Council backs support for Port Townsend Farmers Market infrastructure planning

The Port Townsend City Council on May 4 voted to support a planning partnership to develop infrastructure for the Port Townsend Farmers Market, approving Resolution 26-007 after a market representative described long-term needs and near-term fixes.

The market representative told the council the market has been uptown for 23 of its 34 years and routinely hosts between 70 and 90 vendors on peak days. “For our opening day, we’ve counted 4,977 shoppers,” the representative said, adding that the market has turned away vendors because there is insufficient permanent electricity and that restroom capacity is strained. The presenter asked the city to serve as a planning partner to explore options such as permanent power, more restrooms, wind protection for tents and creative street-level designs to keep the market uptown.

Council members asked how the city’s role would differ from market-led work, whether alternate sites would be considered and which fixes might be prioritized. The presenter said the market envisions a market-driven project with city guidance on permitting and public-space rules; staff and vendors have been surveyed (the presenter described a 2023 community survey of roughly 1,000 residents and vendor outreach) and additional stakeholder interviews were completed last year.

A council motion to approve the resolution carried by voice vote. Staff and council members framed the action as an endorsement of the market’s planning process rather than a commitment to a specific capital design or spending plan. The council and the market representative said that some near-term, lower-cost fixes (for example, replacing a temporary power pole) could happen before any larger capital work, with larger projects expected to follow years of community planning.

What happens next: staff will log the council’s support for the market’s planning effort and the market will continue stakeholder engagement and grant-seeking; any actual capital projects or expenditures would return to the council for separate approvals.