Editor’s Note: The photo formerly accompanying this article has been removed since it was out of date.

The tide has turned in Malibu.

After years of taking no action on residents’ calls to limit chain stores in the affluent beachside community, Malibu City Council approved an ordinance last week placing restrictions on the amount of space that they can lease in the Civic Center.

The council also placed a citizens’ initiative on the November ballot that would enact more even stringent restrictions.

Don Schmitz, chairman of the Malibu Chamber of Commerce’s legislative committee, said the chamber was disappointed in the council’s action and reiterated the chamber’s claims the restrictions could hurt the city’s economy.

“This will not promote, enhance and improve the vitality of the business climate in Malibu,” Schmitz said. “Accordingly, we remain in opposition to a formula retail ordinance.”

The group behind the citizens’ initiative welcomed the council’s action and will push for the initiative’s more stringent restrictions, which include a requirement for a vote on larger developments.

“It’s very important for the people to be able to sign off on these projects,” said Leo Wallach at Rally, a public relations firm with offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco that is working with actor-director Rob Reiner and other chain store opponents.

“What’s most important to realize is that the initiative requires a vote of the people before the city can approve big new developments over 20,000 square feet,” he said.

Long history

The controversy dates as far back as 2006, when Starbucks and other national brands began to show up throughout the city. The movement opposed to the chains gathered steam in 2011, leading to a grassroots effort that created citizen support for restrictions on the stores.

The council had an ordinance drafted last year that would have limited chain stores to no more than 50 percent of the commercial space in the Civic Center area, but took no action at the time.

Chain store opponents filed about 2,300 signatures with the city in June calling for the more restrictive initiative. The council revived the ordinance, modifying it before its approval last week.

The ordinance restricts chain stores to 45 percent of the space in a shopping center in the Civic Center. It also caps the size of the chain stores at 3,500 square feet. The ordinance is scheduled to take effect in the coming months.

If approved by voters, the citizens’ initiative would go even further, restricting chain stores to 30 percent of the retail space across the city. It would also cap the size of existing stores when they renew their leases. New stores would be limited to 2,500 square feet.

Also, commercial and mixed-use developments larger than 20,000 square feet would require voter approval.

Under both the ordinance and the initiative, existing stores at shopping centers will be allowed to stay until their leases expire. Essential services such as grocery stores, banks and gas stations are exempt.

Councilwoman Laura Rosenthal voted for both the ordinance and the initiative. She believes it is time for the city to take some action on the issue, but said that she’s worried about the regulations as proposed in the initiative. She is also concerned that the initiative’s call for a vote on large developments will stifle growth in the city.

“There’s a part of me that fears that current shopping centers will have a monopoly because they know that nothing will probably every get built,” she said.

She added that she believes the city should preserve the charm of Malibu in the Civic Center, but she does not believe the city needs to be regulated.

“I don’t think we need to control chain stores in other areas, because those are really residential serving areas and we’ve never had a problem with chain stores,” she said.

Business issue

Michael Koss, owner of the Malibu Country Mart at Cross Creek Road, said the restrictions won’t hurt him as only about 30 percent of his tenants are chain stores, but he’s disappointed nonetheless.

“The council has been indicating all along that it was their goal to have some kind of an ordinance,” Koss said. “It has a minimal effect on me other than there could be some instances where I would have an opportunity to put a store in one of my centers that may be a national brand.”

Schmitz at the chamber said he understands claims by supporters that they want to maintain the seaside character of Malibu, and agrees that there’s not enough of it around town.

“It’s damn tough to run a business as it is,” he said, however. “Passing more regulatory hurdles is not the way to go about it.”

He noted that chain stores drive traffic into small businesses.

“Our constituents have said pretty emphatically that having the larger anchor tenants really spills in the individual to their stores,” he said.