After meeting with the various stakeholders, the Santa Clara County Fire Department has decided that the current layout of the Downtown Campbell Farmers Market will have to revert to its previous setup by Dec. 1.
"We've determined that allowing obstructions to emergency fire apparatus access down the center of the street in any location in the downtown area is not in the best interest of the public fire and life safety," said Fire Chief Kenneth Kehmna in a letter addressed to Campbell City Manager Amy Brown. "Therefore, this is not a practice that we can continue to approve."
According to the letter, along with the farmers' market, all other downtown events will have to have their setup change to this along-the-sidewalk setup, "keeping the center of the roadway free of obstructions to emergency fire apparatus."
The downtown Campbell businesses first began their campaign to change the layout of the farmers' market in March, stating that it was a matter of equal visibility. The argument was that by having their backs to the businesses downtown, farmers' market visitors could not see the local businesses, therefore did not shop with them on Sundays.
The Campbell City Council formed a subcommittee, which included councilmen Rich Waterman and Jason Baker, to discuss with the Downtown Campbell Business Association next steps.
It was agreed that the farmers' market would temporarily change its layout to test the new setup and the market debuted its new look in July. A survey was passed out at the market for the first few weeks, to gauge visitors and the majority had positive feedback.
Here are a few of our previous stories leading up to this:
- Campbell Farmers' Market: 14 Years Without a Permit
- POLL: What Did You Think About the New Farmers' Market Layout?
- Campbell Leadership Group to Recognize New Farmers' Market Layout
- Downtown Campbell Farmers' Market Debuts New Look
To read all of our coverage on the farmers' market and its layout changes, click here.
Campbell Patch was forwarded a copy of the letter late Thursday Night. We will continue to follow this story as it unfolds.
