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Here is a question from someone interested in creating farmers markets:

I am working on putting together innovative ideas the City of Seattle can use to gain permanent land tenure for local farmers markets. Options I have researched include public and private parking lots, as well as public street closure.

What I wanted to know from you, is if there were any new and exciting ideas/programs you could direct me to regarding this issue of permanent farmers market locations.

Here is my first response:

Here are a few thoughts:

First, regarding the politics of the process.

Have you a CBO or six to work with? They can help manage the politics of the process as well as help identify locations.

Have you a champion in the City to work with?

Please note the City of Chicago has had regular farmers markets for 27 years, see their webpage at: http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalEntityHomeAction.do?entityName=Farmers+Markets&entityNameEnumValue=184

One thing to keep in mind is how to allocate space in the markets that are created. There are a number of ways to allocate space, some of which encourage experimentation with vending. Space allocation is VERY important and much more can be said about it.

Today's Los Angeles Times reports that Los Angeles County is considering stiffening penalties for taco trucks that operate illegally. Currently taco trucks may remain stationary no longer than 30 minutes, subject to a fine of $60. But finding that some trucks are undeterred, the County proposes to give them up to an hour, but increase the fine to $1000. I blogged about a similar crackdown in Salinas, California last June. http://www.openair.org/blog/kettles_mc_edu?page=3
The reason is the same. Taco truck detractors complain that the mobile eateries contribute to disorder on public streets and unfairly compete with fixed restaurants.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tacotruck14apr14,0,4600263.story?page=1

Taco truck operators have threatened suit, hiring attorney Philip C. Greenwald to represent them. It's not clear what the basis of a suit would be. The operators might take a cue from a Maryland Attorney General, who opined that restrictions designed to bar day laborers from soliciting work from passing motorists was preempted by state law on road safety and violated free speech rights guaranteed by the first amendment. I blogged about that last week. http://www.openair.org/node/413

Preemption may apply here, too, especially for trucks on Whittier, Rosemead, and Firestone Boulevards. Those routes are numbered California State Highways.

Last week the Maryland Attorney General issued an opinion that a Gaithersburg, MD prohibition on certain kinds of roadside solicitation is invalid.

A year ago Gaithersburg enacted an ordinance prohibiting pedestrians on the sidewalk or in the roadway from soliciting employment from automobiles. The city cited the risk of traffic accidents posed by day laborers hustling work from passing motorists. The state attorney general acknowledged these concerns, but believed that the city had gone too far toward addressing them.

One problem with the ordinance was that it was pre-empted by state law. The state of Maryland already regulates solicitations by pedestrians from standing in a roadway, intersection, or median divider. Further, the state legislature made clear its intention that these rules would be uniform state-wide, and not subject to patch-work ordinances by local governments.

Chicago is like many big cities that takes pride in self-sufficiency. Of course we all know how interdependent people and places are in our global economy. Goods and services traffic borders of all sorts, political and ecological. We also know that the big headlines are made by the big players, the freight cars rolling across the country, the goods transshipped up the Mississippi from Asian origins, but consider the farmer and his or her truck, Chicago certainly is.

Chicago is also taking pride in becoming a green city. A system of 24 farmer's markets has grown over the last 20-30 years, roadside stands proliferate across the metropolitan area. Farmers from as far away as Arkansas sell goods at these markets, but between gasoline prices constraining some farmers and the more positive desire of the City to promote local commerce, comes the invitation to Wisconsin farmers to join Chicago markets.

The City of Chicago recently organized a farm forum to answer questions and promote participation in the City's markets. With an interest in speciality food and fruit, and a large supply of both in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, the possibilities for direct sales are rapidly growing.

In the movie "Patch Adams" the lead character checks himself into a psychatric hospital, unable to see beyond his private malaise. But he is cured by another patient who helps him have a vision beyond the obvious. Storefront and street business and other parties in conflict need help developing a broader vision.

The New York Times reports that the Korean Merchants Association is upset at the prospects of 1000 new street vendors peddling produce in to the poor and those distant from grocery stores. Without a doubt the KMA is acting on its interest in reducing competition from other merchants, but why aren't the various parties, the City, the KMA and potential merchants, not negotiating for win-win solutions?

As 100 years ago, street vendors are called upon to provide access to inexpensive, fresh foods. The concerns then and now are similar, providing produce, enhancing dietary choice and reducing the distance to store-front merchants. The parties could take a lesson from 100 years ago when cities around the country also acknowledged the role street merchants and public markets played in reducing unemployment and providing income-earning opportunities that could eventually lead to new business or the skills and resources to join the workforce.