The Montpelier farmers market wants its old spot back. A flood recovery project stands in the way

Organizers of the Montpelier farmers market are asking lawmakers to intervene after the Department of Buildings and General Services (BGS) announced they could no longer use the state-owned parking lot where local vendors sell produce, meats and other goods.

State officials say a major flood recovery project in the Capitol Complex will likely take the lot out of commission this summer. Market officials, meanwhile, say the state needs to find a way to accommodate a decades-old, open-air retail institution that has become a key economic driver in a downtown that’s still recovering from last summer’s flood.

“If anything can kill a market, it’s moving it to a new location,” Capital City Farmers Market Manager Keri Ryan said. “People get to know where to find the farmers market. You start moving it around town, people don’t find it, and then they give up.”

The Capital City Farmers Market, held on Saturdays starting in May, moved to its current location at 133 State Street in 2020. Ryan said the space, which is on a property adjacent to the Vermont Statehouse, has been a hit with vendors.

“A lot of our customers also love it,” Ryan said. “It’s easy to access. There’s lots of parking. It’s good for those with mobility issues.”

The July floods last year forced a mid-season move to a green just outside the downtown. Ryan submitted a request-for-use application last fall with the Department of Buildings and General Service to return to 133 State. She said department officials confirmed the space was available for use, and the farmers market board welcomed the opportunity to return.

“They absolutely hands down wanted to move back to 133 State,” Ryan said.

On Monday, however, Ryan received an email from BGS saying the location was no longer an option. Ryan said the news represents a serious setback for a local market that’s been in existence for more than four decades. And she said it sends a message to the central Vermont community that supports it.

“We’re not respected,” Ryan said. “An institution such as the farmers market that has supported hundreds upon hundreds of central Vermont farmers over the last 45 years is not valued, in what is an agricultural state.”

David DiBiasi, deputy commissioner of the Department of Buildings and General Services, said that the state values the market and its vendors.

“We think it’s a great event,” DiBiasi said. “The teams here are great. We’ve always had great luck with them.”

Zoe McDonald

But he said 133 State Street — the property that houses the Vermont Department of Taxes — suffered severe flood damage last July and is scheduled to undergo major construction this summer. That work will include a crane needed to remove mechanical systems, some of which are 25 feet below ground.

“We’re fearful that we won’t have the space that needs to be used for staging and removal and the crane and safety zones throughout the summertime,” DiBiasi said.

DiBiasi said BGS has offered the farmers market the use other state-owned parking lots in Montpelier, including the one they used to set up in, at 2 Taylor Street.

Ryan said the Taylor Street spot was a “nightmare.”

“There were open holes in the ground. There was uneven pavement. I had to personally paint with truck paint the lot every week so that people didn’t fall in the holes,” she said. “2 Taylor is a wind tunnel. It’s a flooding nightmare. There’s insufficient rainwater runoff. It’s not a viable option for the farmers market.”

Ryan said other properties had their own drawbacks. And she said returning to the green owned by the Vermont College of Fine Arts was also problematic.

“A lot of our customers have lots of trouble getting there. Either they can’t walk that far, or they can’t drive,” she said. “Walking on the grass with anything is difficult, whether you’re in a wheelchair or using a walker. It’s a really tough load in and out for our vendors, and they saw their sales go down.”

Montpelier Rep. Conor Casey calls the farmers market “the lifeblood of our community.”

“And in the aftermath of the flood, I think it’s more important than ever,” Casey said.

Casey said he shared Ryan’s concerns about the viability of the alternate locations.

“In last few days I’ve received over 20 emails and phone calls from residents really encouraging us to make sure we work with BGS and other state entities to try to make sure we do everything possible to return this to the 133 State Street location, which by all measures was a perennial success.”

Casey said he appreciates the state’s need to restore buildings damaged by the flood. But he said BGS should adopt a construction plan that doesn’t negatively impact the host city for state government.

“I know there’s logistics to work out,” he said. “But at the end of the day we have to get this done.”

Ryan will appear alongside market vendors in the Statehouse Friday to ask members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture to help them reclaim their spot at 133.

DiBiasi said the BGS generally can’t tell people what to or what not to do on state-owned property. And he said the request-for-use process is designed to make sure groups can use public space at a time and place that accommodates the needs of both government and the host organizations.

“State-owned property is state-owned property, and most of the time we don’t have the ability to tell people where they can and cannot be,” he said. “And we work with people to coordinate the use of areas.”

He said the notification to the farmers market was intended to avoid a scenario in which vendors didn’t lose access to the space they rely on due to construction activity.

“So that they don’t show and go, ‘Hey, where’s the other half of the parking lot guys?’ And we say, ‘Well man, we need it for recovery work, we’re sorry,’” DiBiasi said. “So that was the intent. And apparently it did not sit well.”

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