Breaking the chains: Napa Valley discourages ‘formula' businesses

There is a line from the song “Homeward Bound” that goes, “And each town looks the same to me, the movies and the factories….”

Well, Simon and Garfunkel were not singing about Calistoga, St. Helena or Yountville in Napa Valley.

Municipal codes and building restrictions keep restaurants and lodging chains out, scaled down or doing business incognito in those Napa Valley towns and cities.

CALISTOGA: ‘YOUR NEED TO DO BUSINESS HERE IS FAR GREATER THAN OUR NEED TO HAVE YOU HERE'

“The first thing we tell anyone coming in is that we have a no-formula ordinance [forbidding chains],” said Calistoga Mayor Chris Canning. “We're proud that we go to great lengths to keep our small town character. It has everything to do with quality of life, and maintaining the charm and character so we don't look like Anytown U.S.A.”

Calistoga, with a population of about 5,000, appeals to visitors with its spas, unique shops and a couple of luxury resorts.

The no-formula ordinance applies to restaurants and lodgings, and considers a business with three or more locations to be a chain. It also states that a chain business' name or logo cannot be displayed anywhere on the property or employee uniforms, and the color scheme and architecture must be distinctive from other chain locations.

The ordinance has not been without its challengers.

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, with more than 100 locations around the world, is currently building a five-star resort that includes a hotel and luxury homes on Silverado Trail, across from Solage Calistoga. It is slated to open in 2019.

Even though businesses are told up front and in no-uncertain terms about the no-formula ordinance, Canning said things recently “got tense” between the city and The Four Seasons.

Per the ordinance, the city has told the upscale hotel chain it cannot use the “Four Seasons” name or logo on any signage in the resort.

The company has approached the city a couple of times, however, about wanting to display signage.

The city has refused to budge.

“Basically, we said, ‘Your need to do business here is far greater than our need to have you here,'” Canning said.

Kelly Foster, principal of Bald Mountain Development, the group that is developing the project along with Alcion Ventures, declined to speak directly about the signage request or about a possible name for the resort.

He did say the company is very supportive of keeping the character of Calistoga, and not having the Four Seasons name on the resort will not hurt business. He noted that more than half of he luxury homes have already been sold.

ORIGIN OF NO-CHAIN CALISTOGA

Calistoga's “no chain store” rule dates back to 1995, when a PepsiCo-owned food court with Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Baskin-Robbins was rejected by the city.

A year later, the city council passed the no-formula-business ordinance.

Calistoga does have an Ace Hardware store and a hotel affiliated with the Best Western chain, both of which were grandfathered in after the ordinance took affect. The city has no jurisdiction over banks or oil companies, hence the presence of national banks and a 76 gas station. It also has a small grocery store, Cal Mart.

While the ordinance singles out restaurants and lodgings, retail businesses can apply for a use permit.

Copperfield's Books, with eight locations in Napa and Sonoma counties, was one retail outlet that fought for and won a use permit in 1999.

YOUNTVILLE: ‘PROTECT WHAT PEOPLE EXPECT WHEN THEY VISIT'

John Dunbar, mayor of nearby Yountville, says Calistoga's prohibition of signage recognition is a “very unique situation.”

Yountville, with a population of about 3,000, is home to upscale restaurants, shops, and luxury resorts, a town that seems like it would have a similar ordinance. In fact, it has “zero prohibitions” regarding chain businesses in its municipal code, said Nathan Steele, the city's senior management analyst.

“We're completely market-driven,” he said.

Although there is no official prohibition, in practice, large brands that aren't able to scale down for a size and aesthetic appropriate to Yountville are dissuaded, Dunbar said.

For example, the city has specific building and design standards that limit, among other things, noise and the lighting of signs. Buildings can also be no higher than two stories.

“We have small lots, and we're okay with that,” Dunbar said. “Protecting views so we can enjoy the mountain ranges and maintain a rural character and quality of life is a priority.

“We want to protect what people expect when they visit the town. We're a personal, engaging and unique community.”

Yountville has a couple of chain stores. Those include Overland Sheepskin Co., which has 15 stores in upscale destinations like Telluride, Colo., and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and R&D Kitchen, with locations including San Diego and Newport Beach.

Steele said he would welcome a McDonald's restaurant, but due to the amount of rent they would pay and the town's small population base, it probably wouldn't be worth it.

“In the valley as a whole, it's not easy to support high volume,” Dunbar said.

ST. HELENA: ‘WE CAN'T AFFORD TO HAVE OPEN STOREFRONTS'

In St. Helena, with a 2-block-long downtown area where you can buy, among other things, a $1,200 pair of shoes, the municipal ordinance prohibits chain restaurants only.

Other entities that want to do business in the town are taken on a case by case basis, said Aaron Hecock, senior planner. For the most part, chain stores and restaurants don't even try to get in.

“We're so small, it doesn't really come up,” he said.

Businesses can apply for use permits, said Mayor Alan Galbraith.

“We can be receptive, if they fit in,” he said. “Rejecting businesses to maintain the town's character as it is, is a cliché. We're in a dynamic and changing market, and we can't afford to have open storefronts.”

Cynthia Sweeney (cynthia.sweeney@busjrnl.com, 707-521-4259) covers health care, hospitality, residential real estate, employment, insurance and other industries.