Photo by Photo provided by Mike BaxterTomball City Council unanimously approved a long-term use agreement Sept. 2, permitting the Tomball Farmers Market to relocate to a new downtown location.
"Lane McCarty, the general manager [of the farmers market], has really done a tremendous job at growing the market," Tomball City Manager George Shackelford said. "We talked to [McCarty] several months ago and our goal is to try and keep them in the downtown area."
With council's approval, the farmers market will relocate one block eastward beginning Oct. 4 from its current location at the corner of Cherry and Main streets to the corner of Walnut and Main streets. The farmers market will relocate to city-owned property that was purchased from the Tomball Independent School District several years ago, Shackelford said.
The Hutson Group—a local development company that owns land in Old Town Tomball including the farmers market current location—recently announced plans to develop the farmers market site into a possible steakhouse, covered pavilion and multi-building, mixed-use area, which spurred the need to relocate the market.
In 2008, McCarty helped establish the Tomball Farmers Market with four vendors open to the public once a month. Four years later, the market is open year-round from 9 a.m.–1 p.m. every Saturday, features 50 vendors and sees an estimated 3,000 visitors from the Greater Houston area each week, McCarty said.
"I took over the market over a year ago, got the word out, and now we are the largest farmers market in the Houston Metro area," McCarty said. "Our bylaws state [the farmers] have to be from Harris County or within the contiguous counties. It's local farmers, local products and it drives a lot of folks into Tomball."
Councilmember Mark Stoll expressed his approval of the relocation of the farmers market at the meeting. However, Stoll said he is concerned about the availability of parking in the area.
"I just hope that in the future the limitation is considered for the amount of vendors that [the farmers market has] so that there is still parking in there," Stoll said.
Addressing Stoll's concern, McCarty said there should be an adequate amount of parking spaces in the new area for visitors. McCarty said he is satisfied with the size of the market and does not have immediate plans to expand the number of vendors at the new location.
McCarty said he wants to continue promoting the mission of the farmers market—providing customers with a wide selection of local produce as well as homemade goods and artisan crafts.
"I'd rather have a limited number of quality vendors than a large number of general vendors," McCarty said. "Our goal is quality first and then bringing people into Tomball. It's a win-win for everyone."
For more information on the Tomball Farmers Market, visit www.tomballfarmersmarket.org.
