The city council granted the only hardship exemption to its temporary freeze on downtown business use since the ordinance was passed last July.
Nikau Kai Waterman Shop asked the council to let it convert part of an auto shop space at 1140 Highland Ave. to retail use. The surf store, which the city council recently awarded a contract to rent beach and water equipment next to the pier for the second year in a row, said it also wanted to use the adjoining unoccupied restaurant space as a cafe.
The decision comes a month before the temporary law expires, on July 15. The council is set to decide whether to extend the ordinance at its next meeting on July 7.
Nikau Kai’s proposal was only the second hardship exemption that has been requested.
The first was by the owner of the building that houses the auto shop and restaurant space that Nikau Kai seeks to rent, Ron Koch. Koch asked for an exemption in March after a jewelry store approached him about opening a temporary shop in the space previously occupied by the F. Grill, which closed at the end of last year. After much debate over whether the situation was a true hardship and if approving the request would set a precedent, the council denied his request.
This time, it approved it unanimously with little discussion.
Community Development Director Marisa Lundstedt said it would be difficult for Koch to use the auto space.
“It’s not a use that can be continued downtown,” she said. “It does place a hardship on the owner.”
Nikau Kai owner Jason Shanks proposed renting the restaurant space and part of the adjoining space zoned for an auto shop to create the Nikau Kai Surf + Café. He mentioned Deus Ex Machina and Tom’s flagship store in Venice as examples of a similar idea.
Shanks said his current store, a few blocks north on Highland Avenue, was also in a tough spot.
“Although I understand the hardship has to be on the person leasing the property, it’s also a hardship for us due to things happening downtown,” he told the council at the June 16 meeting.
In a letter to the council, he said the new owner of his current space wanted to increase the rent.
“Unfortunately, as the owners of our town are changing quickly there are, in our opinion, some adverse effects on our independent businesses,” he wrote. “In this case, we are finally running into this challenge directly.”
“The moratorium is a solution we’ve supported and even encouraged since it was first mentioned to help save our downtown. In that decision, it was made clear all changes would need to be decided by council on an individual basis. We’re hoping that situations like ours are why this language was added to the ordinance.” ER
