Clients no longer must wait in line at WeHo’s Pinkberry. By Ryan Gierach. |
The West Hollywood City Council created more news by not holding a hearing than it would have made with any deliberation it held at the regular Sept. 18 city council meeting.
By continuing an appeal hearing for the all-too-popular Pinkberry Yogurt stand on Huntley off Santa Monica Boulevard until November, the council unintentionally turned up the heat on a problem simmering since the Spring.
The appeal was over a July Business License Commission ruling intended to ameliorate the impacts of the yogurt shop’s huge success. The ruling put into place several regulations specifically aimed at reducing the noise, traffic, parking problems, refuse and safety issues Pinkberry’s success has caused.
Sandy Hutchens, spokesperson for Pinkberry, explained in public comments that the lead attorney for Pinkberry Corp. was unavailable to attend the council meeting that night and asked for postponement, which the Council granted.
On this Wednesday evening at 7:30, there were no lines in evidence at all at Pinkberry, a yogurt shop made as famous for its long wait as for the yogurt. By Ryan Gierach. |
Reaction from the crowd about the delay, most of whom had come to speak about the traffic, parking, trash and safety problems that the business has been unable to solve to their satisfaction, was barely restrained anger.
The neighborhood has felt embattled for months. Critics of the business note that the reason for the meeting was the Business License Commission’s resolution of early July (read this for the whole story - Pinkberry’s Hours Cut, Owner Fears Appeal )
On July 24, Philip Hoskins, a Huntley Drive resident, appealed that Business License Commission’s decision asking the council to revoke Pinkberry’s business license, saying the conditions set forth fail to address the extensive traffic and parking difficulties besetting the small neighborhood.
He called the conditions in his neighborhood “insufferable,” and warned that conditions were ripe “for a bad accident” on the corner.
The quietude the neighborhood seeks may have found its way to WeHo’s Pinkberry. By Marcus Fant. |
Mr. Hutchens assured the council and the crowd that, by the November council meeting, there would be no more trouble at the Huntley Pinkberry. “We are opening new Pinkberry Yogurt stores open in Koreatown, on La Brea and Melrose, Beverly Hills and in Studio City,” Mr. Hutchens listed. “[All the people coming to] West Hollywood Pinkberry… will be ‘dispersed’ throughout the city.”
Two additional stores have opened in recent weeks, but even so, residents on Huntley claim to continue experiencing the inconveniences and plan to fight on.
For opinions on the controversy from Stephen Martin, a former-city council member, and Mr. Hoskins, both of whom live on the street, check these two links...THE DONE DEAL: Check$ and Balance$ and...
WeHo Bought and Paid For.
To get regular updates on Pinkberry and other WeHoNews of interest, sign up using the button.
Printer-friendly
E-mail to friend
