STUART – The City Commission voted unanimously Oct. 13 to grant a continuance to the owners of a handful of Spice & Tea Exchange franchises for a conditional use exception to their application to open a new store in Downtown Stuart until Nov. 10 but still heard comments from a couple of public speakers on the idea of allowing chain operations downtown.
Just a week prior, Stuart’s Community Redevelopment Board had voted 4-2 to recommend the Commission deny the application. Chairman Mark Brechbill led the charge on that opposition, insisting he was primarily concerned with how such formula businesses – also known as chain operations – would impact the mom-and-pop business owners already in existence.
“My comments at this point have nothing to do with your place,” he told Spice & Tea Exchange franchise owners Glenn and Kimberly Gordon on Oct. 7. “It actually all has to do with protecting our local businesses. That’s what the formula business district is about. We’ve got some vacancies on the street and the prices are high, and our local businesses are having a hard time paying those prices.”
In response, Development Director Jodi Kugler informed him that staff did not take building lease rates into consideration when considering the major urban code conditional use exception for a particular franchise.
“We don’t take into account the rent or the cost of the product,” she said that night. “We do have to look at the character, the type of sales they make [and] the ambiance. You can actually have 1,500 square feet [with] the formula based business; this business is actually limiting themselves to 1,300 square feet. We still want to make sure they stay quaint and local and that meets the character of the neighborhood, [so] we can limit them from expanding.”
While there was no staff presentation the next week when City Attorney Lee Baggett read the resolution into the record for the Gordons’ continuance request, Planner Mechelle Arbuzow did provide CRB members a definition of formula businesses.
“In accordance with the City of Stuart’s Land Development Code, a formula business is a retail business establishment that has six or more similar establishments located elsewhere,” she explained Oct. 7. The Spice & Tea Exchange satisfies four criteria as a formula business: They share trade name and logos; merchandise is sold; and they have common advertising and similar signage. A formula business requires approval by a major urban code exception, Community Redevelopment Board consideration and final action before the City Commission.”
During that public hearing, several members of the public spoke out both for and against the city granting the couple the special exception use. Even though the City Commission did not reopen the hearing on Oct. 13 after its members unanimously agreed to table the resolution, Mayor Campbell Rich did invite the public to speak. CRB Member Will Laughlin, who cast one of the two opposing votes to the denial the previous week, was the first to approach the podium. Laughlin described how own initial opposition had been swayed by the Gordon’s presentation during the CRB hearing.
“I see a lot of positives,” he said. “They are potential mentors. Once you see the Gordons and how they operate, you can tell very quickly that they are good people and want to hire a local person to act as their manager. This manager will learn how to run a small business. They’ve been in business for 12 years, [and] this will be their fourth operation. When I spoke to corporate, they knew exactly who these people were and said glowing things about them.”
The applicant’s contracted Landscape Architect Marcella Camblor, who’d provided a separate presentation to the CRB, now addressed the Commission. She explained that her clients were not in attendance because they didn’t realize their request for continuance required a separate hearing.
“My firm was helping the Gordons navigate the regulatory process,” she said. “They started the application themselves, but then it became a major code conditional use, so it wasn’t just opening a store. Part of the reason for moving this [is] I think you’re going to see overwhelming support from the downtown businesses. I think when you hear from them [the Gordons] as the [CRB] board member said, you will be very impressed with their business.’
CRB Chairman Brechbill was the last to speak that night, describing the Gordon’s request as “a tough issue.” During his own board’s hearing, he’d even questioned the legality of the city’s land development regulations concerning formula businesses and continued that train of thought before city commissioners. Now he urged them to watch his advisory board’s meeting video.
“The CRB did review this very, very well,” he said. “We had people work really hard on it. Will made some great points, others made some great points, so all I ask is that you guys see what happened at that level, I think they did a really good job of evaluating it. I’m asking you take a look at whether or not this code will function the way it’s written – we haven’t had anybody denied in 10 years. Take a look at what the CRB did and also take a look at that formula business language to see if it’s even defensible going forward.”
The City Commission then voted unanimously to continue the Gordons’ public hearing on Nov. 10.