Petaluma’s east side farmers market on the move

Petaluma’s eastside farmers market will be headed back to its roots at Lucchesi Park later this month after being forced to leave its current location at Deer Creek Village shopping center to pave the way for new developments.

Kelly Smith, the year-round market’s manager, said she first received a notice on March 24 from a representative of the property manager, Merlone Geier, alerting her that the three food trucks that frequented the market would no longer be permitted on the premises, a request she said the market accommodated.

Merlone Geier then sent a second notice on April 13 terminating the lease and requiring that the market move off the property by June 13 to make way for the development in the unimproved spaces.

After scouting out various options for other area locations for the market, Smith, who is also the executive director of Agricultural Community Events Farmers Markets, clinched a contract to return to Lucchesi Park beginning May 31. She said the operation will keep the same 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. schedule each Tuesday and food trucks will be allowed at the park, with space for about 40 vendors.

“I think it’s a real positive,” she said. “We took a negative and made it into a positive. I definitely am sad that we have to move from Deer Creek, but I’m happy we have such a great space to move to.”

Mikel Edwards, who owns and operates Rize Up Farm, has been selling his bounty at the market for several years. He said the park will offer a welcoming venue that he hopes will continue to draw a steady stream of customers.

“We’ve gotten stronger over the years,” Edwards said as he stood at his booth heaped with fresh lettuce, fava beans and other produce. “(The move) will maybe affect us in the beginning … but we’re strong enough wherever we move. It’s a good market with a good variety.”

Smith said the farmers market, which was launched in September 2012 at the park, moved to Deer Creek Village last June after representatives for the shopping center offered them free use of the vacant lot bordering North McDowell Boulevard.

The plans for the shopping center, approved in 2012, included “Main Street” space intended to be used for community events, such as farmers markets, though the public gathering space identified didn’t include the lot the farmer’s market currently occupies.

Greg Geertsen, Merlone Geier Partner’s managing director, said the developer plans to add four new buildings and will use the vacant northern lot as a staging area for construction, which he estimates will be starting next month pending permitting approval from the city.

He said a Smart and Final Extra store is planned to occupy a roughly 32,000 square-foot building that will be developed next to City Sports Club, and three other buildings will be constructed throughout the center, with letters of intent submitted for a specialty nail salon, a bank and a coffee shop, Geertsen said. In addition to the new developments planned to be completed in the next eight months, he said a Rubio’s and a Jamba Juice will be coming soon to already-established buildings in the center.

Geertsen said the northern part of the shopping center will be developed next, and will likely be complete in 12 to 18 months. He said once more tenants have moved in and more buildings are completed, the developers will reach out to interested parties about establishing a smaller farmers market that will fit with the intent of the original plan. The notice regarding food trucks was separate from the ultimate lease termination, he said.

Smith said moving to the highly-visible lot at Deer Creek Village helped bolster traffic to the market, while also drawing more vendors. She estimated about 500 people visit the Tuesday morning market each week, a crowd she expects will also find its way to the new location without a decrease in attendance.

She said the market, which also offers programs to make fresh foods more assessable to low-income families, is an important resource for the city’s east side population, serving as a community gathering spot as well as a way to educate children about locally-sourced food.

“It’s for the community to come together and enjoy food, eat healthy and be localized,” she said.