Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Farmers Market Displacement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Supervisor urges Rec and Park to clarify UN Plaza pilot after Heart of the City Farmers Market moved to Fulton Plaza
Summary
Supervisor Preston introduced a resolution asking Recreation and Park Department to provide details and mitigations after a pilot activation of UN Plaza resulted in relocation of the Heart of the City Farmers Market to Fulton Plaza, a move market supporters say happened without sufficient community engagement.
Supervisor Dean Preston on Sept. 5 introduced a resolution expressing concern about Recreation and Park Department plans to activate United Nations Plaza and the resulting relocation of the Heart of the City Farmers Market to Fulton Plaza.
Preston said the market has operated on UN Plaza for 42 years and serves more than 20,000 people on Wednesdays and Sundays, with over 50 California farmers participating and the market operating the country’s largest farmers-market EBT program. "This is a beloved market, and an important part of our community," he said.
The resolution urges Rec and Park to provide clarity on the pilot’s duration, itemized costs and funding sources, metrics for evaluating the pilot and commitments to ensure the market can survive and return to UN Plaza if the new location proves unsuccessful.
Preston said Rec and Park filed plans in July describing a pilot that included installing a skate park and other activities and that the farmers market was moved in December. He told colleagues the farmers and community leaders were told the pilot would last six months with an opportunity to return, but Rec and Park later described the pilot as a two-year project. Preston asked the department to explain the discrepancy and to adopt mitigation measures requested by market operators.
He also noted that more than 700 permanent supportive housing units in the city’s portfolio are ready for referral and that over 1,000 PSH units are currently vacant — more than 10 percent of the city’s portfolio — and said he introduced a separate resolution urging the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing to fill at least half of the vacant units within 90 days and to maintain a vacancy rate not to exceed 5 percent going forward.
Public commenters, including long-time market supporters and farmers, told the board they were surprised by the removal of brick surfaces and other elements at UN Plaza after the market closed and argued the move disrupted a market that has operated for decades and provides millions of dollars in annual incentives for low-income shoppers.
Preston asked colleagues to cosponsor the resolution and said he hoped the action would "help move us toward a better situation for everyone involved."
