In the third week of August, a number of election-style signs were positioned downtown near the Healdsburg Running Company. “Vote Yes on Local!” they read, with a big checkbox graphic.
But there is no local ballot measure on the topic, nor a candidate named “Local.” Instead, the issue was hashtagged #No-Big-Franchises-Downtown, and the target was the Aug. 19 City Council meeting.
Skip Brand, co-owner of Healdsburg Running Company, had the signs made and posted to bring the issue to light, along with a brief online survey (at yesonlocal.com) asking about franchises and the definition of downtown Healdsburg. “I just want people to know before it happens,” Brand said. “Because if you don’t make a decision about franchises, they just come in.”
What is a franchise? Many cities work from a definition of a “formula store”—but what’s that? And are they allowed in downtown Healdsburg or not? Those questions were posed at the City Council meeting last week when a discussion was held on “Formula Business Regulations in Downtown Healdsburg,” at the request of Councilmember Ariel Kelley.
The issue arose when a business woman in town complained to Kelley that her two clothing stores on Matheson Street could face competition from Faherty, a national chain of menswear (fahertybrand.com).
Faherty’s motto is “From Malibu to Martha’s Vineyard, our stores are where the good vibes come alive …” The New York Times characterized its clothing as “mainstreaming the surf hippie aesthetic.”
“I don’t think you want them here, even though they’re nice guys,” said Brand. “And it’s surf wear. We don’t even have a beach.”
Though Faherty doesn’t currently run a store in Sonoma County, it does in Corte Madera and San Francisco, among the 60 or so it directly operates nationwide. Now Faherty has plans to open a store at 326 Healdsburg Ave., in the former Ooh La Luxe—two storefronts away from the Plaza.
Local business owners and operators have long assumed that “formula stores” are prohibited from opening in Healdsburg’s downtown area, though as it turns out that assumption isn’t quite true. Although the Planning Commission in 2011 did prepare an ordinance to limit the parts of Healdsburg where such stores could operate, the ordinance was never presented to the City Council and never went on the books.
What’s the Formula?
The definition of a formula store that the city approved at the time appears in the General Plan, a series of non-binding guidelines that provide a road map for development in the city. The definition, which Planning Director Scott Duiven presented to the council during their discussion, reads: “A business that is required by contractual or other arrangement to maintain any of the following: standardized services, menu, decor, uniforms, architecture, signs or other similar features and is not part of a locally- or regionally-based group of businesses.”
Two policies in the general plan invoke formula business. In the Land Use element D-5, which prohibits formula businesses “on properties round the historic Plaza in order to preserve its character of small, unique businesses that are attractive to residents and visitors.” And in the Economic Development element, B-3, which prohibits formula businesses on properties “around the Plaza in order to support local- and independently-owned businesses and protect and enhance Healdsburg’s unique character.”
However, despite the good intentions of the General Plan (GP), no ordinance prohibits formula stores from opening anywhere in the city. City Manager Jeff Kay, while acknowledging that the 2011 ordinance was not taken up by the council (“I’m not certain why that is,” he said), stated that “the City’s enforcement of the General Plan policy has been essentially the same as what would have occurred had the ordinance been adopted. I can’t point to anything that would be different, in terms of our business mix, if the ordinance were in place.”
The woman with the two stores on Matheson who called Kelley’s attention to the matter was Merete Wimmer, owner of Rete and Ereloom. “It’s very frustrating because we as merchants have thought that there was an ordinance in place,” she said. She added another factor: “We have all been under the impression that ‘around’ means including the nearby couple blocks around the square.”
The Plaza Retail District consists in fact only of the businesses whose storefronts face the Plaza, on Healdsburg Avenue, Plaza and Center Streets, and Matheson. There is no broader definition of it in Healdsburg—although the City of Sonoma, by contrast, has a “Plaza Retail Overlay Zone” that does include some adjacent storefronts.
Standing Alone
When the City Council began the discussion on formula stores last week, it quickly became evident that Kelley was alone in her level of concern about the issue.
Councilmember Chris Herrod immediately raised the question of how to make exceptions to any limit on downtown stores, in case of an economic downturn. Councilman Ron Edwards foresaw a decision path that would be similar to the year-long consideration of cannabis businesses in town. Vice Mayor Evelyn Mitchel complained that she wasn’t sure what the council was being asked to do. And Mayor David Hagele shrugged that “things go in cycles” before opening the question to public comment.
That brought a number of local business owners to the podium, almost all of whom were united in their opposition to formula stores and baffled that there was in fact nothing binding. They emphasized the local ownership and employees of most Plaza businesses, and emphasized that Healdsburg’s success depends at least in part on its identity.
Eventually a vague consensus was arrived at that something might need to be done, but there didn’t seem to be any real urgency. As Kay said later, “since our current implementation of the GP policy is the same, that isn’t terribly consequential from my perspective.”
He went on to articulate a likely path forward. “I think it makes sense to approach that process thoughtfully and start with a consensus about what we are trying to accomplish,” he said. “When this returns to council, staff will bring an analysis of the pros and cons of some of the policy options.”
Meanwhile another formula store has expressed interest in opening on or near the Healdsburg Plaza—Johnny Was, with its selection of “boho-chic clothing” for men and women.
As Kelley stated during the meeting, “I think this is an issue where either way, whatever the council decides we want to do, it’s not something we want to just let pass by—because I do believe this is going to be a slippery-slope issue.”
So, local business owners, who already lease 49 public parking spaces from the City Council, now want the City Council to ban franchise stores. Gee whiz! The City Council had better do what the Plaza businessmen wanted them to do. No doubt, the businessmen have every City Council member on speed dial.