Wine could soon be sold at the downtown farmers market and drivers will have expanded options for online parking payments, thanks to proposals passed Friday by the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) board of directors.

Wine at Farmers Market
One of the area’s chief agricultural commodities can now have a presence at the Sara Hardy Downtown Farmers Market. The DDA board approved a recommendation Friday by an advisory market committee to allow vendors to sample and sell wine at the event on Wednesdays. Recent changes in Michigan legislation opened up farmers markets for wine sales, with vendors required to ID customers, pay permit and inspection fees and serve no more than three servings of two-ounce pours per person.

After observing how other markets in the state adapted to wine sales, DDA Special Projects Coordinator Nick Viox says he was encouraged by the results. “I heard testimony from other farmers markets where attendance had increased, even doubled in some cases, after they introduced wine,” Viox says. 

The new vending proposal has received the blessing of the Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC) as well as the Traverse City Police Department. Viox says the next step is for the market advisory committee to hammer out a clear “set of guidelines on who gets selected and how they get selected” from among interested vendors. “There would of course be limitations to it,” Viox says, including the number of vendors who could sell wine on any given day. “Wine would be considered a value-added product, so we would also be looking at things like whether they grew the grapes themselves and where they are (located) geographically.”

The state also limits market participation to wineries that produce no more than 5,000 gallons of wine annually. That definition rules out many of the area’s major wineries, with roughly a dozen “small wine makers” on Old Mission and Leelanau Peninsulas qualifying for the market, according to data from the Michigan Grape & Wine Industry Council.

Still, Viox says the DDA received interest last year from potential vendors and hopes by July “Wine Wednesday” could become a popular addition to the market. “I’m excited to have it there,” he says. “I think it’ll be a good feature.”

Online Parking Payment
Residents will soon be able to buy and auto-renew parking permits and appeal citations online after DDA board members Friday approved an upgrade to the city’s parking software. 

The $55,000 upgrade – the cost of which will be spread out over three years – will allow local drivers to log online and “manage all records with their account, which would include contact information, vehicles, citations, appeals and permits,” according to Parking Administrator Nicole VanNess. The software enhancement will also add credit card encryption security so drivers can safely store their card information online, allowing them to auto-renew permits or pay fees over the web.

VanNess said the update will enable the DDA to sell any type of parking permits online, including daily, monthly, quarterly and annual. The DDA could also sell permits for special events, such as festivals, if it so chose in the future, she said.

The upgrade is slated to be implemented by the fourth quarter of this year; customers could begin purchasing 2016 annual permits as soon as November.