City Council to consider ordinance protecting small businesses

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    Protesters express support for Point Pizza, which is closing this year after 26 years in business when its lease at Point Dume Plaza was not renewed.

    The Malibu City Council will consider an ordinance aimed at protecting local mom and pop stores at its Nov. 13 meeting, according to an agenda released Thursday. The council is expected to direct staff to prepare either a business diversification ordinance or a formula retail ordinance, although City Attorney Christi Hogin warned in a legal opinion that such ordinances could be vulnerable to court challenges.

    A business diversification ordinance would require shopping centers of a certain size (likely more than 10,000 square feet and with more than 10 stores) to set aside a certain amount of tenant space for different commercial uses. It could potentially establish percentage requirements for types of businesses aimed at visitors, such as clothing stores, and those primarily catering to residents, such as cleaners.

    A formula retail ordinance would potentially limit or forbid corporate or chain stores from being able to lease space in the shopping centers.

    City Attorney Christi Hogin, in a legal memorandum included in the staff report, said neither option is a slam dunk to avoid getting the city sued.

    Hogin wrote that a a business retail ordinance “should survive legal scrutiny,” but noted that the city “does not enjoy the certainty that comes with a legally-tested law” because there have been no federal or state cases analyzing commercial diversification ordinances.

    Regarding formula retail ordinances, Hogin noted that a California court upheld such an ordinance in Coronado, Calif., but that a Florida court struck down a similar ordinance in that state.

    Many residents have complained that excessive rent prices in the city’s shopping centers have forced beloved establishments out of businesses and led to an oversaturation of high-end clothing stores where few locals shop.

    The imminent closing of Point Pizza Restaurant in Point Dume Plaza and, potentially, Guido’s Italian Restaurant in Malibu Village sparked a new round of community outcry recently for the City Council to intervene on behalf of smaller establishments.

    Backers of the proposal say that a city law restricting corporate stores from setting up shop in Malibu may save mom-and-pop entities from going under. Opponents say a special ordinance stamps out free enterprise.

    What are your thoughts about a small business ordinance? Think it would save local stores or increase vacancies? Comment or email the author at knowles@malibutimes.com.