For the second year, the farmer’s market will operate on the McCready Centre parking lot this summer.
The Jasper Local Food Society came to an agreement with the municipality last week, after council approved a second one-year pilot project, allowing the society 10 event permits for its weekly market.
Council’s decision, March 3, didn’t specify a location for the event; it was later decided on by administration, which met with the society to discuss other possible locations, besides the McCready Centre parking lot.
This year’s agreement, which was hammered out between the society and the municipality’s director of operations, Bruce Thompson, is much the same as last year’s, but includes some stipulations, including the need for fencing around the market to create a clear delineation between the parking lot and the surrounding properties.
Fencing was made a requirement this year because of concerns from adjacent homeowners, who, while the market was taking place, had people parking their bikes, eating lunch and smoking near their front door.
Thompson, said that several things were considered when choosing a location for the market. The amount of space, the configuration, traffic accommodation and conflict assessments of each potential location were all considered, and then each was ranked based on those criteria. Other locations the municipality considered were the lower McCready Centre parking lot and the parking lot adjacent to Centennial Park, near the log cabin.
And, ultimately, Thompson said it was determined that the upper parking lot was the most fitting.
“We have all the mandatory accommodations currently, as well as an indoor accommodation if we have inclement weather and the only site that offers that is the upper parking lot,” he said.
The local food society has to come to council for permission to use the parking lot—which is municipal land—because the municipality doesn’t have a bylaw governing commercial use of public land, so administration doesn’t have a method for providing an appropriate event permit.
And, under current bylaws, non-profit organizations are only allowed two event permits per year for the same function. That leaves council with a pilot project as its only option to allow the market to continue on public land.
The municipality is currently working on a bylaw to address this and other issues stemming from commercial use of public land, including sidewalk seating, street festivals and busking. It’s expected that bylaw will be completed in a year’s time and that it will streamline the process for vendors in the future.
Until last summer, the market had been held in the Jasper Legion’s parking lot, which is part of its leasehold. So, the local food society hadn’t had to come to council for permission.
But, in 2014, it decided to change locations, allowing for more vendors and greater visibility from downtown.
In a letter to council, Janeen Keelan, the society’s market coordinator, reported that last season was the most successful the society has seen since the market’s creation in 2010.
“Most of our returning vendors reported that this was their best season so far,” wrote Keelan, noting that in total there were 35 unique vendors and most markets had about 20 in attendance.
“The venue was wonderful for all the reasons we pursued it (discoverability, adequate size, green space, proximity to downtown and to the seniors’ homes) as well as for unforeseen reasons,” she continued. “We saw far more patrons at this location, and those who came stayed longer to visit and to have picnics on the green space.”
Now that the society has approval from council, it will appear before Parks Canada’s Planning and Development Advisory Committee (PDAC), which will make a recommendation to the park superintendent whether the market should be allowed as a discretionary use on the McCready Centre parking lot.
It will then be up to the superintendent whether it will take place in that location or not.
In the Feb. 17 meeting of council, Mark Fercho, the municipality’s chief administrative officer, said that because the superintendent approved the use in 2014, it’s likely the process will be “streamlined” this year and the market will get its permit.
Nicole Veerman
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