When "temporary urbanism" really is temporary

From Michael Berman, Executive Director, Diverse Markets Management:

Liberty Market to Close

WASHINGTON, DC--Liberty Farmers Market, which opened Tuesdays last fall on the grounds of the Historical Society of Washington, DC (HSW) at Mount Vernon Square near the corner of 7th & K Sts. NW, has "been suspended indefinitely" after being raided and closed down by D. C. Government when it reopened for the season Tuesday, March 9.

Michael Berman, president of Diverse Markets Management (DMM), a DC firm contracted by HSW to manage the market, announced the suspension today.

"We're disappointed that the effort to create quality markets at the location has been at least temporarily derailed," said Berman, who noted that the site had housed a market in the 19th Century before the building of the Carnegie Library, which now houses HSW.

He said the raid involved both federal park and local police and the D.C. Department of Regulatory and Consumer Affairs, which cited permitting issues for the closure. "DMM tried to work through the issues this week but ran into a complicated maze of jurisdictional overlap," Berman said.

"Unfortunately the mess will probably also derail plans to open other open-air markets both at HSW and in other city neighborhoods," Berman lamented. "But we know neighborhoods want to start outdoor markets and vendors want additional locations, so we'll continue to try to work with the City."

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It's ironic that the city has a "temporary urbanism" initiative when the reality is that it is very very very very very difficult to get licenses and permits to do "temporary urbanism" legally.

From the DC Office of Planning webpage on "Actionomics":

Temporary Urbanism: Transforming vacant spaces into vibrant destinations and animated showcases through recreation, retail, entertainment or arts uses.This work group brought together individuals from the development, arts, community development and public sectors. The group will design and launch a pilot temporary urbanism program to transform a vacant space into an active place.

I guess that the DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, Metropolitan Police Department, and US Park Police weren't part of the "Temporary Urbanism" working group at the Actionomics symposium.