Road-Widening Project Threatens 30-Year-Old Farmers Market

Customers at Josh’s Farmers Market. (Source: Google Maps.)

A road-widening project and ensuing regulatory dispute have threatened the future of a longstanding farmers market in Mooresville, North Carolina, causing local residents and Strong Towns advocates to question whether the city’s priorities are sufficiently aligned with supporting local businesses. After Josh’s Farmers Market (JFM) was forced to move from its home location to a YMCA parking lot to accommodate road widening, the city began to claim the business no longer fit into the definition of a “farmers market.” Over months of debate to determine whether the market could remain at the YMCA, the Mooresville Board of adjustment voted 4–1 against the appeal to allow JFM to stay at its temporary location.

JFM has been “here before the city,” said Josh Graham, owner of the market. The market lived on Graham’s grandparents’ front lawn since 1990. In 2020, however, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) proposed a widening project along Williamson Road. The city of Mooresville refused Graham’s offer to simply move his business farther back on his land to make way for the new road, for reasons that Graham says are unclear. 

To comply with city demands, JFM purchased a new parcel of land approved by the city, barely a mile down Williamson Road from its original home. In 2021, JFM received a one-year permit to operate in the local YMCA parking lot as Graham began the process of preparing his new property to meet the city’s requirement for a permanent, enclosed structure. As Graham waited on NCDOT easement and entrance approvals, a seven-month traffic study, and other delays due to COVID-19 restrictions, it became apparent that a one-year permit to operate in the YMCA parking lot would not be enough. When he asked the city for another permit, he was told it was not renewable, and the city instead granted JFM a temporary 120-day “outdoor seasonal sales” permit. 

This, according to Graham, was not enough time to comply with all of the city’s requirements. The permit, again non-renewable, expired. At the time, Graham was unaware that by signing this permit, he would become subject to  fines for non-conforming use violations of up to $7,000 per day. This forced JFM to temporarily close down near the end of its nine-month season in 2022. 

Local advocates blame the troubles facing JFM on both the state transportation agency and the inflexibility of city hall. “This is all happening because people and places have been sacrificed on the altar of the NCDOT's demand for more asphalt,” said Trey Robertson, Strong Towns member and former Mooresville resident. “And the residents may not see that yet, because the immediate ire is against town employees more focused on their beloved new UDO.”

The UDO—Unified Development Ordinance—is a document in which traditional zoning and subdivision regulations are combined with other desired city regulations. As Iredell Free News explains:

Graham said he was told on multiple occasions this year by city staff that under the new UDO, his business is not a farmer’s market but a retail business. Graham said he did not know a new UDO had been approved until a month afterwards and did not know a farmers market definition had been established that excluded his business model. He was not told he could appeal to get an interpretation of the definition or that rezoning was an option.

The Iredell Free News coverage of the predicament also includes a lengthy enumeration by the town planner of the steps required to operate as a farmer’s market: “possible zoning changes and special use permits, concept plans, reviews by most town departments, a traffic impact study, a site plan, looking at infrastructure needs, more reviews, obtaining building permits from the county, getting inspections, and earning a final certificate of occupancy.”

The classification of JFM as a retail business under the new code, according to Graham, essentially granted the city authority to pick at and impose fines on features of JFM, such as signage, accessory structures, and outdoor storage. 

“The consequence of regulating the wrong things is that we end up undermining the opportunities that run-of-the-mill, good people have to actually make something happen in their community,” said Strong Towns Member Advocate Norm Van Eeden Petersman. Van Eeden Petersman suggested that Mooresville should consider whether it is creating a problem where none existed, given that regulatory changes have caused a business that had been operating successfully and without incident for years to suddenly be declared non-conforming and subject to onerous requirements.   

For nearly 30 years, JFM had a cooperative relationship with the city, until the Williamson Road Widening project and the new UDO. Locals and small business owners alike have shared frustration over this situation, as they watch the city force a popular business to move.

“It's just frustrating because that's just how it is when you're a small organization,” said Graham. “You know, you do get pinched out, and if it wasn't for the community support that we've had, I don't know that we could have stood up and fought this. And not every small business has that luxury.”

Because of the city’s decision that JFM cannot stay at its current YMCA location as they wait on NCDOT to finish widening Williamson Road, JFM may have to move to a different city entirely, try to find a new temporary place, or wait until the project is finished to open on its Mooresville location. But the road-widening project, responsible for pushing JFM out of its original home, has been delayed due to a lack of funds. NCDOT projects that it could start the road-widening project in 2024, four years after JFM was initially forced to move.

“Nobody has great memories of taking their grandchildren to visit the UDO,” said Robertson. “They do have great memories with Josh's Market.”

Many residents have taken to social media to state their support of JFM and express disappointment and anger toward the city, as seen in the following comments:

Supporters of Josh’s Market have questioned Mooresville’s true intentions upon the release of hundreds of emails through a public request, suggesting that city officials may not have been fully truthful in their court testimonies against JFM. The Mooresville Scoop wrote, “The town had avenues within its own ordinances — even the new ones — to keep the market open.”

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