeks in compliance with city code.

Cities around the U.S. are trying to support small business/retail districts with efforts like this, with varying success. Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal featured such efforts in communities around the country. Some provide only a short-term boost, while others are producing a “buy local” awareness helping independent businesses survive.

In Kenneth Village, one businessman feared a Farmer’s Market would compete with his shop in terms of items sold. Other merchants opposed the market after plans were set. City Clerk Ardashes Kassakhian advised Development Services and asked them to look into it. After interviews with merchants, and establishing that the market would be held on private property, the city advised organizers that the Farmer’s Market could only take place four times in compliance with city code and if it was deemed a success organizers could apply for a zoning variance.

City Council member Laura Friedman sent the editor this clarification today:

The only permit for a farmer’s market on private property that can be issued without a zoning exemption or conditional use permit is for four events per year. This is to prevent private property owners from operating secondary businesses in parking lots and empty lots on an ongoing basis without public input. The promoters of the market can apply for a zoning variance to allow regular weekly events. If that were to happen, other stakeholders like nearby residents and businesses would have a chance to air their concerns, opposition or support. That testimony would be taken into account by the zoning administrator when she makes her decision about granting a permit. My hope is that the market will be a benefit to the merchants, and that any opposition or concerns will be tempered by the success of the first four events.

City Clerk Ardashes Kassakhian has apprised city departments of communications on this issue from the Kenneth Village Merchants’ Association, individual shopowners and surrounding neighbors, and Scholastic Gardens (the applicant). “We’ve been on top of this from the beginning,” said Kassakhian, “My instruction to city departments has been to work with merchants and organizers to see where else it could be held so it could be held continuously.”

The motive for the event is to attract more customers to a neighborhood shopping district. One neighbor wrote in an email on the subject, “WITH OR WITHOUT THE FARMER’S MARKET…YOU SHOULD STILL STROLL DOWN TO THE VILLAGE AND SHOP, HAVE AN ICE CREAM, CUP OF COFFEE, PIZZA, HAMBURGER…BUY FLOWERS, DROP OFF CLEANING…AND VISIT WITH NEIGHBORS. EVERYONE HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!!”

I echo her Independence Day wishes and wish all the best to Kenneth Village as the Farmer’s Market debuts tomorrow.