Merchants Aren’t Buying Proposed Law

City planners may have thought they were doing shop owners a favor by establishing new regulations allowing sidewalk sales without permits.

But some business owners and planning commissioners say the proposed ordinance--the subject of a public hearing Monday--is so ill-conceived that it may make it more difficult for merchants to ply their wares outside.

The proposed ordinance would do away with the need to apply for special “temporary outdoor advertising” permits that are now required for sidewalk sales.

But at the same time, the new restrictions on outdoor sales would allow free-standing displays, but prohibit the use of tables and racks to hold merchandise and limit the height of any display to 6 feet.

Those stipulations have some shop owners wondering where they are supposed to place their goods.

And how, they wonder, would they display such items as picnic tables with umbrellas that usually tower at 9 feet.

“How on earth would you be able to display your product?” asked Robin Westmiller, co-owner of Paper Depot, a stationery store on Thousand Oaks Boulevard. “[Without a table], there isn’t any other way I could sell my product unless I wanted to tack the product to my clothes and walk up and down and [shouting] ‘Paper Lady!’ ”

Westmiller says the proposed law discriminates against stores like hers.

Unlike other merchants who sell goods that can be free-standing, such as stacked tires or furniture, her specialty papers must be contained in a rack or on a table.

And Tom Rogers, manager of Borders Books & Music on Thousand Oaks Boulevard, says such a law could rob his store of its national trademark: enticing tables of discount books flanking the entrance.

“It would be unfortunate,” said Rogers. “Putting the books outside our stores is . . . a tradition at Borders. Our customers like it and we certainly like it.”

Some commissioners say they are equally perplexed by some of the finer points of the proposal.

“What are they going to put [their merchandise] on? The ground?” asked Commissioner Linda Parks.

Parks said she favors loosening restrictions on sidewalk sales but doesn’t agree with parts of the proposal.

“I like the idea that it brings the stores out for people who are walking by and makes them more inviting to shoppers,” she said. “But personally I am going to suggest on Monday night that we look at [some parts].”

Other proposed stipulations include banning the sale of merchandise from public sidewalks and parking areas, prohibiting the use of live or recorded music and maintaining at least a 4-foot-wide pathway in front of a store.

Although merchants would no longer have to apply to the city for sidewalk sale permits, they would be required to seek written authorization from the property owner to display their merchandise outdoors.

In addition, the Planning Commission is expected to make a recommendation on how often sidewalk sales can be held, ranging from every business day of the year to once a month.

Retailers are now allowed to apply for 10-day permits four times a year.

Steve Rubenstein, president of the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce, said the current proposal is too broad and fails to take into account individual differences between businesses.

For instance, merchants in free-standing buildings should be allowed more leeway in holding al fresco sales than shop owners in crowded shopping malls where cluttered sidewalks could be “unsightly and hazardous,” Rubenstein said.

But the ultimate test of the proposed ordinance will be whether it is enforceable, said Forrest Frields, chairman of the city’s Planning Commission.

“I want it to be something that can be adhered to, but can do the job,” he said. “If the regulations are unreasonable, [merchants] are going to disregard it.”