Will a newly proposed home rescue vendors?
San Jose’s historic 61-yearold Flea Market will have a new home built near the city’s Berryessa BART station to keep longtime vendors from being displaced when a massive proposed development is constructed on the current site under a new agreement reached by San Jose leaders and market owners.
Still, some worry that the proposed 3.5-acre public urban market set to be built in the coming years as part of the redevelopment of the current flea market site will not be enough to save the vast majority of more than 750 vendors who rely on the market to sell their goods.
The Berryessa Flea Market Vendors Association — a newly formed advocacy group representing vendors — also argues that the deal fails to address a list of demands they gave to the property owners, including maintaining the same cost of rent on stalls, allowing the new market to be run by the association rather than the current flea market owners, and economic relief for vendors if business operations are interrupted while the new market is built.
“I recognize that progress is being made, but it’s just not enough,” said Roberto Gonzalez, 29, president of the vendor association who grew up working at his family’s stall. “Our fight continues, and we’re going to keep going until every member is accounted for.”
In the time since George Bumb Sr. founded the San Jose Flea Market in 1960, it grew to become one of the nation’s largest ongoing outdoor markets, attracting upward of 4 million visitors a year. The lively swap meet has not only served as a tourist attraction for visitors looking for a bargain but also has given thousands of Bay Area residents — most notably Latinos and immigrants from all over the world — an opportunity to make a living in one of the most expensive regions of the country.
Gonzales, for instance, was raised at the flea market, where his father and half a dozen aunts and uncles all worked. His father, who began working at there when he moved to San Jose 30 years ago, opened his own stall in about 2000 selling the Mexican candies and piñatas, which served as the family’s sole source of income.
The announcement of the new public market comes just one week before the city’s Planning Commission is slated to consider whether to endorse the flea market’s rezoning, which would pave the way for a massive development that could hold up to 3.4 million square feet of office space, 3,450 residential units, nearly a mile of creek trails along Penitencia and Coyote creeks and a new neighborhood park. The commission delayed a vote on the matter in March and asked city officials to come back after exploring creating a community benefits agreement between flea market vendors and developers.
The north side of the original 120-acre flea market site already has been developed, and these plans would transform 61.5 acres on the south side, where the flea market continues to operate today
Under the updated plan, the