Editor:
We are seeing a significant decrease in business activity throughout Pacific Beach because of our current governmental policies. The City of San Diego (especially Pacific Beach) has become a difficult place to conduct business due to their unattainable parking requirements and expensive permitting process. Currently, properties located in the CC-4-2 zone, which is most of Garnet Avenue, require at least five parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of restaurant space. That means, a typical sized restaurant of 3,000 square feet needs at least 15 parking spaces! This is hypocritical because we are trying to become a more “bike and pedestrian friendly” retail corridor. The State of California has become a difficult place to conduct business because minimum wage is suppose to be $15 per hour by 2022 and also the state’s unwillingness to provide ABC licenses. There are plenty of responsible restaurateurs who shy away from Pacific Beach because of the current political atmosphere against beer and wine licenses. Furthermore, any major construction located within 1 mile from the coast requires Coastal Commission approval (which takes about one year). Our own policies are preventing businesses from opening and we are becoming less of a free market. Simply removing the parking requirements and easing up on obtaining ABC licenses will bring great new eateries to Pacific Beach and Mission Beach.
Though I am a member of the Pacific Beach Planning Group and the Business Improvement District, this is not their views. Tony Franco, president
The Franco Realty Group