With thanks and apologies to the IJ:



Flea market returns to Marin City

Jim Staats

Posted: 05/15/2009 04:45:30 PM PDT





A flea market will return to Marin City more than a decade after the longtime weekend tradition disappeared from the region.

County planners signed off last month on a six-month use permit for a locally operated open-air market to begin next month at the Manzanita Center. Organizers hope to distance themselves from a decades-long previous incarnation of a well-known flea market on the dirt grounds of what is now the Gateway Shopping Center.



But they want to build on its legacy.



"Some people loved the flea market and some people just hated it," said Robert Fisher, a board member of the Marin City Community Services District, which will operate the new market.



"This is a completely different venture (and) completely different format," he said. "What it is is a miniaturization of the old market that was there before and run in a very, very loose format. We want to start anew. We want to build on the idea of the old flea market because that's what people knew and that was one of the Bay Area's biggest and nicest markets."



Fisher said the new market, to begin June 13, would run from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the center near Phillips Drive and include organic vegetables, flowers, prepared food and artisan crafts among its 25 vendors.



"We're not trying to have guys selling bicycle parts," Fisher said. "We want to have a festival and celebration of Marin City every weekend and that's really what we're at with this."



Some community concern over traffic congestion



and parking should be addressed by arrangements with local churches for parking, Fisher said.

County planner Ben Berto said the temporary permit would "provide an opportunity for continuance of the market to be discussed in a public hearing" at the end of the six months.



Terrie Harris-Green, president of the district board, said she was excited about the new venture, which she described as "a combination flea market and farmers market for the Marin City community."



Harris-Green said numerous benefits for the close-knit community include economic empowerment, emotional support for youth and seniors, community pride and entrepreneurial opportunities.



"I can't wait for us to get started," she said.



Proceeds from vendor fees ranging from $45 to $60 would benefit a district that has been in need of more funding, according to Fisher. He expected to net about $13,000 in the six-month trial period.



Marin City has become a recent hot spot for outdoor enterprises.



The Marin City farm stand, a weekly offering of organic fruits and vegetables run by a local cooperative, has its seasonal grand opening at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 16 at the corner of Drake Avenue and Buchanan Drive.



Fisher said he wasn't trying to compete with the farm stand and hoped to work in conjunction with organizers.



There also is a proposal for a new Southern Marin farmers market, which would be operated by the San Rafael nonprofit Marin Farmers Market in the Gateway parking lot. County officials said no applications have been filed to date.



Until it ceased operation in 1995, the Marin City Flea Market was one of the largest outdoor markets in the Bay Area for decades. The Marin City Community Development Corp. shut down the market to make way for the Gateway Shopping Center as part of the $72 million Marin City USA project.



Marin City resident Leticia Jones, who moved to the area at age 8, said she had fond memories of the old market. She said the community is "ecstatic" about the new one.



"People my age will appreciate it," said Jones, 43. "Before there were no stores here and if we wanted clothes, furniture, refrigerators, car parts or anything, we went to the flea market. That was our shopping center."



Though she recalled roads being jam-packed at 5 a.m. with vendors pouring in, Jones said she hoped community traffic concerns could be resolved. She said the old market gave her and her friends jobs cleaning trash and led to a job for her aunt through a market acquaintance that she still holds 30 years later.



"This would really generate new things and give a chance for people to walk around and meet other people," Jones said. "I'm looking forward to it being a positive thing."



Contact Jim Staats via e-mail at jstaats@marinij.com