NEWPORT BEACH : Stricter Parking Rule for Nail Salons OKd

The City Council has approved an ordinance that triples parking requirements for new fingernail salons citywide, except in planned communities with their own standards.

The rule means new nail salons will have to provide one parking space for every 80 square feet of salon area, up from one space per 240 square feet, which is the requirement for beauty salons.

The city has had a moratorium on new personal service businesses with five or more workstations since April 25. The city at the time stopped issuing permits until planners determined which services are generating the most car trips and creating parking problems.

The nail-salon rule is an outgrowth of those studies and was sought by former City Councilman Phil Sansone.

The Planning Commission rejected the plan two months ago, swayed by an Economic Development Committee argument that it would penalize new businesses for problems created by just two nail salons.

Sansone pressed his position at Monday’s meeting, saying the Corona del Mar Residents Assn. wants the change. He said it would adversely affect only a few storefronts in Corona del Mar, on two blocks where there is no rear parking.

The council voted 5 to 2 for the rule, with Councilmen John C. Cox Jr. and Thomas C. Edwards opposed.

“I think this is targeting a successful industry. . . . I think it’s anti-business,” Cox said. “It hurts the property owners who don’t have parking because of an 80-year-old city.”

Mayor John W. Hedges noted, however, that high-volume businesses “wipe out parking for other businesses.”