New businesses to open soon

Old Pottery Place merchants can start opening their shops any day now, even though construction is still to be completed on the parking garage and the building on Glenneyre Street.

An art gallery and retailers of books, candy, shoes, home furnishings and accessories will be the first to open at the former Pottery Shack. They will be joined later by a clothing store and a restaurant as parking requirements are met.

The planning commission unanimously voted to permit five merchants to open their doors after June 1, with just the required parking to accommodate the customers of the shops and workers. Customers will have 13 spaces in the lower parking level, where workers also will park while construction continues.

“We were certainly pleased on behalf of the merchants that the businesses were allowed to open so they could take advantage of summer visitors,” said Jane Hanauer, wife of the developer.

Neighbors have objected to the opening.

“We opposed this because the developer had promised the Heritage Committee that he would not open anything until the complex was completed,” Village Flatlanders Assn. founder Thomas Girvin said. “We did not appeal because it would have been an exercise in futility. They are getting whatever they want. We’d just like to see it done.”

Commissioner Anne Johnson said all changes to the original project have been submitted to and approved by the Heritage Committee.

“Neighbors said it would exacerbate traffic and parking problems in the area, and I agree it will temporarily worsen the problems, but in the long run it will help ensure the project is completed sooner rather than later,” Commissioner Norm Grossman said.

The commission gave property owner and developer Joe Hanauer six months to do business under a temporary-use permit, at which time the project will come back to the commission for review of an application for a permit without the short-term limitation.

“We sincerely hope everything will be completed within the six months,” Johnson said.

Fire Department and Public Works officials approved the temporary-use permit.

“It is common in most cities to open businesses when tenant improvements are completed, as long as all health and safety regulations are met,” Community Development Department Planning Administrator Ann Larsen said. “If it is safe, there is no reason not to start getting businesses going. It is not unusual, it just has never been requested before in Laguna.”

June openings will include Studio Arts gallery, where John and Rebecca Barber will exhibit works by local artists. Demonstrations of his art by master glass-blower Barber will harken back to the days when crafters of pottery brought fame to Laguna and gave a name to the collection of ramshackle sheds on the site. Plastic animals and some of the plates that adorned the old buildings will be displayed and a refurbished Eiler Larsen statue will greet customers.

Jane Hanauer will include space for readers and clubs to meet and a venue for authors at Laguna Beach Books, an independent bookstore that will also carry periodicals.

The Old Pottery Place will be the new home for Tootsies, a Florida transplant that will retail shoes and handbags. Dana Point’s Chocolate Soldier will open its second shop in the complex. Rivera Home, which used to call Newport Beach home, will offer interior design services as well as furniture, home accessories and gifts.

Scout 3, a clothing and accessories store, will open later, as will Laguna Sapphire restaurant. Former St. Regis executive chef Azmin Ghahreman is expected to begin serving a maximum of 113 customers, with inside and patio seating, in early August. The menu will depend on the season and availability of fresh ingredients.

A gourmet shop next to the restaurant will serve the public.

Office space will be upstairs in the South Coast Highway buildings and all of the Glenneyre Street building.

The project has been in the works for three years, guided through planning, the development process and construction to date by Hanauer and architect Morris Skenderian.

When finished, the buildings will total 22,000 square feet.

Still in the works: the garage, the Glenneyre Street building, landscaping and the installation of public art.

“Then we are done ? ideally it is the beginning,” Jane Hanauer said.