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Written by Sharon O’Malley
The Hollywood Farmers Market in North College Park will open for the season on April 13 as planned, despite city officials’ concerns about cost.
Assistant City Manager Bill Gardiner proposed in February that the City Council consider whether it’s worth spending more than $20,000 a season to keep the market afloat.
“In the grand scheme of our budget, it’s not a huge amount,” Gardiner said, but added: “At the same time, it’s still extraordinary in terms of comparable farmers markets.”
The city is considering increasing the market’s budget to $30,000 next year for costs such as staffing, recreation and permits.
Gardiner said spending on farmers’ markets in Rockville, La Plata, Bowie and Greenbelt is “significantly less” than in College Park. He suggested the council consider suspending the market or considering alternatives to continuing to maintain it. Proposals from City Council members include merging the Hollywood Market and the College Park Farmers Market at the Herbert W. Wells Ice Rink, relocating it to a larger location where it can expand, and agricultural production to provide a more complete and fresh fruit supply. This included recruiting distributors. And vegetables.
The 10-year-old Fresh Market, located in the Hollywood Plaza Shopping Center, sells meat, summer produce, crafts, baked goods and more every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through mid-November, and is one of the city’s largest fresh markets. It is one of three markets in the city. The 45-year-old College Park Farmers Market, which is not managed by the city, will be held every Saturday from 8 a.m. from April 27 to November 23. The University of Maryland Farmers Market’s spring season begins on April 3rd and ends on May 8th. It’s open Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Towes Plaza Gardens (3900 Campus Drive).
City Council members spent 90 minutes debating the value of the 13-vendor Hollywood Market at the Feb. 20 City Council meeting after receiving 97 letters from area residents, mostly letters of support.
Many residents noted that a four-hour weekly market would be valuable to the Hollywood neighborhood for community engagement.
“Some of them were very passionate and had very strong comments and strong support for the market,” Mayor Fazlul Kabir said at the meeting. “This is a place they really love. They want to come and meet other community members.”
The market is located in the city’s 1st Ward, and Kabir served on the city council for 12 years before becoming mayor in 2023.
Still, space constraints in the shopping center’s parking lot limit the market to about 13 vendors, and the absence of a major produce supplier limits footfall.
“If you increase the number of people who write to you, you’ll double the number of people who go to the market,” City Manager Kenny Williams told the City Council. He pointed out that one measure of success is the number of people who visit the market every weekend.
City councilors suggested market organizers recruit a more diverse pool of vendors to help shoppers buy plants, handmade crafts and specialty pastries like beignets. Allow residents to sell produce from their gardens. Or you could invite student entrepreneurs from the University of Maryland to display their products.
Councilman John Rigg (Ward 3) said the city should encourage market managers to make the market self-sustaining.
“I’m a fan of this farmers market…but we really need a plan to continue supporting it,” Rigg said. “Most of the farmers markets in this region are self-sufficient, so we need a plan for the sustainability of this farmers market and, ideally, the self-sufficiency of this farmers market. Unfortunately, this is going in the wrong direction. …If it only goes in one direction, I don’t think it’s a wise use of city funds.”
Mayor Pro Tem Dennis Mitchell (Ward 4) said the market is a destination for residents from all parts of College Park.
“This is a citywide market,” Mitchell said. “It just happened to be in North College Park.”
Mr Gardiner said: “It’s clear that the City Council has an interest in keeping the market going, so we’re going to keep the market going.”
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