The Traverse City Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Board will meet this morning to discuss the future of the Sara Hardy Downtown Farmers Market, including possibly hiring a consultant to help develop a vision for the market space.

The DDA currently has $1 million in its fiscal 2014-15 budget allocated for farmers market improvements, as well as another $92,000 in its parking system fund for the rehabilitation of city parking lot B along Grandview Parkway between Cass and Union streets, where the market is held each May through October.

A 2002 plan calls for those funds to be used to construct a roof structure to cover vendors and customers, and to redo the parking lot to make it “more of an event space.” However, DDA Executive Director Rob Bacigalupi – citing the plan's 12-year-old age and the increased traffic and congestion that have arisen at the market in recent years – told board members in a memo this week that he is “concerned that we need a reality check to make sure our vision for the market space is current.”

“The main impetus for creating the 2002 plan was complaints about congestion, which hasn't gone away and in fact has gotten worse,” Bacigalupi tells The Ticker. “The pavement in the parking lot is now crumbling. If we're going to invest money into that, we might as well (revisit) the farmers market and see if we can do everything at once.”

The popular downtown market – both blessed and burdened by explosive growth – is struggling to keep up with vendor and customer demand. More than 120 vendors now sell their wares there, with hundreds of shoppers flooding downtown each Saturday and Wednesday during market season. Traffic jams are frequent occurrences in the parking lot; walkways are narrow and packed with customers, many jostling strollers, dogs on leashes and bags laden with purchases.

“A lot of people won't go to the market anymore because they can't find a place to park,” says vendor Bill Casier, owner of Sleeping Bear Orchards. “It can be hard for the sellers, too. I know one guy who leaves home at 4:30 a.m. to make sure he gets his place. It can be discouraging to load up and get there and have to fight for a spot."

Casier says some type of spot assignment or reservation system could be useful for vendors, as could a shuttle system for patrons allowing them to park off-site and commute to the market. He praises the market's current location along the Boardman River as “beautiful” but wonders, given the community's growing number of niche and specialty farmers, if it's “big enough” to handle long-term demand.

Bacigalupi says the scope of the potential RFP to hire a consultant – who would be tasked with gathering local input to craft a community vision for the market – includes addressing the question of possible relocation. Vendors have suggested, among other options, moving the market across the street to the Open Space, or closing down Front Street on Saturday mornings to create a community “street fair.” Bacigalupi declined to weigh in on those specific proposals, but noted “anywhere downtown” will likely have similar challenges, especially with parking, as does its current location.

Sarna Salzman, executive director of local nonprofit SEEDs – which contracts with the DDA to manage the farmers market – says a proposed vision should focus on what's currently working and not working at the event, as well as reflect the input of four key stakeholder groups: the DDA board, market vendors, customers, and downtown merchants.

“(The plan) should also express whether we're OK being the size we are now, or if we want to grow – and if so, how we do that,” says Salzman. “A vision all parties can be inspired by and agree upon is crucial. A lot of the issues we're facing have been successfully faced by others; we just have to address the underlying problems and come to some consensus.”