The Leucadia Farmers Market Is Staying at Oak Crest, and the 101 Has to Win Its Sunday Back

The Leucadia Farmers Market spent 20 years at Paul Ecke Central Elementary School. Its last market there was June 7, and it reopened at Oak Crest Middle School on June 21. Many people heard the move was caused by the school renovation at Paul Ecke Central, and it was. Fewer heard the part that matters for the long run. The new city permit lets the market stay at Oak Crest permanently, even after the renovation wraps up in fall 2027.

That means Leucadia's Sunday morning now has a new permanent address. Over the same months, the shops and restaurants along North Coast Highway 101 have been working through the hardest part of the Leucadia Streetscape project. The market move is permanent. The construction will end, and the City's latest estimate puts the finish in late fall 2026. When the barriers come down, the businesses on the 101 will be competing for Sunday visits that the market no longer brings.

What the Oak Crest Permit Actually Locks In

The market runs Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Under the approved schedule, management setup starts at 7 a.m., limited vendor setup at 7:30 a.m. and main vendor setup at 8:30 a.m. Vendors must be packed up and gone by 4 p.m., and management cleanup ends at 5 p.m. The address is Oak Crest Middle School, 675 Balour Drive. The market's own site points shoppers to parking at the Encinitas Community Center, Rhoades Preschool and the Boys & Girls Club, and it offers free bike valet for anyone who rides over.

Some neighbors appealed the move, and getting to Oak Crest took a public hearing. The Encinitas City Council rejected the appeal unanimously on June 17. Council members also added conditions that shape how the market works today:

• A firm vendor cap. The market is permitted for 135 vendors. Growing past that now needs Planning Commission approval, not just staff sign-off.
• Parking rules. Signs go up along nearby streets and at a 200-foot buffer area on the school's upper field, telling people not to park in the surrounding neighborhoods or enter the buffer. Organizers were also asked to look into off-site parking for vendors and their staff, to free up on-site spaces for shoppers.
• Early oversight. The conditions called for City code enforcement officers to inspect the market during its first four Sundays at Oak Crest, with more visits later if needed.

The first Sunday went well by the organizers' account. Stacy Reddell, executive director of Leucadia 101 MainStreet, which runs the market, told The Coast News that traffic flow and parking worked well, helped by the parking lot at the Encinitas Community and Senior Center next door. One neighbor even came through his back fence to compliment the market in person, Reddell said.

The vendor cap is what keeps this a neighborhood market. With a hard ceiling of 135 and a Planning Commission vote needed to go higher, the Oak Crest market is designed to stay about its current size.

The Same Group Runs the Market and Speaks for the 101

The connection between the two halves of this story is Leucadia 101 MainStreet. The same nonprofit runs the Sunday market at Oak Crest and supports the businesses along the Coast Highway 101 corridor. This summer, Reddell surveyed 20 of those businesses. She found that sales over the past year had dropped an average of 25% to 40%.

The owners described the drop in practical terms. Tom Chu, who owns Leucadia Donut Shoppe, said northbound customers have had trouble reaching his shop. Many keep driving to La Costa Avenue to make a U-turn, and his summer sales were down compared with previous years. David Shapiro, co-owner of The Leucadian, said losing street parking has made customers less likely to book events there. "Revenue got stagnant as soon as the project started," he said.

Jeff Schade, owner of Leucadia Cyclery, put it more lightly. In February, a tractor sat in front of his shop near Avocado Street for three weeks without starting its engine, he said, so he hung a six-foot sign on it as a joke and left it there. Schade also sits on the Leucadia 101 MainStreet board. He said the disruption would be easier to accept if businesses saw steady progress.

Why Segment C Ran Long, and Where It Stands

Segment C covers the stretch of North Coast Highway 101 from Jupiter Street to La Costa Avenue. Construction started in March 2024. It was first scheduled to finish by summer 2025. Then the City Council approved extra drainage work, including a new storm drain system meant to reduce flooding along the corridor, and the schedule grew by about a year and a half, Director of Engineering Dan Nutter told The Coast News. Segment C alone carries an estimated $32 million price tag. The full Streetscape project has cost more than $65 million since it broke ground in January 2021.

The City's August 28 update says all of the 60-inch, 66-inch and 36-inch storm drain pipe is in the ground. Crews are still installing the 24-inch pipe, cleanout boxes, laterals, connector pipes and a new water main. Once the underground work is done, crews can build the parts people use every day, including sidewalks, curbs, gutters, inlets and driveways. In July, The Coast News reported that the City expected to finish by October. The City's own page, updated a month later, says late fall.

The rest of the corridor is a separate question. Designs are finished for Segment B, from Basil Street to Jupiter Street, and Segment A1, from A Street to Marcheta Street, but construction funding has not been secured for either.

Getting to Your 101 Regulars This Fall

The City's project page describes the traffic setup during this phase. Use it as a general guide, not a day-of travel alert, because the plan changes as crews move along the corridor:

1. Park on the east side. The City says curbside parking on the west side is temporarily restricted. Parking is available in the parking pods on the east side, where the road work is finished.
2. Expect the La Costa U-turn. As of the City's July 14 update, the northbound left-turn and U-turn lane at La Costa Avenue was open. Driveway access to businesses is being kept open.
3. Watch for crossing and U-turn signs. City staff planned signs pointing pedestrians to designated crossings and drivers to allowed U-turns. No later report has confirmed they are all in place.
4. Allow for lane shifts. The City warns of occasional lane shifts, noise, dust, work lighting and large construction vehicles. Access to driveways and businesses is still maintained.

The City's construction page ends its status update with a direct request: "Please support our local Leucadia businesses during construction."

Two New Kitchens Announced for Leucadia

Two restaurant openings have been announced for Leucadia. Neither has been confirmed open as of this writing. Oto Sushi announced a late-July 2026 opening at 782 N. Coast Highway 101, with planned hours of 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Marbella Oyster Bar announced an August or September 2026 opening at 133 Daphne Street, in the former Peace Pies space behind Coast Thai-Way. Both were planned to open during the months when sidewalk and curb work was expected to come closest to storefronts. Nutter described that work as "up close and personal" with businesses.

Dates on the Fall Calendar

The October 17 garden opening is the first of two events in a one-year City pilot program, approved September 16. The program buys Southern California native plants and gives them to residents who attend. The second event is Arbor Day. If Segment C finishes on the City's late-fall timeline, the Holiday Street Fair on November 22 will come at about the same time as the first weeks of the finished Leucadia corridor.

When a road project or a permit decision changes how a part of town works, it usually shows up later in what nearby properties are worth, and in what buyers ask about. If you live near the 101 or Oak Crest and want to talk through what these changes might mean for your home, Aaron Castagna is glad to share what he's seeing in the area. Let's Connect.