OJAI : Residents Urge City to Restrict Chain Stores

Ojai residents want to maintain the small-town character of their community and still attract tourists, a survey by city officials has found.

During a discussion of the survey at a two-hour public hearing Wednesday, about a dozen residents urged officials to do whatever they can to protect the city’s small businesses and prevent discount and chain stores from coming into town.

“People in Ojai live like people were meant to live. We have a quiet life,” Leonard Klaif told City Council members and planning commissioners. “Chains . . . care about profit, not about people.”

The 13-question survey was mailed to residents two months ago and results were released at Wednesday’s meeting. About 3,000 residents were polled on the issues of development, traffic congestion and whether chain and discount stores should be permitted.

Only 474 residents responded to the survey, officials said.

During the hearing, residents living in the Ojai Valley but outside the city limits also asked city officials to look for ways to control development in nearby unincorporated areas.

The Pay Less drugstore chain recently approached Ojai officials about opening a store in town but decided not to pursue the plan because of strict city requirements, said Ojai Planning Director Bill Prince.

The chain later received county approval to open a store in Mira Monte, an unincorporated area just outside Ojai, Prince said.

“The county is much less restricted than the city and now they are building a Pay Less drugstore across the street from me,” said Mira Monte resident Kale Starbird. “We are going to have an increase in traffic, in noise and we will no longer be a residential area.”

City officials said they will hold neighborhood meetings and develop ways to fulfill the wishes residents expressed in the survey and in the public hearing.