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CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. An indoor farmers market will begin Saturday, at 9 a.m., in the former Blockbuster Video Store, in the Van Wyck Shopping Center in Croton. The special permit allowing the market to take place was approved on a contentious 3-2 vote by village trustees, Monday evening.
Debate on whether the market should be allowed to occupy the space about eight hours per week, for a 13 week period, centered on perhaps the most talked about topic in village politics- parking.
I just think its wonderful what youre doing, said Suzanne Welch, a Croton resident and real estate agent, I just think the parking at the Van Wyck shopping center is a mess. She added that she wished the market could take place in the upper village.
As far as the parking goes, its going to be horrendous there, said Ginny Calcutti, a Croton resident.
Trustee Greg Schmidt indicated that he thought the parking survey done by Community Markets was not accurate, because it was done the Saturday before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and that the parking situation was much worse than the survey indicated.
Schmidt was also concerned about competition the market could cause with Zeytinia.
Miriam Haas, Community Markets director, said she had spoken with a number of stores in the Van Wyck Shopping Center, said she and the farmers market wanted to work with local companies and the concerns of businesses. Most of them said they were happy to work with us, even Zeytinia, which most of us thought would be against us, said they would be happy to work with us on a recipe sharing.
Trustee Schmidt disagreed, and said that the vendors werent telling Community Markets directors how they felt. Do you know that a lot of these merchants dont express their true feelings about whats going on because theyre afraid of retaliation from certain people in this village, said Schmidt.
None of the business owners to which Schmidt referred came to the public hearing, he said, because they were too intimidated to come to village board meetings.
Despite opposition by some village residents and trustees Casey Raskob and Greg Schmidt, the motion carried and it issued a special permit to Community Markets for use of the vacant Blockbuster space in the Van Wyck Shopping Center.
Theres just certain vendors you cant find anywhere else, Ive looked, you cant find cave aged cheddar cheese anywhere, except for a cave thats in Pennsylvania," said Michael Geotz, zealous market-goer and village resident.
"You cant find fish that youre going to find, and its not the same fish sold at Zeytinia. You cant find fresh baked breads, and you cant find organic vegetables that are grown by farmers that are willing to do it 50 miles away from us. I think the food's great and I think were helping out a lot of people.
Mayor Leo Wiegman agreed, saying, I do think creating a rich, food-based shopping experience in Croton is important.
For the last few weeks the market took root at the Croton train station parking lot, and last winter it was held in Briarcliff. That village refused to change zoning ordinances to allow the market to continue there, creating the need for the market to make its last-minute move to Croton.
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