Altadena Town Council chairman Gino Sund has written a letter about the possibility of opening a farmer's market in Altadena, and the steps taken thus far:
About the Proposed Farmers Market
The issue of a farmer's market came to Town Council a couple of months ago when someone posted a notice near Farnsworth Park indicating that a Farmer's market would be coming to that location. Based on that posting and the resulting communications to the Council by residents, we decided to look into the issue.
From what we have heard, there seems to be a conceptual interest by the community to have a farmer's market in Altadena. But in all things conceptual, the devil is always in the details. There are the issues of venue, parking, traffic, the day and hours of operation, the type of the vendors at the market, along with a few other issues.
We have begun the process of addressing those issues. At this point in time, the only issue that seems to be definitely fixed is the location for a potential market. Since this program is designed for markets on county parks property, there is a limited choice of venue. Loma Alta park is the "only feasible" location in Altadena. All other county park locations have parking, traffic, and existing program limitations that preclude them from consideration.
Therefore, we will need to focus on Loma Alta as a site for a possible market since it is the only park to have enough parking and a traffic circulation pattern that might work.
The next step will be to engage the residents of the neighborhood and of Altadena, to determine the wishes of our community, including the following:
- The desire and consumer demand to have a Farmer's market in Altadena.
- The acceptability of using part of Loma Alta park for the venue.
- The day and hours of operation.
- The type of vendors for the market.
The County is now canvassing potential vendors to determine what products and services might be available for an Altadena market. Once we have something concrete to present to the community, we will begin the process of gathering public input. Hopefully, we will be able to start that process in the first quarter of next year.
As always, we will [notify] the community of all public meetings, and of course, encourage attendance at those meeting as well as direct communication via email, snail mail and phone.
Gino Sund
Altadena Town Council
