The Outer Sunset Farmers Market, the every-Sunday brainchild of the pop-up maestros at Sunset Mercantile, started in the summer of 2020. By the summer of 2021, the Chronicle raved it had “grown into an essential S.F. food destination.” But there have been growing pains too, namely, the private school St. Ignatius College Preparatory demanded that the market be ended, or moved to a different location, over parking concerns at the market’s 37th Avenue location between Ortega and Quintara Streets.
That demand was troubling, because the Outer Sunset Farmers Market was only permitted through this Sunday and Wednesday, with its permit expiring Saturday, August 13 (the market is also held on Wednesday afternoons).
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But there’s a big sigh of relief among the vendors, as the Richmond Review reports that Outer Sunset Farmers Market’s permit has been extended for 10 months, to March 23, 2023. Moreover, the district’s supervisor Gordon Mar has offered a compromise deal in a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) that both sides have agreed to verbally, and he hopes both will sign.
“Last week, there were two follow-up meetings where there was an agreement reached and I feel it is fair to both parties,” Mar told the Richmond Review. “For the farmers market, the agreement will allow their street permit to be renewed through March of 2023, which is temporary since the Shared Spaces program is ending.”
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The market did have to give up some ground, but only for two Sundays over the next ten months. “They will need to scale back to one block on two Sundays during that period because SI will be having very large events on those two Sundays,” Mar told the paper.
It is unclear which Sundays those are, but St. Ignatius had previously asked the market be moved for ten Sundays per year, or discontinued outright.
Hoodline has reached out to Supervisor’ Mar’s office for further detail, and we’ll update this post with any additional comment.
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But the market organizers seem thrilled. “We came to a good verbal agreement that works,” co-organizer Angie Petitt told the Richmond Review. “We’re still hammering out the written agreement and I can’t give the details of anything yet until we get that hammered out.”
This is still not a permanent solution for the market, it’s just a ten-month extension until the city’s pandemic-era Shared Spaces program expires. But the Outer Sunset Farmers Market can reapply for a renewed permit after that, when the street permitting program goes back to the SFMTA and other city departments.
