The Haleiwa Farmers Market will no longer be allowed to operate along the Haleiwa bypass road after state officials put up “no trespassing” signs, Gov. Neil Abercrombie announced today.
Until Sunday, the market had been operating for three years on a triangular area at the junction of Kamehameha Highway and Joseph P. Leong Highway where vending is prohibited under state law, Abercrombie’s office said.
Several locations including the Waialua Sugar Mill, city parks and local schools were rejected by farmers market organizers as alternate locations over the last several months, Abercrombie said.
He pointed out that two farmers markets continue to operate on Saturdays in nearby Waialua and Sunset and support the sale and promotion of locally grown food.
“Between open markets and farmers markets all across the state we’re able to come to an accommodation, but I think there’s been some difficulty in understanding that this was a business proposition for a couple of people out there and we just were not able to come to a conclusion for them,” Abercrombie said. “So I think the farmers will be working with (City Council chairman) Ernie Martin and the Farm Bureau and others to find an appropriate venue. To the degree other vendors can be accommodated, I’m sure they will be, but we’re through with that particular attempt. When people simply don’t want to say ‘Yes,’ it’s very, very difficult to come to an accommodation. It takes two to negotiate.”
