Downtown’s destiny in need of protection

At first glance it seems fishy, a beauty supply store wants to move

into where a beauty supply store was, but can’t because, though the

Planning Commission said it wasn’t necessary, the city now requires a

special permit.

A conditional-use permit usually is required when a new and

different businesses want to move into an area. And upon closer

inspection it turns out the city’s decision may have been best for

the future of the city.

The biggest problem is calling the new business a “formula-based

business.” That’s a hard sell. The single owner does have two other

shops, but they do not conform to any formula look or even product

line.

The landlord said the shop planned on providing products not

available at other beauty supply stores because of the high-end

demographics of Laguna and the manufacturer’s limit on the number of

stores who sell its products.

That doesn’t sound very formula-based. It sounds like a nice

beauty supply shop no better or worse in concept than Ropage Beauty

Supply.

But Ropage is already here. Sure it’s moving, but it’s just around

the corner, so technically Downtown doesn’t need another beauty

supply shop. Should the city be responsible for eliminating a store’s

competition? No. But should the city be involved in the makeup of

Downtown for the future of Laguna? Well, according to the Downtown

Specific Plan, yes.

The whole idea behind the plan, just like the rest of the Vision

Laguna ideas, is to keep the future of the city in mind when making

decisions today.

If the elected representatives of the city see another beauty

supply store as not the best for the city because it doesn’t adhere

to the Downtown Specific Plan, then they can refer to the plan as a

reason to require a permit.

Whether Stanley Sir’s beauty supply shop was bad for Laguna is the

debatable element.

It’s a subjective judgment and that is where it gets stinky again.

Is it really good for the city to make potential incoming

businesses feel like it’s a crap shoot whether they can move in? Is

it fair to landlords to deny a viable business coming in because

another business owner is concerned about the competition and that

owner was here first?

Those might be moral questions for city leaders to consider.

As far as the best interest of Laguna, giving the city the right

to have some control over Downtown is likely a good move.