Malibu Farmers Market requests action from the City of Malibu
Dear Editor,
This past Sunday, Oct. 2, a dangerous matter was brought to the attention of the Malibu Farmers Market. Residents informed us that when they parked at the Chili-cook-off site, they walked right onto the street into traffic. There was no longer a sidewalk leading to the Farmers Market. There were no signs to direct or warn the residents of oncoming traffic on this very busy street.
Civic Center Way remains a dangerous street due to incoming traffic merging from multiple roads, including PCH, Malibu Canyon, and Webb Way, with a large number of tourists shopping/dining at Cross Creek, Whole Foods, etc. In addition, there is increased traffic on Sundays due to beach attendance, car shows, special events, etc.
Again, this illustrates that Los Angeles County and Santa Monica College do not take the safety of Malibu residents into serious consideration.
First, we had to contend with no proper ingress and egress at the Market; now, we have no proper sidewalk leading to the Market from a major parking lot. What’s next?
We’ve had to turn down small business vendors at our Farmers Market due to a decrease in overall square footage because LA County and SMC have not honored their agreement to Malibu City that “they are allowed to have their event per a designated area” during SMC construction.
The Malibu Farmers Market requests that the City of Malibu please come up with an immediate solution and allow the Malibu Farmers Market to be set up on the perimeter of Legacy Park. Due to the emergency regarding the safety of Malibu residents and in the spirit of keeping the Malibu Farmers Market alive and thriving, we respectfully ask the City to override any permit requirements to operate across the street until the Market can obtain the proper permits.
During the City Council meeting last week, the entire City Council was in agreement to help us. Despite repeated efforts to find a solution with SMC, we don’t see any other way.
We need a resolution before Sunday. We are confident that SMC and LA County will welcome the news that Malibu City agrees to override the Malibu Farmers Market TUP.
Debra Bianco, Malibu
The Cornucopia Foundation