Residents voice support for Greenport farmers market

The Greenport Village Board of Trustees is considering a popular proposal for a weekly farmers market this summer, but its members said last week that there are numerous issues that would have to be worked out first.

The proposal came in the form of a mass assembly permit application from Sterling Ave. resident Paul Livesey, who is working with some local farmers to curate a weekly market in Mitchell Park on Fridays from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Mr. Livesey said he believes the village has “a responsibility to support and maintain the heritage that we have in our farming and fishing [communities] here on the North Fork. So I think we should be supporting the farming industry in every way we can.”

Mr. Livesey said he envisioned a weekly market that would operate in about 40% of Mitchell Park, near the former iceskating rink.

He acknowledged that it was late in the season to start planning such a project, and that the group behind the proposal is still in the process of creating a business entity, securing insurance and seeking registration as a nonprofit.

“Quite frankly, we should have come to a board meeting a month ago,” he said.

Members of the board said they support the concept in principle, but told Mr. Livesey that multiple conditions would need to be met in order to gain approval.

Trustee Patrick Brennan asked whether, “for this initial season — which is kind of a test run — do you need to create this from whole cloth? Or could you partner with someone that allows you to get into this sooner, and might also give the board a little bit more comfort, knowing who it is we’re allowing to operate this?”

Further, Mr. Brennan wondered if Mitchell Park was the most suitable location for a farmers market.

“When I think of farmers markets — the ones that I’m familiar with the ones that I’ve attended over the years — is they’re often put somewhere to help revitalize an underutilized space or a quiet downtown. Like they might use a train station parking lot on the weekend, because there’s no one commuting on the weekend, it’s a good way to activate the parking lot.”

Deputy Mayor Mary Bess Phillips expressed concern about a plan to sell wine and beer and offer wine tastings at the market, because that concession would in effect, be lifting the ban on public consumption for anyone who wandered into the park with an open container of alcohol.

“According to what I’m reading here, it’s only supposed to be little cups of simple stuff, and the winery or the cidery would need to have the requisite State Liquor Authority sampling license,” she told Mr. Livesey. “My concern is the liability of the village of someone coming in from a local bar, carrying a glass with them.”

Residents and local farmers who spoke at the meeting were uniformly in support of the proposal.

Peter Treiber Jr. of Treiber Farms in Peconic, said that a Greenport farmers market “is something I’ve been thinking about since I moved out here and started farming almost eight years ago.

“I was always wondering how I was going to market my produce. At this point, we work with restaurants, we do the Sag Harbor farmers market, and we sell on the farm … if you don’t have a really well-established old farmstand, it’s pretty difficult to wave people down and get them off the road, especially on [Route] 48.”

Resident Frances Walton said a farmers market in Greenport is “something I think is a wonderful amenity for residents of, not just the village, but the surrounding area as well. 

“When I bought my house in 1989, I didn’t have a car, so I think walkability is significant to some people.”

She noted that “the trustees have raised some important questions in this process.

“I don’t think we’re going to have all the answers right off the bat, and it may be a bit of a trial and error, but I think it’s worth trying.”

Mayor Kevin Stuessi said he is in favor of the proposal.

“I think the farmers market is a wonderful idea. I hope the board, when we vote, will consider giving it a shot,” he said, noting that last year’s inaugural North Fork Pride parade was orchestrated by a new group of organizers with no experience running big events.

“The police chief said that it was one of the best events that’s ever been done in the village,” the mayor said.

Veteran trustee Julia Robins expressed concerns.

“I would prefer to see this brought up as a topic of discussion at our work session. I just have too many questions. And there’s a lot of details that are missing from this right now, and for us to go all in on a five-month commitment? I can’t do it right now.”

Trustee Lily Dougherty-Johnson, who supports the proposal, noted the numerous recurring events that are already suggestively staged in the village.

“Tai chi [in Mitchell Park] runs for however many weeks, the band runs for however many weeks — there’s a lot of things that we approved that are multiple times that are kind of intensive uses. Dances in the Park is very intensive, Maritime Festival, Pride Festival,” she said. “I think this is what our public parks are kind of for — not just exclusively farmers markets, obviously —but these types of community events that have a lot of community support.”

Ultimately, the Board tabled the issue while the village attorney works out language for a resolution that outlines specific conditions for approval.

“Longest farmers market resolution in the history of the world,” Mr. Stuessi joked, some two and a half hours into the meeting.