The San Jose City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a controversial development project, advancing a plan that will likely displace much of the San Jose Flea Market.
City officials had been negotiating with the property’s owners, the Bumb family, about the proposed Berryessa BART Urban Village over the past several weeks.
The resulting agreement will preserve five acres of the market, and the Bumb family will provide $5 million in economic aid. In its current form, the market will stay open for at least three more years before construction begins.
It’s a far cry from what market vendors had been asking for, but they nevertheless saw bright spots on Tuesday.
"Like, to put it metaphorically, we didn't get the whole cake." Roberto Gonzalez, head of the Berryessa Flea Market Vendors Association, said after the city vote. "But we got a piece of it, and we're at the table eating it now, you know?"
The agreement was reached on the tail end of weeks of protests and negotiations, and even a two-day hunger strike from vendors last week.
After Tuesday’s vote, the 61.5-acre site where the Flea Market is located could have as many as 3,450 housing units and as much as 3.4 million square feet of commercial space.
But the planning process will continue, and Gonzalez said vendors will be part of the process. He believed that represented major progress, after the association criticized city leaders and the Bumb family for not consulting them on the development.
"Now it's on us, and the community, to continue our advocacy, continue fighting, hold the city accountable to those conditions of approval and hold the landowners accountable," he said.