For 30 years, Francisco Velasquez has grown strawberries and vegetables on the family farm in Santa Maria bearing his name.
To pay the bills, he depends regularly on farmers’ markets in San Luis Obispo County, plying his wares in Avila Beach and San Miguel.
“I don’t sell thousands of slats of strawberries,” he said. “I’m trying to make a living. I do this because I like agriculture. I do it very professionally.”
As one of a handful of growers supporting a Saturday farmers’ market in the parking lot of Orcutt’s Spencer’s Fresh Markets, he and other growers are finding it harder to start up a local market than they imagined.
Besides fees from various departments, Santa Barbara County’s Planning Department is requiring a $4,000 permit, an amount Velasquez said farmers simply can’t afford.
“That’s a lot of money for us this time of year,” he said. “We need some help, and right now it seems like they ignore everything. They don’t want to give it to us. I don’t know why.”
According to Santa Barbara County planner Kim Probert, the reason for the fee is the lot’s designation as a retail commercial zone, requiring a minor conditional use permit for such an event.
Probert quoted $4,639 for the permit, and said the county’s Board of Supervisors is the only hearing body with the power to reduce or waive it, requiring a four-fifths majority vote.
In meetings, 5th District Supervisor Joe Centeno has expressed support for waiving the fee. Fourth District Supervisor Joni Gray was unavailable for comment for this story, though Linda Williams, a Gray staff member, said any break on pricing is unlikely.
“Fee reductions are going to be difficult to get—not just for the farmers markets, but any fee reduction.” Williams said. “With times being as they are, it’s difficult now for everybody.”
Williams said Gray is supportive of the idea of a Saturday market in Orcutt, but the Spencer’s proposal is still “up in the air.”
“There’s farmers’ markets everywhere and some of them do pay the fee,” Williams said. “The supervisors don’t want to set a precedent.”
After being told the Orcutt market would cost $3,869 in initial fees, vendor Christy Laschiver addressed the supervisors in April. She said the fee is unrealistic for local growers, who make around $200 per market.
“It’s excessive, it’s unreasonable, and it’s not in the community’s best interest,” Laschiver said. “It’s just mind-boggling. None of the other markets have had to deal with this. If we were building a store, I could understand it. We’re talking about three hours on a Saturday morning. We roll it out and roll it back in.”
Northern Santa Barbara County currently offers no weekend farmers markets, according to Laschiver. She said the Spencer’s location, situated midway between Santa Maria and Orcutt, has the support of growers and the public.
“We’re just asking for what’s common sense, what’s fair, what’s reasonable, what makes sense,” she said. “We’re not trying to get rich, we’re not trying to rip anybody off. We’re trying to provide a nice service to the community.”
Laschiver said she’s applied for a nonprofit status and has been busy gathering signatures for a petition to reduce or waive the permitting fee.
The county occasionally receives requests for fee reductions, according to county supervising planner John Karamitsos, and few are successful. He said supervisors have the option of weighing a number of conditions to justify fee reductions, including overall public benefit.
Karamitsos added he believes the community would benefit from a Saturday market, and is willing to work directly on the project.
“There’s a long list of benefits [to a farmers’ market] that can be described as an asset for a community and a benefit to the general public,” he said. “In addition, there’s the folks who are able to sell their produce locally and regionally, directly from farm to market. And you’re out with family and friends milling around and shopping for produce. I think it’s a great thing.
“I’m sure there’s something that can be done,” he added.
The county’s help would be welcome news to John Spencer, owner of Spencer’s Fresh Markets. A native of the Santa Maria Valley, Spencer has instituted farmers’ markets at his stores in Arroyo Grande and Morro Bay.
The cities have embraced the concept, he said, and Spencer has used the block party-style markets to connect with neighborhoods and forge relationships with growers.
“It creates an opportunity for the city folk to have an event that is in the spirit of our small town rural feel,” he said. “The community absolutely loves it. Plus, they’re getting the opportunity to shop with some of their local farmers and keep the heritage going that’s sort of been a rural community lifestyle from generation to generation.”
Spencer said he’s not planning to charge the growers anything for putting the market in his parking lot and called the county’s permitting fee “ridiculous.”
“We’re talking about small-time family farmers,” he said. “It makes it impossible. They’re not going to be able to absorb that. It’s not like these guys have deep pockets.”
As a small-time farmer, Velasquez said competing with supermarket chains is already tough—and getting worse.
“We’re starting from the bottom,” he explained. “We don’t have the money. If we can get just a half or quarter what they’re asking, maybe we can do it. If they stick with the same fee, that means they don’t want to participate. They don’t want the market there.”
Velasquez said he’s been told to take his produce to more lucrative places, but is more motivated by supplying fresh produce to his own community. He said the county must act on the market before winter.
“It shouldn’t be something that we need to fight. We need a solution,” he said. “We want it now so we can start going. Right now, the vegetables are here. The fruits are here. It’s going to look nice, and everyone’s going to enjoy it.
“We need to help each other,” he added. “If we can do it here, let’s do it here.” m
Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas can be contacted at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 20-27, 2010.