There won't be a forced marriage between two community markets this season, but they are expected to make nice by next year.
During Monday night's meeting, city council voted to dole out a one-year permit to the Wilson Square Community Market to vend outside of the courthouse, instead of pushing them to the plaza in front of city hall as part of a proposed public market concept.
The public market will create a central market zone for the Prince George Farmers' Market, as well as other community organizations, such as the Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society and Downtown P.G.
On market Saturdays, sections of George Street and Sixth and Seventh Avenues adjacent to city hall would be closed to vehicles to allow for more than 200 vendor spaces with the green space open to the public.
In developing the plan, city staff intended for the Wilson Square group - which last year used the provincial property at the courthouse and, later in the summer, city property on Sundays - to be placed on the Seventh Avenue side of Veteran's Plaza.
But the market, which was a splinter group from the Prince George Farmers' Market Association, didn't like the idea of moving house.
"We fully support the idea of a public market," said Wilson Square Community Market president Maria Pennock, but said there has been a market outside of the courthouse for two decades.
The space outside of city hall was less desirable, said Pennock.
City council was ultimately being asked to play King Solomon, as both the Wilson Square Community Market and Prince George Farmers' Market Association had applied for the right to use the section of Third Avenue between George Street and Queensway for their outdoor season.
The PGFMA has held that permit for the past 18 years.
The society moved to the building at 1074 Sixth Ave. beside the Keg in 2013 but didn't relinquish its lease on the Third Avenue outdoor space, leaving Sundays the only weekend option for the Wilson Square Community Market to use the city space.
"The explanation at the time was that the number of summer vendors PGFMA wanted to have both sites open to accommodate everyone and see how the move to Sixth Avenue was received by the public," said a staff report.
The staff report also said the city received an application from the PGFMA for a joint use of space in the spring of 2014 and "assured the city that both groups were working together on the spaces and would therefore fall under the one application."
During that summer, the PGFMA started calling city agencies regarding their Third Avenue space and wanting it enforced.
"They explained that there were vendors encroaching into their space and not paying their dues," the staff report said.
In August 2014, after a vote by the membership, the PGFMA moved from the Wilson Square location to consolidate all of its operations at the Sixth Avenue space.
The Prince George Farmers' Market Association re-applied for that highway occupancy permit for the 2015 season because there are still uncertainties with regard to the outdoor space at the Sixth Avenue location, said PGFMA president Randall Stasiuk.
"We were hoping this year to be able to use the old Norgate site, but right now that site is not in a state of use. There's still a number of issues that are before us with regard to an agreement to occupy the parking lot, which is a shared use agreement," Stasiuk said. "Sometimes it can become very difficult, in regard to having cars being moved, to set up a market."
The city property is the only option for either group since, as explained by planning director Ian Wells, the province isn't willing to rent out its space this season on the courthouse steps after what happened last year.
There is no city policy to determine which applicant would receive the permit for the city right of way, said Wells.
"Council is in a very precarious spot," said Mayor Lyn Hall, who noted his desire to see a continuation of the public square momentum sparked by the Canada Winter Games. "There are two groups that don't get along. We can't mediate that. So don't ask us to mediate it."
But forcing the Wilson Square Community Market to move to the city hall site might not be the answer to getting that public, pedestrian-targeted community space.
"It would be like forcing you to live with your ex-husband," said Coun. Terri McConnachie.
Coun. Brian Skakun put forward the unanimously supported motion to provide the Wilson Square group with the permit, with a one-year limit to find a solution to the in-fighting between markets.
Stasiuk expressed disappointment with council's decision.
"I don't think they really understood what was going on, to tell you the truth. I don't think they were well briefed," he said. "What effectively the Wilson Square group does get at this point is a lot of free advertising based on past history from the farmers' market."
The city is big enough to sustain two markets, Pennock said. "I think having two markets there is vital to downtown. I think it brings more variety to the customers and the citizens of Prince George and i think two markets can do nothing but benefit Prince George."
Residents and market customers should feel free to support every market, said Pennock. "We're very, very happy about the decision tonight... It gives us the opportunity to grow and have an amazing market this year."
