The applicant proposing a flea market off San Felipe Road near
the airport contends it is a safe location and he noted how he
hopes to open the business in the spring of 2011. County resident
Robert Rodriguez submitted the proposal for a flea market at 1771
San Felipe Road.
The applicant proposing a flea market off San Felipe Road near the airport contends it is a safe location and he noted how he hopes to open the business in the spring of 2011.
County resident Robert Rodriguez submitted the proposal for a flea market at 1771 San Felipe Road. It is similar, yet larger, than an idea for a plan off of Shore Road that officials rejected earlier this year. Rodriguez’s new proposal calls for a weekend operation with 100 vending booths, parking for 350 or more cars, portable concession areas, chemical toilets, and live and recorded music.
His application submitted last month to the county planning department, though, was quickly followed by a recommendation from the Hollister Airport Commission urging a denial to the proposal due to its proximity to the airport.
With aircraft usually landing in a northwesterly approach – passing nearby over the project area – Airport Director Chambless noted how statistics show that if there is an accident, between 30 percent and 50 percent of the time it would occur at the flea market site. It also is near the larger of two runways at the airport, he pointed out, being 7,000 feet and often accommodating large aircraft.
Rodriguez, whose application for a flea market off Shore Road was denied by the planning commission and supervisors earlier this year, largely due to traffic issues, proposed a business for the new site because he already owns it and doesn’t use the back end of it. He said the county had informed him the heavy manufacturing occurring in that district is appropriate for a flea market business.
As for the planning commission, the item has not been scheduled for discussion yet, said Interim Planning Director Cathy Woodbury. The Council of San Benito County Governments could consider the matter, meanwhile, at a meeting this month, Rodriguez noted.
He argued that the airport commission – along with Chambless – based its recommendation on guidelines that are not yet in place.
“The runway safety zone is not near the flea market (site),” he said.
Chambless, though, has contended that about 80 percent of the proposal, including the adjacent parking area, falls into Caltrans’ “high-risk area” – or traffic pattern zone – and that about half of the project is within the county’s own guidelines for safety and avoiding large masses of people where accidents potentially could occur.
Still, Rodriguez hopes for an approval and to have the flea market opened sometime next year, as early as the spring. He said it could create a new environment for families and operators of makeshift sales – “instead of having yard sales all over town.”
If he doesn’t get an OK at the new site?
“I’m going to retire for a little bit,” he said in jest, “take a breather, analyze everything.”
