Venice Unchained
By Dawn Hollier and Melissa
Bechtel
There is a more vibrant and
visible street scene on Abbot Kinney than ever before, and increased parking
coming soon. Unfortunately, these conditions are ideal for the chains to
pounce. The first chain store on Abbot Kinney is already open.
Pinkberry’s backlit corporate logo and scripted service are already
poisoning the street's authentic look and feel. Left unchecked, the chains will
also hurt the community by squeezing out small businesses, exporting profits,
and killing the neighborhood’s identity. We believe that the fun and
funky nature of our community is worth saving. Will you help us?
A Brief History of Venice
Unchained
We first brought our plan
for an ordinance banning chain stores from Abbot Kinney and Ocean Front Walk to
Councilman Bill Rosendahl 22 months ago. He stated his support for our cause and
asked us to gather more community support, which would give teeth to his motion
to pass the ordinance. This we did--almost 3,000 people have now signed the
petition. The Venice Chamber of Commerce and Venice Neighborhood Council
enthusiastically support us, as do most of the merchants in the Abbot Kinney
District Association.
Now for the bad
news: someone in Rosendahl’s office misinformed us about the approval
process and how long it would take. We were told the ordinance would be passed
by now and we believed it. We are now told that the motion that Bill introduced
this past February is being studied by the Planning Department and City
Attorney’s office, who will report to the planning subcommittee of the
city council (PLUM). PLUM will come back with recommendations and the council
will discuss and then (hopefully) vote to pass it. We have been told by
Rosendahl’s Planning Deputy that this process realistically takes 1 to 2
years. This timeframe is unacceptable to us, and we believe that our collective
commitment can affect a quicker outcome. The city bureaucracy must be made to
understand that time is our enemy. Remember, any chain store in place once the
ordinance is signed into law can’t be kicked
out.
A Call to
Action
We are planning a major
campaign to save Abbot Kinney. We have a two-pronged approach: 1) boycott
Pinkberry in order to stop new chains from opening as we 2) work on progressing
the ordinance quickly into law. We urgently need lawyers and community
leaders—people with experience in local government—to get this
ordinance on the fast track. And we need this boycott to garner enough media
attention and support from the public to deter potential chains and their
prospective landlords from signing the next lease. (Pinkberry has 20 stores
open, and will have over 100 by the end of the year...and that's just the West
Coast.)
We will be evaluating the
collective response to this e-mail to see if we have enough critical mass to
move forward with the campaign. Pooling our skills and resources will be the
key to success. You can start by forwarding this e-mail to everyone on your
list, and printing copies to be placed in all the mailboxes on your block (this
has received an amazing 85% response rate in the past). Please go to our
website to submit ideas and suggestions, and to volunteer your skills as well as
to leaflet outside the Pinkberry. We did this last Sunday afternoon for an hour
or so, and deterred several potential customers. Others said they would honor
the boycott in the future. We had fun leafleting and met a lot of new people.
If enough of us sign up to leaflet in one or two-hour shifts, we could cover all
or most of Pinkberry’s hours (11am to 11pm every day). We also hope to
enlist the neighborhood merchants…what if every store had a “Proud
supporter of the Pinkberry boycott” sign in its
window?
Venice Unchained appreciates
your assistance in whatever form it takes. We are two working moms with limited
time or activist experience, but who are fervently committed to preserving the
spirit of Venice. We are honored to be a part of this wonderful community, and
we believe that with community anything is
possible.
Support Abbot Kinney's merchants by
attending First Fridays (next one is July
6).
http://www.veniceunchained.org
Posted: Sun - July 1, 2007 at 04:20 PM