By South OB Girl
Yesterday I was strolling down Newport Avenue in OB and I thought one of my favorite stores was closed.
Usually the store has rolling racks of clothes for sale outside, but there weren’t any yesterday.
One of the workers informed me that the OB Main Street Association has been addressing what exactly all the businesses are putting on the sidewalks of Newport.
This has happened before – addressing the use of tables, chairs, umbrellas, etc. The Joint at the corner of Cable and Newport previously moved its tables and chairs to the precise distance allowed and installed a fence. All up to code now.
Now if this little shop is allowed the use of the sidewalk to some degree — and previously purchased a permit for $45 from OBMA to use the outside of the store — why now the adjustment to what it can put out front?
Newport definitely needs cleaning up. And regulations are absolutely helpful. But I really don’t want to miss seeing all the rolling racks of clothes that promote shopping at some of the local businesses.
The worker also said that a specific design of a rack was suggested for use in front of its store. Little metal tiered shelves with baskets. Most priced at well over a $100, some over $200 (one small $82 option).
This sounded fascist to me. A specific design of display for the store front? Are not businesses allowed some creativity? And creativity can happen while being code compliant. Standardized store front displays? Not far away from fascist in my mind and a step closer to “1984.”
It is not news that we must promote our struggling local businesses. Especially as we are losing them. We have said goodbye to OBistro, Lola Luna, The Antique Center, and the Loan Ranger, the pawn shop.
And we’ve said hello to multiple tasting rooms (fun as they are!) when the liquor licenses for OB were supposedly at capacity years ago. The landscape is most certainly changing on Newport. Let’s hope all of our local infrastructure and local movers and shakers can work to clean up Newport while promoting the well being of the businesses.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Most of the “tasting rooms” look alike…why not the stores?
For those who may wonder — I saw the letter of violation from OBMA (PROW Notice of Non Compliance), PROW Enhancement Program documents, and the PROW permits displayed at store fronts on small yellow pieces of paper.
If people can sit on the sidewalk and order food and drinks (for profit for a business) why cannot there be racks of clothes (even a standardized and regulated size of rack) for sale (for profit for a business)…
I’m the kind of guy who knows better than to trust his own taste (I like my clothes laid out on the bed for me, thank you very much) so I have no idea what kind of outdoor display rack looks inviting or tacky. But regulating this strikes me as new ground for the OBMA and deserves further investigation. Nice sniffing out local news, So’OB Girl.
Why not ask the obma? i’m sure they could answer some of your questions. also, why does the ob”onthe”rag consistently refuse to interview the other side of the story??? I’ve asked this before and your editor has told me you don’t have the budget, but that’s just bs, as you could easily call, email, or stop by in person (in many cases). He then asks me when i’ve given $$$ to the rag, so i guess opinions only matter if you’re his bro, or give $$$. Maybe the bigger question is why are these businesses violating their prow agreement? I took 1 minute and googled “san diego prow” and found out that hanging racks are not allowed, but alas it appears you didn’t ask the obma or do a simple google search. sorry, not sorry, for the rant, but i believe this type of “journalism” is just wrong….just my opinion. now awaiting frank to ask when i gave $ (when i tell him i give to the green store every year he says he “guesses” that helps the rag lol), and then some insults, and tells me to go away. that’s journalism for the rag!
I too googled and I see you’re right about the prohibition of hanging racks in the public right of way, so point well taken. But if South OB Girl or anyone else prefers racks to baskets, then reasonable people may disagree, no?
The letter of violation from OBMA (“PROW Notice of Non Compliance”), PROW Enhancement Program documents, and the PROW permits displayed at store fronts on small yellow pieces of paper were read and analyzed in the preparation of this article.
I’m sure you did analyze the information at hand, but it seems that you should get as much information as possible (especially when it’s an easy phone call, or a short walk away), and then write the story You posed questions in your article that the obma most likely could have answered. So why not ask them?
Fyi…I’m not against clothing racks. I am against these countless articles by the rag where they could care less about getting the other side of the story. It just doesn’t seem like the correct way to write an article. It reminded my of the lola luna article where frank accused a poster of being one sided….made me laugh, but it was a very sad laugh.
obdave, You need to read more carefully. What South OB Girl wrote was clearly not intended as a straight news story. She did provide information but she also provided her opinion of what she saw, that opinion was the point of her story, I think you missed that. Perhaps your dislike of the editor dude clouded your vision when reading this. Who cares what the OBMA has to say, there is obviously regulation going on and that is the issue, not what the specifics are.
Does make me wonder why you bother reading the Rag with the opinion you seem to have. It’s like someone drinking obviously spoiled milk, gagging and then complaining that the milk is sour. Stay away from it if it upsets you so much.
geoff, i could easily say the same of you. if you really want to know “Now if this little shop is allowed the use of the sidewalk to some degree — and previously purchased a permit for $45 from OBMA to use the outside of the store — why now the adjustment to what it can put out front?”…it’s just makes sense to ask the obma. you obviously the one with the “clouded” vision. fyi… I don’t “dislike” frank, yet i do believe that the rag should get both sides of the story, in order to have a more informative nd correct story, and to answer questions that are even posed in these articles.
And I don’t think even the majority of the rag’s articles are “spoiled milk”. That’s why i read it. You seem to think that because someone drinks spoiled milk on occasion (as most of us have), that they should never try drinking milk all together, as it maybe “spoiled”.
And i’d like to see change, while you just want to tell people who disagree with you to “stay away”. ..sad
kinda like the guy who took a pic on ebers of a torrey pine being “cut down”….if he had actually bothered to ask the workers, they could have informed him that this was not the case.
Thank you very, very much Geoff Page.
This kind of thing is happening all over OB. There is a push to regulate and organize everything because some people abhor disorder and only find comfort in rigid order. Personally, I hate it, I love variety because it encourages creativity. You want this kind of street scene, go to Orange County. This is happening with Sunset Cliffs Park, Saratoga Park, the Veteran’s Memorial, the surveillance cameras, and on and on. The beauty of OB for me has always been its wide open welcoming nature for all things weird and exotic. Now they want to regulate clothes racks? It’s all about money, it always is. When OB wasn’t as desirable as it is now, no one cared. Now the expensive condo owners and business owners want OB to look spruced up with a suit and a tie to the money will keep flowing. It’s pretty hard to be an individual wearing a suit and a tie like every other nameless, faceless person out there. Thanks for the story South OB Girl.
Don’t give him any money then. Give him your time and get the other side of the story.
We’ll listen and learn :-)
Did everybody else know a business could pay $45 to OBMA for a permit to use the city sidewalk? I didn’t.