County Board Loosens Restrictions on Farmers and Open-Air Markets

The Arlington County Board on Saturday voted to allow, with a special permit, farmers and open-air markets to operate in all commercial and industrial areas of the county.

The move fits nicely with the county’s policy of regulating through zoning, but it was overshadowed by board members’ conversations of the one-time $1,960 fee that must be paid to operate such a market.

“They have enhanced our communities,” Chairman Chris Zimmerman said of the markets. “They’ve enhanced our quality of life, in a broad way, that makes people want to be here.”

The new ordinance lifts the requirement that farmers and open-air markets be operated by a nonprofit. It maintains that such markets must be at least 1,000 feet from another open-air market, though the county board retains the right to make exceptions. The board also has discretion over whether to allow the markets within 100 feet of a residential area.

Operators of farmers or open-air markets must now file a parking plan with the county that negates any “adverse impacts.”

Generally, the county’s six established markets – in Rosslyn, Courthouse, Clarendon, Ballston, Columbia Pike and Crystal City – won’t be affected.

County staff is working with operators of proposed markets in Westover, Nauck and Arlington Mill, and is looking at reducing the fee those operators would need to pay, County Manager Barbara Donnellan said.

The reduced fees are expected to be presented to elected officials in the fall.

Zimmerman and others talked at length about the markets’ contribution to the “public good.”

Board Member Walter Tejada also asked staff to find out if there was a way to encourage or require – perhaps through the permitting process – the markets to participate in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which issues what are generally known as food stamps.

None of the established markets currently accept such payments.