Sebastopol considers chain store ban, solar energy requirements for projects

[Barry]

Sebastopol considers chain store ban, solar energy requirements for projects

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/articl...p=all&tc=pgall

By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Wednesday, January 2, 2013 at 4:30 p.m.

The Sebastopol City Council, with the controversial CVS Pharmacy project still casting a shadow over downtown, is adding a chain store ban and solar energy requirements as possible ways to preserve the community's identity and shape new development.

“As the city grows and develops and learns, there is a lack of clarity in what the city wants future growth to look like, and it is important the council become pro-active,” said Vice Mayor Robert Jacob. “It is very clear our town wants to maintain its unique, small-town identity.”

At a time when many cities, notably Santa Rosa, are relaxing zoning and building ordinances in an effort to attract business and development, Sebastopol is searching for ways to tighten the rules.

A chain-store ordinance and a requirement for solar installations on all new business and residential construction or major remodeling would join the recently adopted moratorium on new drive-thru services.

Annie Carouba, owner of Bliss Organic Day Spa,
removes Christmas decorations from her business
overlooking downtown Sebastopol, on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013.
(Christopher Chung/ The Press Democrat)

City officials say that none of the measures are meant to derail the disputed CVS project, planned for Petaluma and Sebastopol avenues, one of the city's busiest and most prominent intersection.

Instead, they said they consider CVS a lesson learned.

“In the CVS process, we identified many holes in the city's laws, regulations and ordinances,” said Jacob.

Jacob and City Councilman John Eder were elected in November in the backlash against CVS.

All three of the proposals have some following in a city in which seemingly all development is subjected to debate and delay. It's a town that takes pride in being ahead of the political curve, having fought PG&E Smartmeters, rejected cell phone towers and free downtown wifi and, decades ago, declared itself a nuclear-free zone.

“Sebastopol is a cute, funky vibe; that is what we want to promote, to have that quaint, sweet little town,” said Annie Carouba, owner of Bliss Organic Day Spa, which overlooks Main Street. “To put another CVS in, forget about it. You would lose so much.”

“Chain stores should be limited, to an extent,” said Zach Morris, who was having lunch with his daughter, Marsella, at the Sebastopol Plaza Wednesday. “It helps with local business; it helps small business owners. In a town like this, independent business seems to be appreciated.”

“My personal choice is not to have CVS, not to have drive-thrus, not to have chain stores and to have solar,” said Irene Flynn of Graton, a zen priestess who was reading at the Sebastopol plaza Wednesday. “Let's keep it quaint and small.”

Armstrong Development Inc. of Sacramento has purchased the vacant Pellini Chevrolet dealership property for a CVS Pharmacy and Chase Bank branch buildings, a $10 million project on 2.5 acres.

After three years of debate and two dozen often-heated public hearings, the project has received the major approvals needed to go forward, but has not yet gotten a demolition or building permit.

The newly composed City Council in December approved an urgency ordinance that would ban drive-thrus, which is an integral part of the CVS project. That action last week spurred a lawsuit by the developer against the city.

Mayor Michael Kyes is proposing the council consider regulating “formula,” or chain, stores, but it would not affect CVS, which already has a store in Sebastopol.

“The purpose is to keep the city as a sustainable level of a mix of businesses, so that we can maintain our economic base, our distinctive types of stores,” Kyes said.

Chain stores are regulated to varying degrees in Sonoma, Calistoga, Coronado and a few other places nationally. Interim City Manager Larry McLaughlin said the discussion is just beginning in Sebastopol and it is not clear what the regulations might entail.

It may be limited to the downtown core or be citywide with the town's lone shopping center, the Redwood Marketplace, being exempted.

It might not be an outright ban, since there are some chain stores, such as Apple or Verizon, that the city might want to encourage, McLaughlin said.

Sebastopol Councilman Patrick Slayter, an architect, said he isn't a supporter of chain store bans.

“As a design professional, I am not sure they really get us where we all want to go. It feels like social engineering,” Slayter said. “What we all appreciate about vintage downtowns or successful shopping districts is the wide mix of types of stores, sizes of stores, the widest variety ... it is more authentic. It is grown up naturally; it doesn't have an artificiality about it.”

A subcommittee of councilmembers is proposing that solar energy be required for all new residential and commercial construction and for major reconstructions.

It would add about $16,000 to the cost of a house, said Kyes, a retired energy consultant.

The City Council also debated the need for solar while considering the CVS project. However, under current city regulations, a builder is required only to make basic provisions so that solar systems later may be added more easily.

(You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or [email protected].)

[Barry]

Sebastopol considers chain store ban, solar energy requirements for projects

I'm delighted to see the new City Council take a "pro-active" stand to "preserve the community's identity". Requiring a solar system for all new developments seems like a no brainer but the chain/formula ban is worthy of a closer look.

First off, how do you define a chain store? You can see some of the definitions used by other cities in the excerpt of the San Anselmo staff report below when the city was (is?) considering limiting chain stores last June:

That seems fairly clear, but what happens when a successful store in Santa Rosa wants to open a second location in Sebastopol? I suppose some limit to the total number of stores in the "chain" could address that, but where do you draw the line? What about High Tech Burrito that has 12 store, all in the Bay Area?

Note also that this description is not limited to "big box" stores. Any small chain store would also be included, such as a cookie shop. There could be a square footage limitation so that the ordinance only applies to larger stores.

Also, as the article points out, it's possible certain chain store may actually be desirable both for their general utility and their ability to attract shoppers to downtown, such as an Apple store (though that's unlikely to be proposed). Again, is it appropriate for the city government to choose one brand over another?

If there is a chain store ban, what's the area that it would cover? Just downtown? Everywhere except Redwood Marketplace?

There's also a multitude of ancillary effects that should be considered. A few that come quickly to mind, is that both property values and rent levels in the areas of covered would likely be depressed as often chain stores can afford to pay a higher price. That might make it easier to establish//maintain a local business but local property owners wouldn't be pleased.

Also the probable lower sales per square foot would translate into lower sales tax revenue for the city. And it might increase the amount and duration of vacancies.

OTOH, by preserving and enhancing Sebastopol's brand of "Local Flavor" might it also strengthen the town's attraction as a tourist (and tourist dollars) destination and is that a good thing?

What do you think?

[Kalia]

By the definition quoted below, both East-West Cafe and Mary's Pizza Shack would have trouble opening if that ban was in place, since both are part of a group including at least one other location with similar menus, decor, etc. Would they pass the test of "not causing one or more businesses in town to fail"? And that last line in the Sausalito regulations ("Use and design") seems a lot like what we've been fighting with CVS about.

And some sites just aren't good for solar. If your proposed store property has a fringe of trees on the south side, are you supposed to cut them down? An extreme example, maybe, but not everybody is well-situated to take advantage of solar power.

Just playing devil's advocate, here. I'm cautiously interested in the chain-store restrictions, but they'd have to be written very carefully.

Kalia

I'm delighted to see the new City Council take a "pro-active" stand to "preserve the community's identity". Requiring a solar system for all new developments seems like a no brainer but the chain/formula ban is worthy of a closer look.

First off, how do you define a chain store? You can see some of the definitions used by other cities in the excerpt of the San Anselmo staff report below when the city was (is?) considering limiting chain stores last June: