On Tuesday, the Sebastopol Planning Commission voted unanimously to grant the Sebastopol Farmers Market an amendment to its current use permit. The amendment included three significant changes:
Expansion into the West America Bank parking lot — that’s the little spur connecting the Downtown Plaza to Bodega Avenue.
Use of the full plaza parking lot for 11 months out of the year;
Expansion of hours to include time at the beginning and end of the market to allow for setup and breakdown. The hours that the farmers market is open to the public will remain the same — 9 am to 1:30 pm — but the market will have use of the parking lot from 7:30 am to 3 pm.
The appeal window for this decision is seven days, which means that anyone who objects to the decision must file an appeal with the city by Tuesday, Aug. 4. According to a city document, “This requires the submittal of a completed City Appeal Form, written statement and payment of the applicable fee delivered to the Planning Department at 7120 Bodega Avenue, Sebastopol, California, no later than 5:00 P.M. on Tuesday, August 4, 2026.”
An earlier effort at expansion
The Sebastopol Farmers Market was founded in 1989, but it has been located in Sebastopol’s downtown plaza since 1995. In his introductory presentation, consulting planner John Jay noted that the farmers market’s use permit has been modified over the years as needed to accommodate its growth and expansion.
Barbara Hom, the market’s manager, had originally asked to expand the market into the West America parking lot in June 2024, but when the city looked into it, they discovered the market was in violation of its original permit, which required a vendor ratio of 80% produce and 20% other. By then, however, Hom had already expanded the market into the West America parking lot.
At the time, some local store owners opposed this expansion.
The farmers market has a lot of fans, however, and some of them got pretty riled up. As we reported at the time, one merchant, who asked not to be named, choked up when she started to describe the hate mail that her business had received during this time.
After a nasty few months of confusion and innuendo, the planning commission amended the market’s permit to extend the market’s hours of operation and changed the vendor ratio to 40% farmers / 40% other foods / 20% arts & crafts, which Hom said was the modern norm at most farmers’ markets.
The market withdrew from the West America lot and bided its time.
A new plan
As the old saying goes, “Good things come to those who wait.” Hom reapplied to expand the farmers market into the West America parking lot in February of this year.
In her presentation to the Planning Commission this week, she argued that expansion was a matter of economic necessity.
“Today, we are facing significant financial challenges,” she said. “During the past two decades, our costs for labor, materials, services, insurance, and other operating expenses have increased dramatically. To remain financially sustainable, we estimate that we need to increase our income by approximately 20%.”
“Currently, vendors pay $40 a booth,” she continued. “That’s our only income, except for some merchandise sales, which is very small. We average about 50 booths a week. If every booth were filled every Sunday throughout the year, which is rarely the case, our maximum annual booth revenue would be $104,000. At present, we are operating at a loss.”
The new configuration calls for 75 vendor spaces:
Given the drama last time around, this week’s Planning Commission meeting was a low-key affair. Two people spoke in public comment in favor of the expansion. Of the 24 letters received by the Planning Commission before Tuesday’s meeting, 20 involved Grocery Outlet (which was not on the agenda), and three supported the expansion of the farmers market; one, from a local store owner, expressed the desire to find a different solution.
Alan Porter wrote, “I fully support the plan to expand the Farmers Market into the West America lot. In the last 3 or 4 years, the market has become something amazing, with more and [more] interesting vendors. But they are bursting at the seams and need more space.”
Tessa Grul, owner of Dressers, was concerned about the Farmers Market’s all-day takeover of the parking around the downtown plaza on Sunday. “To take away so many of our already limited [parking] spots kills our business,” she wrote. “I think it’s great that the market wants to expand; however, this should not happen at the expense of other businesses. We are all trying to make our businesses succeed during challenging times. I believe this can be worked out, and there is a way for us all to thrive…I would love for us all to support each other and find a real solution. To be clear, I don’t think the market taking more parking for longer to the detriment of other businesses would be a fair outcome.”
In her presentation to the Planning Commission, Hom argued, “We're very aware of the need for parking, the parking map. We understand that parking is an important concern for some businesses. However, we believe that there's adequate parking available throughout the downtown Sebastopol area, as shown by the parking map [below].”
Her presentation also included studies showing how farmers markets boost the surrounding economy:
Hom gave short shrift to local businesses who say that the boost suggested by these studies hasn’t matched their experience. Some business owners, who don’t want to be named, have told me that, in part because of the parking challenge, their business dwindles to almost nothing on Sundays. Not all business owners share that opinion, however. Hom included in her application a petition signed by 18 downtown business owners, who supported the market’s attempt to expand in 2024.
“We are beloved by the community and part of the growth of the downtown area for over two generations,” Hom said. “We’ve been here longer than most of the businesses that are currently on Main Street. Over the past three decades, we have become an integral part of the Sebastopol community.”
The planning commissioners agreed, which means, absent any appeals, if you love the Sebastopol Farmers Market, soon there’ll be more of it to love.
I am thrilled to see the expansion of the farmers market approved. Increased access to high-quality, locally-grown food is a positive move for Sebastopol.
For the local businesses concerned about parking and losing business - could they not get a booth at the farmers market and take advantage of the hundreds (thousands? IDK how many people come to the market on average, but other than Peacetown Wednesdays it’s likely the largest regular gathering of folks in town?) of potential customers who have already committed to shopping in town that day?
Or if a booth is not feasible (although it seems like the booth fee is quite reasonable), what about opening up their store on the inside of the plaza, to again capture more shopping dollars from folks already there for the market? There are so many businesses on the outside of the plaza, but almost none who open on the inside… is this a permitting issue with a simple solution? Or something new that is difficult to start? Maybe some previous tiffs that simply need to be squashed for the good of the town?
I am concerned with this change. I am disabled and cannot walk very far. If all those parking spaces are deleted where will I park? I fear that I will no longer be able to access the farmer's Market. I would suggest that perhaps you could add some additional handicapped spaces in what is left of the plaza lot.
Larry Harper