Problem is the handful of markets may not be legal, according to the city's food protection and education division.
One popular Saturday-morning market was forced to close after a farewell sale last week. The city had cited it a week earlier for lacking a permit to sell raw, uncooked or processed food in the parking lot of the Celebration restaurant on West Lovers Lane.
... The permit, which allows an applicant to set up a temporary food-service establishment, costs $150, plus $5 for each vendor, and can be used only once every three months.
Most of these outdoor markets want to operate weekly or, at least, monthly. Their operators say they are worried they also will be closed down by the city.
"They haven't come knocking on our doors, but I know they're going to come and they're going to ask us for these permits," said Sarah Perry, an organizer of the monthly White Rock Local Market, which lacks a food permit but plans to operate until December.
"Our vendors are licensed and certified to sell the food they're selling," she said. "But we don't have a separate license to sell food at our location."
Ahsan Khan, manager of the food protection division, said the city cannot allow outdoor food markets to operate if they lack hot running water so vendors can keep their hands clean as well as mechanical refrigeration to keep certain foods cold or frozen.
"There is a strong possibility of something going wrong, and it could lead to cross-contamination of food," Khan said. "Our basic thing is we need to protect public health."
Asked if he planned to root out the other neighborhood markets, Khan said, "If you let us know where they are, we will."
In their defense, the market operators said they had asked the city food division about getting permits to operate. But each query got a different answer, they said.
Lowe said a city employee had insisted his outdoor market didn't need a separate permit, since he already was operating a licensed restaurant and indoor market on the same property.
"She said the permit for the restaurant and market was sufficient as long as we're not serving food" in the parking lot, he recalled.
Celebration's farmers market opened May 30 and eventually was attracting several hundred customers. It also caught the attention of the local news media, including The Dallas Morning News, which reported on its food offerings and growing popularity.
All was going smoothly until someone called the city health department last month to complain about a dog being allowed on Celebration's outdoor patio, which also requires a city permit.
When an inspector showed up Sept. 19, the market was in full swing and Lowe was told he needed a permit to continue operating, even though the vendors were not serving food.
"Certainly we don't want to do anything that would jeopardize public health," he said. "And I also don't want to get into an adversarial relationship with the health department."
In recent years, outdoor markets have become increasingly popular as people seek to buy fresher foods from local farmers than they can get at the grocery store.
Most small towns, and even some suburbs, have opened their own outdoor markets. ...
