The Berryessa Flea Market Vendors Association (BFVA) discussed alternatives for vendor displacement in an April 14 meeting. This comes as vendors await the next San Jose Planning Commission meeting on May 12, where city officials will vote on replacing the San Jose Flea Market on Berryessa Road with residential and commercial units.
Members of BFVA collaborated with law experts, public space panelists and Catalyze SV to hear vendors’ testimonies. Catalyze SV is a nonprofit that collaborates with the community, city officials and developers to provide equitable spaces for residents of Silicon Valley, according to its website.
“[The city doesn’t] have to destroy people’s source of income and put our livelihoods at risk to provide new homes and outside businesses,” Roberto Gonzalez, a flea market vendor and BFVA president said during the meeting. “We urge the community, the city officials and landowners to work with us to find solutions [and] development without displacement.”
The San Jose Planning Commission voted 6-1 during its March 24 Zoom meeting to table its decision on rezoning the flea market. There are currently no plans for the flea market to be preserved, relocated or recreated at the new site.
The plan to remove the market is part of the city’s Berryessa BART Urban Village Plan, which would replace the flea market with 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 Envision San Jose 2040 General Plan was adopted in November 2011 and outlines the implementation of several urban villages in Downtown San Jose.
The planning commission is expected to vote on the fate of the flea market during its May 12 meeting. It will move to San Jose City Council if approved.
Ezequiel, who did not provide a last name, said in a prerecorded video that he’s worked at the flea market as a plant merchant for the last 35 years.
“From here [the flea market] I was able to provide for my family,” Ezequiel said in Spanish in a prerecorded video played during the April 14 meeting. “From here I bought what I have and have made a living here. It hurts what they're trying to do with us [dislocate].”
Kurt Wheeler, the project manager at Project for Public Spaces, argued flea markets have certain accessible benefits to underserved communities.
Project for Public Spaces is a New York nonprofit that’s focused on creating and sustaining public places for building communities, according to its website.
“Markets are a low risk and low investment opportunity to start a business, which is especially important for women and new immigrants,” Wheeler said during the meeting.
Cayetano, who did not provide a last name, said he’s been working at the flea market for the last 30 years. He said the possibility of losing his main income source would destabilize him, alongside many Latinx and Asian American vendors dependent on the market.
“At this age I would no longer find employment as easy as most young people,” Cayetano said. “I want the landowners to take us into consideration in their decision making and that they consider the welfare of all, not only themselves, but for everyone at the market.”
James Chang, chief of staff to Berkeley City Councilmember Ben Bartlett, delivered Bartlett’s experience of redevelopment plans surrounding the Berkeley Flea Market during the meeting.
Chang said Berkeley is proud to include its vendors in the planning process for redeveloping space currently occupied by the Berkeley Flea Market. He said building prosperity must be inclusive and equitable.
“We have to bend the arc of recovery so it works for everyone. We have a flea market that is providing income and stability for the workers and small businesses,” Chang said. “At the same time we have much needed housing production [and] the two must work hand in hand. Democracy works best when it provides universal outcomes.”
Chang said the development of new housing is possible without displacing thousands of vendors and removing cultural heritage, but the false politics of scarcity is harmful to vulnerable communities.
“It's not one or the other, we can continue to help our flea markets, small business owners and their workers' ability to earn a living and feed their families,” Chang said. “And fulfill our duty for much needed housing production. Unifying the two is the only way to achieve sustainability in our communities.”
Julian Gross, an attorney at Renne Public Law Group, advised advocates to push for a legally binding contract such as a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) to hold the city accountable to its consensus agreements.
CBAs require developers to provide specific amenities and/or mitigations to local communities or neighborhoods in redevelopment, 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.
Gross encouraged community members to continue their engagement through organizing and lobbying, pushing for a “seat at the table” for redevelopment plans.
“There's always a way to figure it out, it might not be your first choice or your second choice, but there's always a way to figure out how to land these issues in a fair, appropriate and empathetic way,” Gross said.
