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Frequently Asked Questions

Many communities have enacted this kind of ordinance. In California, they include Arcata, Calistoga, Carmel, Coronado, Pacific Grove, San Francisco, Sausalito and Solvang.  To find out more about the specific ordinances in those communities, click here.   Not only do independent businesses recycle a much greater share of their revenue back into the local economy, but they are an essential part of the distinctive character that attracts new investment and businesses to the area.

I thought chains weren’t allowed on Abbot Kinney, this ordinance isn’t needed, is it?

The chains have not invaded yet partly because they require more parking than is available for Abbot Kinney, partly because they recognize that our community is resistant, and partly because community-minded building owners have helped hold the line.   However, as the leases of established stores come up for renewal, market forces, the presence of the first chain store on Abbot Kinney, and increased parking coming soon will combine to encourage them.   This ordinance is desperately needed, and right away!

Pinkberry isn’t a chain store, is it?

Pinkberry is exploding as a franchiser, there will be a hundred open by the end of the year on the West Coast alone.  They are on track to becoming a ubiquitous presence in shopping areas across America.

What do you have against Pinkberry?  It’s not like it’s a McDonalds or anything…

We agree that some chains are more objectionable than others.  However, our issue is not about price or product, it’s about principle.  Walk into the Pinkberry and you are greeted by uniformed employees chirping out a scripted greeting—the antithesis of what Venice is all about.

Abbots Pizza has two outlets, are they a chain?

The ordinance will set a minimum number of locations (typically 5 to 12) for a business to be considered a chain. We are encouraging the city council to model the ordinance after the one in place in Coronado, which has held up in court.  It defines a chain this way:

“Formula Retail" means a type of retail sales activity or retail sales establishment (other than a "formula fast food restaurant") which is required by contractual or other arrangement to maintain any of the following: standardized ("formula") array of services and/or merchandise, trademark, logo, service mark, symbol, decor, architecture, layout, uniform, or similar standardized feature.

Don’t you think it’s hypocritical NIMBYism to shop at chains on Lincoln Boulevard but ban them from Abbot Kinney?

Nope.  Zoning laws set limits on what property owners can do with their land and buildings in order to balance their needs against those of the community at large.  There are zones for housing, industry, parks, skyscrapers…why not a community character zone?