Newport Beach : City Denies Bike Shop Permit to Sell Food

As far as the City Council is concerned, bicycles and fast food don’t mix.

That was the ruling Monday night when a divided council voted 4 to 3 to uphold a Planning Commission denial of a request by a Balboa Peninsula bike and roller-skate rental shop to sell hamburgers and hot dogs to augment sagging revenues.

On July 18, the commission rejected Ocean Front Wheelworks’ request for a permit to sell fast food because, it said, selling food would add to congestion at the small building near the Balboa Pier.

Two weeks ago the council voted to postpone a decision on the matter so that city staff and business owners could work out a compromise. But the council Monday night rejected the compromise, which called for the business to limit its hours of operation and reimburse the city for five municipal spaces in exchange for a fast-food permit.

Following the council action, Wheelworks’ attorney David McDonnell said he plans to file a lawsuit to force the city to grant a fast-food permit, which he said is needed to keep the bike shop in business.

McDonnell said that between a cooling of the roller-skating craze, a recent city ordinance banning three-wheeled bicycles from sidewalks and the new 10 p.m. juvenile curfew, business has dropped off sharply and the shop is in danger of closing.