NEWPORT BEACH : Parking Rule Change at Nail Salons Rejected

The Planning Commission has rejected a proposed ordinance that would have increased parking requirements for fingernail salons.

The change was requested last year by then-City Councilman Phil Sansone, who cited parking spillover at nail salons in his Corona del Mar neighborhood.

The rule would have required new nail salons to provide one parking space for every 80 square feet of salon area--three times as many parking spaces as are now required.

The city’s Economic Development Committee opposed the plan, saying it would penalize all nail salons for problems created by just a few.

The city has had a moratorium on new personal service businesses with five or more work stations since April 25, 1994.

The city stopped issuing permits until planners had time to determine which services were generating the most car trips and parking problems.

The city is home to 129 beauty, barber and nail salons, according to Planning Department reports. Planners visited 48 of those and found that beauty salons averaged 58% of stations occupied at any given time, compared to 73% at nail salons.

Salons in shopping centers seemed to have few problems with parking, planners noted.

Since the change would have applied only to new salons, commissioners felt it would discourage new businesses from coming to Newport Beach, where sales tax revenue has lagged behind inflation for five years.

The plan failed on a 5-1 vote, with Commissioner Gary DiSano the only one to support it.

Commissioner Anne Gifford was absent.