> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Farmers seek a little space
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/farmers-seek-a-little-space/
- Published: 2006-06-29T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T18:37:27.000Z
- Author: Kevin Herrera
- Tags: Business, Main St, #archive-import

MAIN STREET — Visitors to the Farmers’ Market this Sunday are being asked to park at nearby lots to help ease traffic and parking congestion under a new, summer pilot program crafted by City Hall and merchants along Main Street.

Shoppers will be asked to park in a beach lot at 2600 Barnard Way, and lots at Santa Monica Alternative and John Muir Middle schools, located at The space within Fourth Street and Ocean Park Boulevard.

Parking is free at the latter locations, while those who pay $6 to park on Barnard will be reimbursed if they are validated at the Farmers’ Market and vacate the lot before 1:30 p.m., a half hour after the market closes, said Miriam Mack, City Hall’s manager of economic development.

“The whole goal is to see if folks will find it more convenient to park in the lots nearby instead of circling the block looking for parking,” Mack said. “We want to free up some Main Street parking for other customers in the area.”

The Farmers’ Market operates year round, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Main Street and Ocean Park Boulevard.

For years, merchants and shoppers along the trendy strip of healthy restaurants, boutiques, art studios and cafés have complained about the gridlock. The problem has become so debilitating at times, that the area has earned a reputation for being inaccessible by car.

Gary Gordon, executive director of the Main Street Business Improvement Association for the last eight years, said there are often more than 25 cars lined up, waiting for a place to park at city-operated lots just off Main Street. Oftentimes, impatient drivers will swerve around cars, setting the stage for deadly accidents.

“We think this is great,” Gordon said of the pilot program, which could be extended beyond September if all goes well. “Over the years, the parking and traffic worsened, and something needed to be done.”

Jodi Low, manager of the Farmers’ Market, could not be reached for comment.

Gordon said the biggest challenge the program faces is the perception that the lots suggested are farther away than those currently used by shoppers. Gordon said the distance is about the same.

“Besides, it’s a nice walk,” he said. The cost of the project is not known at this time, Mack said, as there is no telling how many people will use the beach lot on Barnard. City officials will be monitoring receipts to see how the project affects parking revenues for the City Hall’s beach fund.

“There will certainly be minor costs for added bike racks and to have an extra person at the (parking lot) kiosk,” Mack said. “We are going to be watching very carefully how this impacts the beach fund … Maybe, at the end of it, we can see about a fee that would still generate money but not discourage people. Or we may learn that even if it’s free, people won’t use it.

“We just have to wait and see.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 29, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/062906.pdf?ref=smdp.com)