STONE HARBOR – Two weeks after the Borough Council voted to move the popular farmers market to a new location, the council ran into opposition to the decision from some residents and businessmen who voiced multiple concerns.
Some of those who spoke in opposition to the move at the council’s March 5 meeting also challenged the governing body to be more transparent and deliberate in its decision-making.
The council on Feb. 20 voted to move the market from the water tower parking lot to the larger free municipal lot at 94th Street, one block away on Second Avenue. The larger lot, council members said, would allow for more vendors and an expanded area for the 1,500 to 2,000 shoppers who frequent the outdoor Sunday market from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Angelo Caracciolo, chair of the borough’s Zoning Board, walked the council and the public through the timeline of the Feb. 20 meeting, pointing out that a vote on a proposal to relocate the market was not part of the public agenda for the meeting.
“You were to be voting on fees and schedules,” he said, adding that then, without advance public notice, the vendor fee resolution was amended at the meeting to authorize the move. Anyone who wanted to oppose the relocation would have been unaware that they had to be ready to voice their opinions at the Feb. 20 meeting, he said.
“That is not transparency,” Caracciolo said. Calling the decision “rushed,” he urged the council to reconsider moving the market.
Josie Rich, a past member of the governing body, echoed Caracciolo’s advice, saying it should leave the market where it has always been. She said the council needed to bring common sense to the decision and leave the market alone. “You have many other things to do,” Rich added.
The move also was not popular with some members of the business community, who spoke against the change. Pete Langel, a 96th Street business owner, urged the council to be more deliberate in its decision-making and to assess the impact of decisions on local businesses.
Stone Harbor Chamber of Commerce coordinator Marnie Langel also expressed concern over the impact moving the market might have on local businesses. She said individuals and families who come for the market often wander into the adjacent business district from the water tower lot.
A different concern was raised by a member of Our Savior Lutheran Church, who said that the move would disrupt parking for two Sunday service times. “We have many elderly people who need to park as close to the church as possible,” she said.
Her fear was that a market relocated to 94th Street would draw parking with it, eliminating street parking for the church and even causing some to inadvertently make use of the church’s lot.
In 2023 the council was criticized for taking an ordinance on setback rules that was deliberated over by the Planning Board and making significant changes without what many members of the public considered due diligence.
Also in 2023, Caracciolo spoke against a proposed merger of the planning and zoning boards that had been announced at a council meeting as though it were a done deal. The merger never occurred.
There was no indication from council members that the decision to relocate the market would be revisited.
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
