Ligonier Country Market location in limbo as scheduled start nears

LIGONIER, Pa. – Sixteen days from the scheduled start of the Ligonier Country Market, the location of the annual event that draws thousands of people remains undecided.

The event's foot traffic has grown over the years, raising concerns about damage to the watershed property that has served as the market's location for decades.

With new conditions proposed last fall for using that land near U.S. Route 30 in Ligonier Township, the market's leaders elected to relocate.

However, the selection of a new site – the sprawling property of the Waterford Volunteer Fire Department – was nullified Tuesday by a decision of the township's board of supervisors, sending the market's leaders back to the Loyalhanna Watershed Association to renegotiate terms for the original site.

As of Thursday, no arrangement was in place, Loyalhanna Watershed Association Executive Director Susan Huba said.

The 10-acre parcel owned by the watershed association has been the home of the Ligonier Country Market for 24 years, but it is primarily a floodplain and wetland, Huba said.

"It does have a purpose that our organization has to be mindful of," she said. "It's a floodplain to Mill Creek. There's a pipe that drains the property so that the lower part of town doesn't flood."

That pipe gets overwhelmed when conditions of the property worsen, Huba said.

She said the number of vendors participating in the market has grown from 40 to more than 120 over the years, and crowds each Saturday can reach 4,000.

Foot traffic coupled with increased wet weather trends in recent years has led to erosion and soil compaction that prohibits water from infiltrating the ground, she said.

Additionally, Huba said, the Country Market's leadership in recent years hasn't prioritized restoring grass and filling ruts at the grounds after the event as it had in the past.

"Our mission is to clean up waterways, conserve property and help the community," she said.

In October, she said, months ahead of the 2026 Ligonier Country Market, the association asked the market's board of directors to reduce the size of the event's vendors from 120 to 90, with a requirement that half of the vendors be local farmers.

In addition, the association wanted the Country Market to introduce a policy for further limiting vendors after prolonged periods of rain, Huba said.

Huba said the market's board didn't respond to the proposed agreement. Instead, they chose to explore moving the event to the Waterford Volunteer Fire Department.

The market is scheduled to begin Saturdays starting May 16 through Sept. 26, according to the market's website.

The website also lists the address of the Waterford fire department as its location, but that move to 44 Fire Hall Road has proven to be premature.

The Ligonier Township Board of Supervisors refused Tuesday to consider a zoning change that would have allowed the market to operate at the fire department's property.

The market's use of the watershed land has been grandfathered through the township's comprehensive zoning code revisions in 2015. The code revision reclassified areas including the watershed association's property and the Waterford Volunteer Fire Department property as agricultural zones.

Under the township's code, agricultural zones do not include the allowance for conditional retail use. The Ligonier Country Market's grandfathered exception to operate at the watershed property doesn't transfer to other agriculturally zoned areas, township Manager Michael Strelic said.

For the market to be hosted at the fire department grounds, the land would have to be rezoned for commercial use.

Fire department officials requested the zoning change so that it could build a new facility at the site while continuing to operate from the current facility, Strelic said.

The rezoning was also key to the country market's planned relocation, but the fire department's application for a zoning change did not mention the market, Strelic said.

"The board's concern was that rezoning was forever," Strelic said. "What happens if the fire department goes out of business? There would be a large commercially zoned tract where one shouldn't be."

With the zoning request refused, the fire department may request a variance to build its new building without rezoning, he said.

"The doors to them are by no means closed," he said.

However, the township's decision against rezoning has left the Ligonier Country Market without a home.

In the days since the Ligonier supervisors' decision, Ligonier Country Market leaders have contacted the Loyalhanna Watershed Association to renegotiate, Huba said.

"But they are still not willing to listen to what concerns we have," she said. "I understand the market is scheduled in a couple of weeks and they've committed to their vendors, but they had plenty of time (since the association made its requests in October) to adjust."

Huba said the association has faced backlash on social media.

"We've been thrown under the bus for asking for safeguards for our property, and we've lost support from people who don't understand the background of the situation," she said.

Calls and emails to the Ligonier Country Market organization were not returned Thursday.

Artist Tamara Barker said the Ligonier Market is her largest consistent source of revenue through the summer. Her business, Barker's Herbs and Heirlooms, specializes in up-cycled art made from thrifted items and mixed-media collage art.

She said she hopes the market remains at the watershed property, which draws visibility from Route 30.

"It's built a good reputation," she said. "It's known for being part of the town of Ligonier. The town relies on extra foot traffic from the market."

However, she said, if the Loyalhanna Watershed Association's conditions for vendor reductions following heavy rains remain in place, then she could be among the vendors who don't make the cut.

"The new conditions are obviously a problem," she said.

Vendors including Barker have already paid fees for their place in the market.

"And it's too late to sign up for another market," she said. "We've booked and planned our seasons accordingly."

She praised the market's director, Kelly Svesnik, for achieving a balanced mix of vendors offering produce and handmade goods. The variety drives larger crowds, she said.

"The market director has been phenomenal," she said. "I know she's been working hard to find a solution."

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