County to streamline licensing for farmers markets

County may use libraries to assist veterans

County staffers will work with the sheriff’s department and San Diego County Farm Bureau to streamline the licensing process in unincorporated areas for farmers markets under a plan approved today by the county supervisors.

According to Supervisor Dianne Jacob, farmers markets began sprouting up in unincorporated areas after the supervisors passed zoning amendments were passed about five years ago.

While the market operators are certified through the county agriculture commissioner, many of the individual

vendors aren’t, so they have to obtain a solicitor’s license, a process enforced by the sheriff’s department, she said.

Jacob said the current method is “time-intensive and onerous.” One solution could be to have the certification of the farmer’s market managers cover the individual vendors, she said.

“Operators and managers of farmers markets go to great lengths to provide a safe and enjoyable experience, and they have a checklist, basically, of what the vendors at these markets have to do,” Jacob said. “So, as a county, I believe we should work to leverage their knowledge and the practices they already have in place to ensure that farmers markets remain safe for the public and continue to thrive.”

The certified farmers markets in unincorporated areas of San Diego County are the:

•Ramona Certified Farmers Market, 1855 Main St., Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.;

•Alpine Certified Farmers Market, 1347 Tavern Road, Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.;

•Marketplace at Alpine Certified Farmers Market, 2442 Alpine Blvd., Fridays from 3 to 7 p.m.;

•Welk Certified Farmers Market, 8860 Lawrence Welk Drive, Mondays from 3 to 7 p.m.;

•Fallbrook Certified Farmers Market, 102 S. Main St., Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and

•Warner Springs Certified Farmers Market, 30951 Highway 79, Thursdays from 3 to 6 p.m.

Numerous other farmers markets, certified and not, operate within the incorporated cities in the region.

“The agriculture economy is booming in this county, and it is a major industry,” Jacob said.

Also at Tuesday morning’s meeting, the board voted give staffers about four months to look into using county library branches to extend outreach efforts to the region’s 244,000 military veterans.

The county has nine Veterans Services offices that help former armed forces members obtain benefits. Jacob said the county could also offer Veterans Services Office space in the 34 branch libraries.

“Putting volunteer veterans service advocates in our county libraries on a part-time basis will significantly expand the locations and opportunities for our veterans to get the services they need in an area of the county that is more convenient for them,” Jacob said.

—City News Service