Uncertainty and fear have left thousands of local vendors on edge over the possibility of displacement because of new city development plans, said Flor, a long-time vendor at the San Jose Flea Market.
“[City leaders] call it progress, but really it's just showing to our face that we are disposable to them and don't matter,” said Flor in a phone call. She asked to be referred to by only her first name.
The San Jose City Planning Commission voted during their March 24 Zoom meeting to delay sending plans to city councilmembers about replacing the flea market on Berryessa Road with residential and commercial units.
The vote arose after flea market supporters voiced concerns over the effects redevelopment could have on the community without plans to relocate vendors.
Many community members said the flea market is a focal point for entrepreneurship despite some vendors experiencing language, literacy and documentation barriers.
“The Market is the heart of our Latino Culture,” flea market vendor Lupe Verduzco said in Spanish during public comment. “The fact that some of you want to use our situation as a platform for a campaign scares me. We are not a political platform, we are people who fight to keep food on the tables of our family.”
However, Pierluigi Oliverio, former District 6 councilmember and a current member of the San Jose Planning Commission, urged fellow leaders to support the development plan and not feel obligated to listen to public opinion. Oliverio was in office from 2007-16.
“I can't find any reason of merit to vote against the staff recommendation,” Oliverio said during the meeting. “There's no legal obligation from a property owner to tenants. It's unfair to make a property owner do something that is not legal [obligation].”
San Jose Planning Commissioner Jorge Antonio Garcia proposed a motion to deny the redevelopment plan altogether and not present it to city council.
Oliverio seconded the motion and said, “I'm going to second it for the purpose of the discussion because I'd really like to understand why you [the planning commission] legally think that we should deny this applicant.”
The public hearing on the rezoning of the flea market was pushed to May 12 after a 6-1 motion tabled the discussion. After the May 12 meeting, the item will move to San Jose City Council if approved by the planning commission.
Flea market history and redevelopment plans
The flea market, also known as La Pulga, was established by George Bumb Sr. in 1960, according to a 1999 Metroactive article, a Silicon Valley nightlife, music, clubs, arts and culture website.
Bumb first created the flea market as a family-owned business with about 20 vendors, and it rapidly grew in popularity and eventually became the nation's largest open air market in 1996, according to the same article.
The flea market temporarily closed last spring to adhere to the county’s social distancing guidelines and stay-at-home orders. In May 2020 the market reopened and now operates Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The plan to redevelop the flea market is part of the city’s Berryessa BART Urban Village Plan, which will turn the property into an urban village.
Urban villages are “walkable, bicycle-friendly, transit-oriented mixed use settings that provide both housing and jobs,” according to the San Jose Urban Villages webpage.
The urban village plan stems from the city’s Envision San Jose 2040 General Plan, which was adopted in November 2011 and aims to redevelop Downtown San Jose and existing residential neighborhoods.
This plan would implement several urban villages in the city by 2040 and was amended by city council on March 16, 2020.
The urban village plan should create more than 14,000 new jobs and councilmembers believe more development around the Berryessa BART station will generate economic growth, according to the 2040 General Plan presentation during the March 24 planning commission meeting.
The plan includes building more high-density housing units that target the city's affordable housing crisis. High-density housing units are single-family houses on small lots, townhouses and apartments in densely-populated areas.
Erik Schoennauer, a Bumb family representative, said more than 130,000 square feet of commercial space on the flea market’s north side was reduced to make room for the BART and apartments built in 2019, cutting its original size in half.
“In fact, half the project is already built,” Schoennauer said during the meeting. “North of Berryessa Road, we've constructed 1,000 residential units and we're just completing the shopping center, anchored by Safeway, CVS and Chase Bank here.”
Planning commission members suggested the Bumb family and city staff meet with the Berryessa Flea Market Vendors Association (BFVA), a union and advocacy group for the flea market, to discuss a location alternative and come to a consensus.
Commission chair Mariel Caballero suggested a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA), a contract signed by community groups and real estate developers, to be signed between the BFVA and planning commission.
CBAs require developers to provide specific amenities and/or mitigations to the local community or neighborhoods that are being redeveloped, according to the For Working Families Community Benefits webpage.
The Partnership For Working Families is a network of regional advocacy organizations that support solutions to U.S. economic and environmental problems, according to its website.
Vendors demand recognition and inclusion
Most community members and vendors were unaware of the March 24 meeting and other redevelopment plans, which left many feeling unvalued, Flor said.
Some Spanish-speaking community members said they urged councilmembers to reject or postpone plans until vendors are included in the conversation and offered a relocation plan.
“It is very important that the vendors are included in this [planning] process,” said Jesus Flores, president of the Latino Business Foundation Silicon Valley, during the meeting. “If they are not at the table then they will be on the menu.”
Latino Business Foundation Silicon Valley is a San Jose nonprofit that supports small businesses and organizations in the Bay Area.
Many community members said their concerns were inaccurately translated by city staff, making the vendors feel unheard.
“I raised my hand again because my comment was not translated. I want to bring awareness about that,” said Luis, a community member who originally spoke in Spanish during the meeting and didn’t provide a last name.
Flor said she was speaking at the meeting for her father, who’s 66 and only speaks Spanish.
“He, like most vendors here, only speaks one language and it's not English,” Flor said in a phone call after the meeting.
Although the meeting lasted about six hours, community members voiced additional frustration at some councilmembers who didn't have their cameras on for a majority of the Zoom meeting.
“In class, for my Zoom meeting, I can see everybody at all times and even when someone is sharing the screen, I can still see everybody,” said San Jose resident Lupe, whose last name was not given, during the March 24 meeting. “Right now I don't see the commissioners faces and I think that is a huge problem because we can't tell if somebody else is on their phone.”
Lupe said the way vendors and community members are being treated is “truly disrespectful.”
