(a) Authority of Director of Property.
(1) The Director of Property is authorized to establish, maintain, administer, and manage one or more Certified Farmers’ Markets for the sale of nonagricultural and Agricultural Products.
(2) The Director of Property may adopt rules, regulations, and guidelines to carry out the provisions and purposes of this Section 9A.6 and as set forth in Section 1392.6 of Title 3 of the California Code of Regulations.
(b) Financing; Fees.
(1) Maintenance and operation of each Certified Farmers’ Market established by the Director of Property shall be financed by fees charged to Certified Producers and Vendors who utilize the facilities, and by funds as may be appropriated by ordinance in accordance with the budgetary procedure of the Charter.
(2) Certified Producers must pay a fee of $50 per day to sell at a City-Operated Farmers’ Market. Vendors must pay a fee of $85 per day to sell at a City-Operated Farmers’ Market.
(c) Permission to Sell. No person may sell products at a City-Operated Farmers’ Market without completing an annual application and receiving approval from the Director of Property. Producers that do not have a valid Certified Producer certificate issued from a County agricultural commissioner in California shall not be approved to sell Agricultural Products in a City-Operated Farmers’ Market.
(d) Suspension or Revocation of Permission to Sell; Appeal Procedure.
(1) Following notice and an opportunity to be heard, the Director of Property may suspend or revoke permission to sell at a City-Operated Market for a violation of Chapter 10.5 of Division 17 of the California Food and Agricultural Code and its implementing regulations, this Chapter 9A, or applicable market rules and regulations, and/or for lack of proper certification or licensing.
(2) No suspension may exceed 30 days. After the end of a suspension period, the approval of the Producer or Vendor shall be automatically reinstated.
(3) Upon revocation of permission to sell at a City-Operated Farmers’ Market, the Producer or Vendor shall be ineligible to reapply for permission to sell at any City-Operated Farmers’ Market for one year from the date of revocation.
(4) Any person whose permission to sell at a City-Operated Farmers’ Market has been suspended or revoked by the Director of Property may file an appeal in writing with the City Administrator, not later than 20 days after receipt of the notice of the decision.
(A) The City Administrator or the City Administrator’s designee shall set a time for hearing the appeal, which shall be within seven days of the date of filing, unless there is mutual consent to a later date for hearing the appeal.
(B) The appellant shall be promptly notified of the time and place of the hearing and entitled to appear and be heard at the hearing.
(C) After the hearing, the City Administrator may concur in the action of the Director of Property, may modify the order by reducing the penalty, or may overrule the Director of Property and order that the permission be immediately granted or restored.
(D) The City Administrator shall issue a brief, written statement of the decision, including findings supporting the decision.
(E) The City Administrator may appoint a hearing officer in lieu of the City Administrator to act on such appeals, in which case the hearing officer shall have the same powers as the City Administrator and the hearing officer’s decision shall be binding.
(e) Persons Authorized to Enter Premises. Access to and use of City-Operated Farmers’ Markets is subject to these restrictions:
(1) All persons are prohibited from entering, remaining, or parking on the premises of a City-Operated Farmers’ Market during market hours, unless they are a Certified Producer, Vendor, customer, a person engaging in work relating to the operation of the City-Operated Farmers’ Market, or a person on the premises with the consent of the Director of Property or the Director’s designee.
(2) All persons are prohibited from entering, remaining, or parking on the premises of a City-Operated Farmers’ Market during hours when the market is not in operation, without permission from the Director of Property.
(3) Any person in violation of this subsection (e), and any person remaining on any market premises after being ordered to leave by the Director of Property, may be charged as a trespasser and punished by a fine of not more than $500.
(f) Advisory Committees. For each City-Operated Farmers’ Market, the Director of Property shall appoint a committee consisting of at least three persons with permission to sell at the market. Each committee member shall serve at the pleasure of the Director of Property. Each committee shall advise the Director of Property as to the general policies under which that committee's market should be conducted and generally as to the character and nature of the products to be sold there. The Director of Property shall consider all recommendations made by each committee and may, in the exercise of discretion, accept, reject, or modify said recommendations, and implement them as the Director deems appropriate.
(Added by Ord. 285-19, File No. 190869, App. 12/20/2019, Eff. 1/20/2020)
(Former Sec. 9A.6 from Ord. No. 3758(1939), Sec. 5; amended by Ord. 276-99, File No. 991545, App. 10/29/99; repealed by Ord. 285-19, File No. 190869, App. 12/20/2019, Eff. 1/20/2020)