Chain Ordinance Gets Council's Blessing

By 4-1 vote, council passes first reading of new law restricting stores larger than 10,000 square feet

By Nao Braverman
The Ojai City Council finally accepted the first reading of a long-awaited ordinance to protect Ojai from the proliferation of chain stores. If this ordinance draft is adopted upon its second reading at the next council meeting on Nov. 27, it will put Ojai on the map as a small town that will not let in anymore chain fast-food restaurants, or big box chains of more than 10,000 square feet.
Though it would keep out the smallest Wal-Mart or Costco, it could also prevent Vons from selling to an Albertsons or Ralphs if it goes out of business, unless one of those chain grocery stores agrees to operate under a different name.
Councilwoman Sue Horgan was concerned about the existing buildings larger than 10,000 square feet that might remain vacant after a business folded.
In a brief run-down city manager Jere Kersnar named several existing buildings that exceed the 10,000-square foot cap including Vons grocery store, currently 22,257 square feet, Starr Market which is 21,040 square feet and the abandoned bowling alley which is 16,240 square feet.
Horgan was concerned that were any of those buildings to vacate, it might be difficult to fill a space of such size with anything other than a chain. And if a desirable chain were to apply, Ojai might regret having passed the ordinance.
But Kersnar reminded her that the larger spaces could be subdivided to occupy smaller chains. Mayor Carol Smith said she had faith in Ojai to come up with a privately owned business to fill those spaces. Ojai resident and author of the recently withdrawn citizen’s initiative regarding chain stores, Kenley Neufeld, reminded council members that a big box could effectively replace Vons, simply by keeping the Vons name while operating under a different ownership. Not a completely unheard of technique, the Lazy Acres whole foods store in Santa Barbara is owned by Albertsons, he said.
Other residents agreed that the 10,000 foot cap was adequate.
“You can’t have an ordinance that covers everything perfectly,” said Ojai resident Leonard Klaif. “We are going to have to keep out some chains we like. I’m sure everyone has their one favorite chain they’d like to see in Ojai but we can’t accommodate them all.”
City attorney Monte Widders clarified that if the council wanted to withdraw or change the 10,000 foot cap at a later date, they could do so with a text amendment.
Though the ordinance does not ban new formula businesses other than fast food and big box in the city, it requires the approval of other chain retailers to be contingent on a conditional use permit. The CUP process requires public notification and a public hearing, providing an opportunity for people to comment on each and every chain opening within the city.
To accommodate chain service businesses, which local residents rely on, this ordinance has a looser definition of “formula business” than used in previous ordinance drafts. By defining them as a business that maintains 10 or more locations and employs three or more of the following characteristics: standardized merchandise or menu, standardized facade, standardized decor or color scheme, uniform apparel, standardized sign, trademark or service mark, it craftily allows most chain services to be dropped from the formula category altogether.
The ordinance also provides additional protection to the central downtown area by restricting formula businesses of more than 2,000 square feet and more than 25 feet of frontage from the city’s Downtown Commercial Land Use Designation which includes the north side of Ojai Avenue from Ventura Street to Montgomery Street, including the former Texaco Station and the Arcade Plaza as well as the Ojai Playhouse, and Fitzgerald Plaza on the south side of Ojai Avenue.
Horgan was also concerned about Vons becoming a legal non-conforming business, as a chain of more than 10,000 square footage, which would prevent it from expanding or remodeling without a CUP. Widders clarified that Vons could expand, according to the municipal code, but only by 50 percent.
Councilwoman Rae Hanstad also expressed some concern about the 10,000-foot cap for chains, because, she said, Ojai’s residents need their grocery stores. She deferred to the Planning Commission which had discussed the issue in depth and voted in favor of adopting the ordinance on first reading. All other council members were also in favor of the proposed ordinance except Horgan, who wanted to eliminate the 10,000-square-foot limit for chains.
In other City Council news, Kersnar announced that in addition to the Ozena Valley Mine in Ventura County and the Diamond Rock Mine in Santa Barbara County, two other mines in Santa Barbara were applying for expansions, which would mean even more truck trips through the Ojai Valley.