A Good Move?

Downtown merchants are calling for the New Canaan Farmers Market to be moved closer to them with hopes of drawing more foot traffic to their shops. But the market's organizers are worried the plan could backfire. 

For at least a year, merchants have floated the idea of relocating the market from the Center School Lot, where it's been held since it's inception in 1999, to the lots behind Town Hall. The idea came up again last week, when the Board of Selectmen granted permission for the market to resume May 15, and Market Master Alexis Gazy pitched a sponsorship program which would involve asking local businesses to help subsidize the vendors and the entertainment. 

"Why would I sponsor them?," asked Design Solutions owner Pauline Dora, who's among those pushing for the move. She says in its current location her business reaps no benefit from the market, as the customers just buy their produce, cause traffic jams along South Avenue, and head home without stopping downtown. 

"They're not going to come over here to shop at Design Solutions because I sponsored a guitar player," Dora said. 

Chamber of Commerce Executive Director says without a doubt, more customers would hit the shops if the market were downtown. 

But Randy Brown, who sells flowers at the market under his "Uncle Buck's Secret Gardens" banner, says putting the market in the lots behind Town Hall would make it a bigger detractor from downtown businesses rather than creating a boon. 

"What I'm seeing is a traffic nightmare, where people will say, 'I'm not even gonna go to town.'"

Brown says the market currently absorbs all 183 spaces in the Center School Lot along with filling the adjacent parking along South Avenue, Maple and Main Streets. 

By his calculations, all three lots behind Town Hall combined would be about equivalent to the number of spaces in the Center School Lot, but during the hours of the market, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., customers would put more strain on Main and Elm Street parking which is already cluttered. 

Brown speculates that the multiple outlets from the lots behind Town Hall, instead of preventing the sort of traffic jams that crop up around the one-way-in/one-way-out Center Street Lot on market days, would cause confusion and gridlock. 

But Murphy, who is planning to walk the proposed site with police and fire officials today to evaluate traffic flow and safety issues, says the merchants aren't worried about a parking problem.  

"Saturday mornings are very quiet; they don't even bring in their support staffs until about 11 a.m.," Murphy said. "They'd love for this to create such traffic that it would be a problem."

The lack of visibility and shade behind Town Hall, Brown counters, would however be a problem for the farmers.

He says in the Center School Lot, which sits between Route 106 and Route 124, the market attracts drive-by traffic that would be lost, and some old customers might not know where to go if the market moves. There are also no grassy spaces behind Town Hall like the berms in the Center School Lot which have helped make the market a hang-out. And on a hot summer day the lots behind Town Hall would become, Brown says, "a frying pan." 

"I'm not gonna sit up there and watch my flowers wilt," he said, suggesting that he would be one of the prime vendors who would consider alternative places to sell if the market moves. 

And that could ultimately lead to the market folding altogether. 

"Lose a couple of big vendors and we're dead in the water."

Murphy says the chamber would help out with signage and PR to make sure the customers continue to find the market. And, though she's not in favor of the market hitting up cash-strapped retailers for sponsorships, she said if it moved to benefit local businesses she would get behind efforts to get the market's costs for things like traffic cops and Health Department permits down. 

"What could happen if it's good?," asked Murphy, who's definitely seeing the silver lining in having the market downtown. 

Expect the proposals for a location change and the sponsorship program to be on the Board of Selectmen's agenda again Tuesday, April 27. 

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Where do you think would be the best place for the farmers market? Add your suggestion in the comment field below.