Previously postponed because of huge crowds, Tuesday’s hearing
on the Red Barn flea market before the Board of Supervisors was
delayed because the crowd was too small.
Confronted with a noticeably smaller crowd than expected, the
board chose to continue Tuesday’s appeal hearing for two weeks
despite several objections.
Jim Johnson
Previously postponed because of huge crowds, Tuesday’s hearing on the Red Barn flea market before the Board of Supervisors was delayed because the crowd was too small.
Confronted with a noticeably smaller crowd than expected, the board chose to continue Tuesday’s appeal hearing for two weeks despite several objections.
Supervisors Dave Potter and Fernando Armenta noted the absence of the large crowds – many of them Red Barn flea market vendors and their supporters – that attended previous sessions involving the business. Last summer, so many people showed up for a county Planning Commission hearing that it had to be postponed. Many of them needed Spanish-translation services.
Potter attributed the light turnout to confusion about whether the hearing would be held. Red Barn owner Fran Ellingwood and her attorney Myron “Doc” Etienne asked for a continuance because of illness, then withdrew the request.
Armenta said he believed the board owed it to vendors and other constituents to postpone the hearing.
Tuesday’s hearing was called to review the county Planning Commission’s ruling last year that the popular Sunday bazaar had expanded well past the boundaries of its 30-year-old use permit. Etienne argued that the ruling was erroneous because the market’s expansion was implicit in a previous permit application, and noted that the county hasn’t enforced the original boundaries for decades.
He and Ellingwood, and a host of vendors, have argued
that the county’s action would hurt hundreds of people who depend on income derived from the market for their livelihood.
The appeal hearing, originally set for Dec. 8, had already been postponed once after Ellingwood asked for a delay. County officials have agreed to allow the market to continue operating as it has for decades until the appeal is decided.
Initially, Etienne asked for a continuance of Tuesday’s appeal hearing until “at least March,” citing Ellingwood’s illness and a desire for more time to work on complying with a corrective order issued by the county Building Department. But the request was withdrawn Tuesday at Ellingwood’s request, said Etienne, and the longtime owner showed up though she appeared to be battling illness.
Though the board voted unanimously to continue the hearing until Feb. 9, several people spoke against it, including two supervisors and a handful of North County residents who are among those who have long complained about the market’s apparently unchecked growth and its impact on traffic.
Supervisor Lou Calcagno, who represents the 2nd District, which encompasses the Red Barn, said it was “not proper” for the board to further delay the hearing simply because a large crowd had not materialized, especially because the appellant and her attorney had asked for the hearing to go on.
Supervisor Jane Parker said the delay “leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth,” and it concerned her that it would perpetuate “this delay and delay and delay, which essentially means the (Red Barn) doesn’t have to make changes” ordered by county planners.
North County resident Ed Mitchell, a supervisorial candidate, argued that a “one-week continuance” wouldn’t hurt and would help maintain the public trust.
Since the Planning Commission’s ruling on the Red Barn market’s use permit, the business off Highway 101 near San Juan Road has been subject to inspections by county and regional code enforcement officials. The structure was issued a yellow tag for unpermitted construction inside, and a corrective order found more than a dozen alleged violations.
Earlier this month, the county’s Historical Resources Review Board recommended the 65-year-old Red Barn be placed on the area’s Register of Historic Resources, which could offer code enforcement relief.
In other business, the board moved toward offering developers extra time to get their projects under way. The board OK’d a motion of intent to approve an automatic, one-time, two-year extension for some planning permits that have been approved and had not expired before Jan. 1, 2008 involving projects that had not been able to proceed because of the economic downturn. Subdivisions would not qualify, but projects that have been given previous extensions could be included.
Residential and commercial developers have two years from the date of approval to get their projects started, and have to pay thousands of dollars in new application fees if they fail to do so.
