SAN FERNANDO : Planners Delay Vote on Business Controls

A spokesman for downtown merchants persuaded the San Fernando Planning Commission to delay action on a proposed measure tightening regulations in the city’s commercial district, arguing that retailers need more time to study the proposal.

Commissioner Julian Medrano, before voting Tuesday to continue the public hearing to July 20, mildly reproved the owners of more than 100 businesses in the San Fernando Mall for not making the issue a priority.

“This is affecting their future,” said Medrano before an audience of three, none of them merchants. “They have to get their priorities straight.”

Bruce Cohen, representing the San Fernando Mall Downtown Assn., said business owners have not had time to address the proposal as a group.

“They’re just too busy trying to keep their stores open,” said Cohen, who is also the executive vice president of the San Fernando Chamber of Commerce.

The city is proposing a zoning amendment to establish guidelines for the central business district, bordered by the railroad tracks, San Fernando Mission Boulevard, Chatsworth Drive and Celis Street.

The proposed guidelines would restrict building and awning colors to a city-approved palette of pastel and medium-tone beige, pinks and blues, discourage indoor swap meets by requiring individual stores to be a certain size, and prohibit music or noise that can be heard outside a store.