Too Many Galleries in City of the Arts? Lawsuit Spurs Debate

Laguna Beach prides itself on being an artists’ colony. But a lawsuit filed this week by a property owner accuses the city of being more a critic than a patron of the arts.

The owner is seeking the right to rent out downtown commercial space to the Addi Galleries chain after the City Council last month rejected the proposal, citing an over-concentration of such businesses in the area.

Downtown Laguna Beach is home to a dozen galleries--with seven on Forest Avenue, where the property is located. City officials rejected the proposal to add a 13th in the interest of preserving a diversity of shops in the district.

The issue has generated plenty of debate in the community and comes as business leaders are trying to raise the profile of “Gallery Row” by hosting weekly walking tours.

“The City Council is abandoning the otherwise universal desire to make Laguna a destination resort and art colony by arguing incredibly that Laguna has too many art galleries,” said Paul Rolf Jensen, the building owner. “Thirteen is arbitrary. Why limit it? It makes no sense.”

City officials, however, point out that its downtown zoning guidelines call for a healthy mix of shops in the commercial district and said it would be wrong for the area to be dominated by one type of commerce.

“In this decision, some council members felt that the proliferation of gallery uses would not lend to diversity,” Councilwoman Kathleen Blackburn said.

The Addi Galleries, which operates shops in California, Hawaii and Nevada, planned to display and sell works by local artists and would have specialized in Laguna plein-air impressionism. It sought to lease a 2,000 square foot, 60-year-old building that had been vacant for nearly a year.

The Planning Commission approved the plan in December. But Councilman Wayne L. Peterson appealed the decision to the council, which rejected it last month on a 3-2 vote.

“I got a lot of calls from businesses and residents . . . [who] said this would make eight galleries in a one-block area. There’s just too many galleries there,” Peterson said.

The downtown area needs more hardware and clothing stores serving local residents, not more tourist-oriented galleries, he added.

“I’m not going to support another gallery in the downtown,” he said.

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One gallery owner supports the City Council’s decision and argues that bringing in another large-scale chain gallery would further erode the city’s individuality.

“We don’t want a bunch of chains around here,” said gallery owner Robert Blake, who has owned Peter Blake Galleries on North Coast Highway for six years.

Others, however, said the council missed an opportunity to improve the downtown area.

“The city is going through a renaissance, and [the council had] an opportunity with this high-quality art gallery to elevate Laguna into really being the art center of quality art,” said former Councilman Wayne Baglin.