Editorial: City not business- friendly

City officials are trying like the dickens to help boost local businesses, especially the retail sector, which has been floundering due to last year’s global economic meltdown. Vacancies are up and “For Lease” signs are proliferating, not just downtown but all over the commercial areas.

Facing an uncertain financial future, City Hall is worried about how to survive a downturn that seems to be dragging on. This means fewer sales taxes to fund city services, and, while Laguna Beach is far more fortunate than other towns, alarm bells are ringing.

The state is still bleeding red ink, and there’s no end in sight to its fiscal morass, which can affect future city funding if the state turns around and raids local coffers to balance its budget.

So last year the City Council formed a Business Assistance Task Force and surveyed residents to see what types of businesses they’d like to see in town. In addition, a subcommittee has been working to attract new businesses to the city to take the place of the ones that have fallen by the wayside.

But on the business side of the equation, most merchants, particularly in the downtown area, would like the city to stay out of their way and let them conduct their businesses as they see fit.

Unlike most other municipalities, the city’s Downtown Specific Plan, which governs Forest Avenue and adjacent areas, allows city officials to tell merchants what they can and cannot sell, and how much of a particular item they can stock, down to the percentage point.

The regulations also permit elected city officials to give a thumbs up or thumbs down to an incoming business, and we’ve seen reputable retailers booted out of town when they were perceived to be a threat to existing merchants who took their case to the council.

Those who make it through the forbidding gates of City Hall can find themselves under scrutiny for selling merchandise that is deemed inappropriate or other perceived infractions.

Of course the town doesn’t want to end up with nothing but T-shirt and souvenir stores, but merchants must sell what the public will buy or go out of business.

The result is that Laguna Beach, despite its charms for visitors and residents, isn’t seen as business-friendly. Turning that perception around won’t be easy.

It will take a shift in attitude, if not in city ordinances. That’s what the city’s Business Assistance Task Force should be looking at.