City Rescinds Ban on Movie Filming

Santa Paula has rescinded its two-week-old moratorium on downtown movie filming. The City Council voted unanimously Monday night to lift the moratorium as long as production companies reach written agreements with area merchants before approaching the city for a film permit.

The ban will be reviewed again at the next council meeting in two weeks.

Meanwhile, a committee that includes business people will try to mediate disputes between merchants and film companies, which was part of the reason for the ban. Some merchants feuded with film companies over the amount of compensation they receive for the disruption to their business while shooting is in progress.

The council withdrew the moratorium after discovering some production companies had existing contracts to conduct filming in Santa Paula. In addition, film permits are a lucrative revenue source for the city.

Moreover, a long-delayed downtown revitalization project has been postponed yet again. Merchants had feared that work would exacerbate the negative effect on their businesses in tandem with film shoots.

The moratorium’s withdrawal drew mixed reaction. Jayne Cooper, owner of Santa Paula Hardware, said the move was the city’s latest attempt to shirk any responsibility for regulating film shoots.

“None of us are too happy about it because the purpose of it was to work these problems out with the merchants, the city and the filming companies,” she said. “The merchants are getting the raw end of the deal. . . . We keep getting told we’re trying to extort . . . and we’re too greedy, but that’s not the point. The majority of us want this film problem solved so we can become film-friendly.”

But Elaine Musselman, Chamber of Commerce president, said the council’s retreat was simply a recognition it may have acted too hastily. The challenge now will be to reach a consensus among the merchants via the committee.

“You need to be a genius in human psychology to make that work well, but it can work,” she said.