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Residents petition town for farmers' market in Skylonda

by Dave Boyce

Woodside's Town Council plans to address this week the uproar that broke out in the Skylonda community a few weeks ago when the town threw cold water on a farmers' market at the corner of highways 35 and 84.

On Wednesday, Aug. 1, a farmers' market was held in Skylonda in a parking lot shared by the Mountain Terrace and Penelope's Den. There were about eight tables of fresh produce, homemade cheese, sunflowers and other goods, the efforts of nearby artisans and farmers. The vendors sold out, residents said.

Subsequently, the town informed the organizers that the market was not permitted under the Woodside municipal code.

A petition with 199 signatures calls on the town to permit a weekly farmers' market at Skylonda between May and December.

On Tuesday, Sept. 11, the council plans to address the issue. Town Hall staff are recommending that the council either amend the municipal code to allow for consideration of farmers' markets in town, or find a section of municipal code that would suffice in lieu of such an amendment.

The council meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. in Independence Hall at the corner of Whiskey Hill and Woodside roads.

San Mateo County is host to some 31 certified farmers' markets, a staff report said. Representatives from the county's public health agency spoke in favor of such markets in Woodside in February 2010 during a community workshop on updating the town's general plan. The plan's circulation and sustainability chapters note the importance of activities that encourage lower greenhouse gas footprints.

The West Coast Farmers' Market, held in Parking Lot 7 at Canada College, is just over the Woodside municipal boundary and therefore technically in Redwood City, according to the staff report. This market is held every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.