CUPERTINO — A local farmers market association is actively searching for a new location to host its Cupertino market, weeks after losing out on an opportunity to continue operating at De Anza College’s parking lot.
The West Coast Farmer’s Market Association, which runs 12 markets across the Bay Area, has less than three weeks to find an adequate space to hold dozens of vendors and hundreds of residents who attend the weekly event.
So far, going back to the college isn’t an option, as the Foothill-De Anza College District recently awarded a year-long agreement for a different association to take over market operations on the same lot. A public space within the city isn’t available either, as Cupertino has limited areas to host such a large event, according to city staff.
“I’m living in a nightmare,” said said Jerry Lami, executive director of West Coast.
Under an agreement with the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, West Coast has hosted the market every Sunday since 2022. Its agreement typically gets extended every six months, with the most recent one set to expire July 1.
However this time around, the district solicited bids from outside organizations to take over their market operations. The district said the process is considered a “good practice” for public agencies to periodically request proposals to ensure it has the most competitive bids from vendors.
The board of trustees last month considered a bid proposal from the Pacific Coast Farmers Market Association but initially rejected it following objections from community members and Lami, who said he didn’t realize the market’s operation was open for bids and was confused by the new process.
Pacific Coast operates nearly 60 farmers market across the Bay Area, including one at Creekside Park in Cupertino.
The bidding was reopened with the intention of giving West Coast an opportunity to continue running its market. At a June 26 meeting, however, the trustees awarded a year-long contract to Pacific Coast to operate the market after all. That contract begins in August while West Coast was instead given an extension to operate at their existing location until the end of July.
The district did not immediately respond to a question regarding why the board made this decision.
“I brought my farmer’s market to De Anza,” Lami said. “Now they’re taking someone else’s business and giving it to another company.”
Lami is asking Cupertino to help him find a new location, which the city has done in the past.
However, in a recent memorandum, city staff said public parks were not “viable locations because of ongoing field use” by the public. Another location they considered was in front of City Hall along Torre Avenue and between Rodrigues and Pacifica Avenues, which would require the city to close the area off every Sunday. The closure could impact surrounding local businesses and community spaces, like the Cupertino Library. The cost for the city to run the market is $4,288 per week in addition to paying a one-time business license fee of $174.
Staff is not recommending the council to take further action, “given the limited options for alternative locations and the continued availability of the De Anza farmers’ market as an amenity for Cupertino residents.”