SEAL BEACH : Shoppers Shunning the City, Report Says

Most local residents do their shopping in Long Beach or elsewhere, according to a city staff report, and city officials are looking for ways to encourage the townfolk to spend more money here.

Per capita sales tax revenues for Seal Beach rank 27th in Orange County, city officials said. Seal Beach per capita sales tax revenue is only $40, while the countywide average is $118.

Sales tax revenues in the city in 1987 increased only 2.5%, compared to a statewide average of 7.2% and a countywide average of 8.8%, the study showed.

“We’re not capturing our purchasing power,” City Manager Bob Nelson said. “We know that the family income in the city is fairly high, because we have the highest average rental cost in the county. We know that people have to have a fairly high income to live here, and yet we have one of the lowest per capita sales tax revenue figures in the county.”

The city’s largest provider of sales tax revenue is Rossmoor Shopping Center, which generated about 40%--or approximately $400,000--of the total revenue. Nelson recommended improving the shopping center, which meets requirements for economic blight under Redevelopment Agency standards.

Problems in the Main Street shopping area were also addressed in the study. Members of the city’s Ad Hoc Retail Sales Committee said the two main problems in the area were a shortage of parking and an ineffective tenant mix.

Also, the committee reported that the area’s operating hours were incompatible with the shopping habits of residents. Most stores in the area are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. A street survey showed that many residents prefer to shop in the evening.

“We find that a number of the business on Main Street are being run as if they were hobbies. Often, the hours are very unpredictable,” Nelson said. “If shoppers could know that the stores they wanted to visit would be open, they’d be more likely to shop in the city.”

The 80-page report, which took four months to complete, was reviewed this week by the City Council and the Ad Hoc Retail Sales Committee.