Quick Take
On Wednesday, Live Oak School District agreed to consider whether one of its schools could become a new home for the Live Oak farmers market. But the soonest that could happen is December, leaving the market's immediate future uncertain.
On Wednesday, the Live Oak School District governing board voted unanimously to look into a possible partnership with the Live Oak farmers market.
The farmers market has been held in the parking lot of the East Cliff Village Shopping Center for 22 years, but is now looking for a new home after it wasn’t able to renew its agreement with property owner Swenson Builders. Wednesday night, market organizers attended a district board meeting to propose that the market could move to one of two nearby schools in the district, either Shoreline Middle School or Live Oak Elementary School.
The board agreed to move forward, but wants to extend the number of possible sites to include all of the schools in the district.
Board president Kristin Pfotenhauer said the district and the farmers market are figuring out the needs, including parking, proximity to bus stations, cleanup, portable toilets and space. They haven’t decided which location will be used yet but it could likely be Live Oak Elementary School because Santa Cruz Metro has a bus route running past it.
“I have a several-month process to work on figuring out those details with the hope that maybe by December we’ll have a lease of some sort,” she said.
Santa Cruz Community Farmers’ Markets board president Sandra Ward said she is glad that the district is willing to explore the idea, but with just two Sundays left at the market’s current location, she worries that the process could take more time than the organization has. The market’s agreement at the East Cliff Village Shopping Center expires at the end of April, and it’s unclear where the market will go after that.
If needed, the market will move to a temporary location in May. Ward also thinks Swenson Builders could offer the market another extension, but it hasn’t received an offer yet.
“We’re working on two things: waiting to hear from Swenson, and waiting for confirmation on a place in May if we need it for a temporary location,” said Ward. She expects to know more by the middle of next week.
“It’s a timing thing,” said Ward. “We’ve put it all out there and now we’ve got to wait.”
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