New Chapter in Borders War

Whether the Borders bookstore chain still wants to set up shop in Capitola was unclear Thursday after the City Council cut its space in half. "We're disappointed with the decision of the City Council," said Pam Lent, a real estate manager for the Michigan-based book and music retailer. "I have no additional comments on what our future plans will be." Company spokeswoman Judy Kohn said she was not familiar enough with the council action to comment, but said all the existing Borders outlets are larger than the 12,500 square feet approved by the council early Thursday morning.

Faced with considerable community opposition to the large chain store, the council voted 3-2 early Thursday to approve a conditional use permit for a scaled back store at Capitola Crossings. Borders hoped to occupy 25,000 square feet in the shopping center now under construction on Bay Avenue at Highway 1. John Tremoulis and Doug Ley of Redtree Property Inc., which is developing the shopping center, did not return calls Thursday seeking comment about their intentions.

Councilwoman Margaret Fabrizio, who was on the losing side of the vote, said the action was a "thinly disguised effort to kill the project."

The vote came at 12:45 a.m. after nearly four hours of impassioned and frequently repetitive testimony from Borders opponents and supporters. Those who opposed the chain store said they were relieved by the vote. "We were just so terribly touched by all the people who spoke," said Gwen Marcum, one of the owners of Capitola Book Café, who helped organize the opposition. "It's really democracy at work."

Councilman Bruce Arthur made the motion to approve the scaled-back bookstore at the site. It was seconded by Councilman Dennis Norton, who said a 12,500-square-foot bookstore would better conform to the area's general plan. "It offers within the building a mix of uses that's more in keeping with the village theme," he said. He added that a larger store would be better suited to more heavily commercialized 41st Avenue. He also said he and other council members still had concerns about the center's parking, which was repeatedly called into question during public hearings on the proposal.

Many people said there would not be adequate parking space in a lot shared by a Borders store along with Nob Hill Foods and other businesses. The few supporters who spoke said parking would not be a problem.

Joining Arthur and Norton on the winning side was Mayor Tony Gualtieri. The dissenters were council-women Fabrizio and Harlan. Fabrizio said she doubted the validity of parking-space estimates presented by many of the opponents. "Quite frankly, I think we were getting what I'd almost call hysterical parking counts at the last minute," she said. "By hysterical, I mean they were increasingly not objective."

Gualtieri said he decided to support Arthur's motion after listening to the community response to the project and considering the traffic and parking concerns. But Harlan questioned whether there could be a "practical difference" between one or two tenants occupying the space Borders hoped to use. She said she did not see how two smaller stores would create less traffic and parking conflicts.

The city staff is putting together findings to support the decision for the 12,500-square-foot store. The council will meet March 11 to review the findings and cast a formal vote on the conditional-use-permit.

Story by John Sanford, Sentinel staff writer

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