City Rules Stymie Another Try at a Farmers
Market
• Market Chain Was Involved
Another effort to set up a farmers market
in Malibu has apparently encountered roadblocks when the
proponent of the project unveiled his plans for the new
venture.
John Edwards, who is affiliated with
California Certified Farmers Markets, was part of a pitch
for a market that would be held where a Whole Foods Market is
planned on undeveloped land next to the skate park in the Civic
Center.
The pitch was made by Michael
Besancon, the president of Whole Foods Southern Pacific
Regional Office.
Writing to the mayor and city manager,
Besancon confirmed that Whole Foods has entered into a lease
with developer Gordon Eckstrand of Cross Creek
Ventures for a market at that location.
“I am writing on behalf of
California Certified Farmers Markets as they
have asked permission to set up a farmers market there. Both
Mr. Eckstrand and I have approved CCFM using the property
on a limited and temporary basis before construction.
Until Whole Foods Market can open we thought the Malibu
residents would welcome and enjoy a farmer’s market. We
hope that you will approve such an arrangement,” Besancon
wrote.
Mayor Jeff Jennings acknowledged receiving
the letter. “The short answer is anybody that wants to
can apply. As far as I know, nobody has done that,” added
the mayor.
However, Permits Services Manager Gail
Sumpter said that changes made to the zoning laws for farmers
markets now make a market at the commercially zoned site
problematic.
The zoning law was changed last year to
allow a market on land zoned Institutional.
Sumpter said it was the county parking lot
at the library and court house that is zoned Institutional
where everyone wanted to have a farmers market that caused the
law to be changed.
“The ZTA changed the uses in the
Institutional zone,” said Sumpter, who added the
Whole Foods site cannot have a farmers market because it is
zoned Commercial.
The city official said there were three
applicants for a farmers market but the applications have been
“administratively withdrawn.”
The city and county during discussions
tossed back and forth about whose jurisdiction should prevail
for choosing an applicant. The city requires a Conditional Use
Permit for operating a market. The permit requires the
permission of the property owner as a condition for granting a
CUP.
However, the county has indicated it would
only give permission to the applicant who was successfully
given a CUP.
The discussions, for a while, continued on
the apparent Catch-22, but it appears that talks have come to a
halt.
City Manager Jim Thorsen said it was not a
matter of the negotiations coming to an end, but the priorities
have changed in the discussions with the county on the site.
Those priorities changed when county
officials announced they were entering into negotiations to
sell a portion of the government complex to the college
district. “If the county gave a long-term lease [for a
farmers market] and continued negotiating a deal with the
college, that could be a problem,” Thorsen added.
The city manager was referring to the
discussions between the Santa Monica College District and
county officials about the county selling the former
sheriff’s station to the college district for a satellite
campus.
All of the bureaucratic shuffle leaves
Edwards frustrated.
“I just don’t understand. The
city just doesn’t seem to want to allow a farmers
market,” complained Edwards, whose group has been
involved in dozens of markets across the Los Angeles region. He
said he was not aware of the zoning issues and said it appeared
the city has now made it more difficult for farmers market
operators.
“I’ve heard so many people in
Malibu want a farmers market, but it seems the city does
not,” he said.
