The Logan Square Farmers Market has expanded its Sunday road closures to include unlicensed vendors east of the market.
The closure of Logan Boulevard, which took effect Sunday, has expanded from Sacramento Avenue to Richmond Street to accommodate 45 “DIY” vendors.
The boulevard will now close east of Milwaukee Avenue through the end of the season on Oct. 28, according to the Logan Square Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the market.
Organizers of the popular weekly farmers market sparked controversy this summer by threatening to close unless they were granted a permit to shut down Logan Boulevard. A growing number of unlicensed vendors were setting up outside the market and created what market organizers said was a dangerous environment for pedestrians. The market was granted a permit in late August to close the boulevard.
Nilda Esparza, an executive of the Logan Square Chamber of Commerce, has tried for months to incorporate unlicensed vendors into the official footprint of the market. Esparza declined to comment Wednesday but has said her main concern has been pedestrian safety.
Weeks ago, she moved some DIY vendors to a section west of Milwaukee Avenue, south of the Centennial Monument, into a semi-official “mega bazaar” that remained unpermitted by the city.
Forty-five more unlicensed vendors who paid a $25 application fee and a $25 weekly fee were allowed to set up between Sacramento and Richmond on Sunday, according to an email from Esparza to unlicensed vendors.
The new space for DIY vendors is separated from the official market by one block, which last Sunday was reserved for vendor parking and a fire lane. In an email to unlicensed vendors before last Sunday’s market, Esparza told them not to be discouraged by the distant placing of the new vendor area.
