King Street Farmer's Market Shut Down

[icarus]

King Street Farmers Market
"Hello fans of the King Street Farmers Market! It pains me to have to do this, but we will unfortunately need to put the King Street Farmers Market on indefinite hiatus. We were served a warning from the City of Jacksonville at yesterday's market for violation of zoning restrictions, and at this point in time, cancelling the market is our only option. Thank you to everyone for your support over the past few months! If anything changes I'll be sure to keep this profile updated."

From King Street Farmer's Market FaceBook page.

I guess fresh food was too much for Riverside.

[fieldafm]

The City of Jacksonville should be proud of itself for shutting out micro small business owners of an opportunity to earn money by selling fresh food and freshly prepared food products.

Small businesses and fresh food shouldn't be welcome in our community under any circumstances!!

Kudos!

[icarus]

Apparently, 'someone' in the neighborhood complained. Imagine that?

[RiversideLoki]

That "someone" needs to be duck marched out in the middle of the street and pelted with tomatoes. Yes, it's the same someone that caused problems with intuition to begin with.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

The City of Jacksonville should be proud of itself for shutting out micro small business owners of an opportunity to earn money by selling fresh food and freshly prepared food products.

Small businesses and fresh food shouldn't be welcome in our community under any circumstances!!

Kudos!

While I agree with the sentiment, you have to look at it from the other side at least a little, right?

I honestly don't know, but how much is a permit? 

I realize that most of the ones selling items there have a 'business' that's established elsewhere, so how hard would it be to pull a permit for the once a month that you want to operate remotely? 

And don't take it the wrong way, but how would everyone feel if, instead of fresh produce, honey and jams, that a market set up to sell knock off sneakers, toilet paper and used lawnmowers?

[Noone]

Interesting.

[fieldafm]

The City of Jacksonville should be proud of itself for shutting out micro small business owners of an opportunity to earn money by selling fresh food and freshly prepared food products.

Small businesses and fresh food shouldn't be welcome in our community under any circumstances!!

Kudos!

While I agree with the sentiment, you have to look at it from the other side at least a little, right?

I honestly don't know, but how much is a permit? 

I realize that most of the ones selling items there have a 'business' that's established elsewhere, so how hard would it be to pull a permit for the once a month that you want to operate remotely? 

And don't take it the wrong way, but how would everyone feel if, instead of fresh produce, honey and jams, that a market set up to sell knock off sneakers, toilet paper and used lawnmowers?

Why should the City be requiring you to get a flipping permit to have 4 vendors come sell goods on your private property?

Why should a private landowner be required to pay for a few hundred dollars permit to have 4 freaking micro businesses sell a few hundred dollars in goods?  If I wanted to have a sidewalk sale at my business, I should have to pay someone in our local government for the privilege of doing so? That's called extortion.

What harm is that causing?  Who is that god awful law protecting? 

The complete inconsistency and unnecessary intrusion by the City of Jacksonville is PATHETIC.

[Noone]

^same can be said for other attempts at commerce in other zones and Authorities.

[thelakelander]

Sounds like it's time to overhaul the entire zoning code. In general, what we have in place is archaic, doesn't reflect the 21st century urban environment and hurts just as many neighborhoods as it helps.

[mtraininjax]

I guess fresh food was too much for Riverside.

I suppose you live under a rock, ever been to the Riverside Arts Market, its under the Fuller Warren and still in Riverside, unless Stephen Dare has changed the boundaries of Riverside, yet again.....

Sounds like it's time to overhaul the entire zoning code.

Hey man, knock yourself out. Start at the top with the Mayor, he seems to enjoy that public/private partnership program, so that means you do all the work, he'll take all the credit, oh and with a camera crew on him too.

There are ways to get around the permit. But when you have a regular event and its publicized, come on, its run like a business. For those who have never run a business, you have no clue on what is needed, not to mention insurance. Someone slips on a vegetable, and sues all the vendors for having an unsafe market comes to mind.

[icarus]

Actually, I think all vendors are required to have a peddler's license. I think it costs about $35 annually???

I think the issue cited by code enforcement was zoning in that the parking lot behind the building was not zoned for the market.

And, Lakelander does have a point not just on this issue but a great deal many others as it relates to zoning.  We could start an entire thread devoted to nothing but the failures of our zoning system. Of course, I think the politicians administering the code bear a lot of the blame as well.

[Tacachale]

These zoning codes have their place, but when they get in the way of innovation and business development for no perceivable gain it's time to fix them.

[IrvAdams]

What was the local zoning wisdom that precluded the existence of food trucks for so long? And now, they're so prevalent and successful that Jax Beach is actually copying us? When was the last time any other municipality followed our lead? Whew...

[icarus]

Irv, you raise two interesting points.  The City of Jacksonville Beach carefully crafted its code to restrict or eliminate all itinerant vendors, i.e. food trucks, tents in parking lots, etc.  they did so because they wanted to protect the established local businesses from unfair competition because they were the ones bearing the expense of a permanent location, i.e. running a lawful business.

At the same time that citizens were successfully lobbying the City of Jacksonville Beach to loosen its restrictions to permit food trucks, there were a group of local businesses in Jacksonville lobbying the City Council to tighten Jacksonville's restrictions to more closely resemble Jacksonville Beach to eliminate competition from vendors popping up on Sleiman's empty lots in RVs and tents and competing with established businesses.

Neither cause by itself is bad but I think it just shows that the current system is broken.