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The ordinance that Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi introduced to temporarily ban new head shops on Haight Street passed committee on Monday, which means that no more stoner shacks can open on the street famous for its psychedelic roots. While the ban won't hurt current head shops or pot dispensaries, the ban "would prohibit the opening of any new businesses that sell tobacco and marijuana smoking paraphernalia for a period of three years," according to reports. (And with 14 of them open for business right now, Haight Street has a pornographically large amount of them already.) In addition to bongs, rolling paper, and pot leaf decals, head shops also sell convenient cocaine bullets and glass pipes in which you can puff crystal meth or/and crack. On June 23, the plan will be heard before the entire board. And if it passes, you will only have 14 options left where you can perfect your stoniness.
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That ordinance may actually be illegal because it is anticompetitive. That is effectively giving those 14 headshops a guaranteed claim to Upper Haight business. I'm not really certain what other benefits such an ordinance would have. It isn't really prohibiting headshops from existing, so it isn't really dealing with any "problems"--though I cannot think of any problems with having headshops to begin with. That isn't sarcasm. I'm dead serious. Nobody here gives a shit anymore, so I can only see this ordinance as being protective in nature to the existing headshops.
IAWTC
There is no point in arbitrarily limiting head shops. If a head shop opens up and succeeds then obviously the world needed another head shop.
When the supervisors want to appear to do something, they pass a moratorium.
Agreed. Page 18 of the item agenda (http://bit.ly/mbrbP) says, essentially, that too many head shops promote littering, disorderly conduct, etc. But I'm not buying that.
I hear you, but this city loves its anticompetitive legislation. And there's loads of other anticompetitive forces at play too. Like if you go to a bank to borrow money to open a headshop, surely the lending officer will google haight street and tell you that there are 14 other businesses exactly like yours already operating there. No wait, sorry, they won't do this, because they're idiots.
But can I still open a shop selling tacky gifts?
this is like a law limiting t-shirt shops on the wharf, or a law limiting dildo shops in the castro!
Seriously? I don't think head shops attract any crazier customers than the liquor stores so why the crack down? Oh yeah, because people can't vote with their dollars they get to tell people who can or can't be in business because they live in the area. Lame.
How about they pass a ban on punk teenagers commuting in from the suburbs, acting homeless and bothering people for drug money? Buncha pains in the ass.
No. That's the only time I get any peace in town.
I'll sign that one!
I've lived in this neighborhood for over a decade and the trustafarians always annoy me as I run errands or just go for a walk.
Can't we get some sort of velvet rope? Or I suppose, hemp rope?
I live on haight, and in the past six months, two businesses have closed down only to be replaced by a bong superstore and a hydroponic dealer. I'm all for them limiting the number of head shops, even if it is anti-competetive.
If every college and high school student in the surrounding area wants to come to the haight to buy their six-foot bong, awesome, there are stores for them. The neighbors are merely stating that we've reached maximum capacity, and maybe another kind of store would be a good idea. Although not whatever just replaced the yak pak shot. that store is crazy.
Also, why did aardvarks close? anyone?
The Yak Pak store is gone? No!!!!
I think it is crazy to have 14 head shops along one stretch of road. But what else are you going to put there? Obvs, Yak Pak couldn't hak it. And I'm guessing these head shops are kinda mom-and-poppish, and not run by some sort of head shop cartel that's outpricing other local businesses who might want a Haight St. location. Is an empty storefront better than a 15th head shop?
I think most of Haight Street (moreso Upper Haight than Lower Haight) is competitive enough and attractive enough that empty storefronts don't stay empty for very long. Sure, there's a good amount of turnover, but that's just the nature of retail.
Damn! I loved Aardvarks. That used to be part of the Haight Street crawl. Get some fancy used duds at Aardvark, hit Hobsons for some punch and end up at Cha Cha's for grub. Hop back on the 71, get high on the fumes and get outta dodge.
I was mad when the fabric store left. That place rocked.
But I was waaaay more pissed when it was replaced by a giant head shop. How many fucking bongs does a person need?
Seriously, the stores that have closed recently have been replaced by even worse stores. The fabric store closed and was replaced by a ludicrously huge head shop. Yak Pak closed and was replaced by... some bullshit place called "Goonies" that seems entirely devoted to selling their random 80s pop cultural detritus that wouldn't sell on eBay. Shoe Biz closed their main location and it was replaced with a hat shop (I approve in theory, but are men wearing enough hats to make it work?). I think when Kweejibo (good riddance, we don't need more overpriced boutiques) closed it was the one replaced with a cheap sunglasses place that looks like one of those cheapy fill-ins and probably is.
Yet nowhere is anything for residents. How about a damn drugstore maybe? Or a moderately priced restaurant so we have options other than cheap pizza, bad taquerias, or literally the worst Indian place I have ever experienced in my life.
This ban has been a long time coming... it's just a shame that it didn't happen a few months ago before the newest giant (seriously, the place is probably bigger than Haight Street Market) head shop opened. The Haight doesn't need more head shops, bars, shoe stores, or overpriced boutiques.
Your friendly neighbors didn't just chase away a drugstore, they burned it down:
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/13/us/haight-ashbury-journal-love-and-hate-linger-in-ex-hippie-district.html
No way are you getting anything like that again.
Someone just admitted to drinking at Hobson's. Sorry I ruined the symmetry by making comment number 15, but I felt that I needed to point that out. Hobson's pride, who knew?
Hobson's AND Cha Cha Cha. Then back to the triangle.
rum punch - betcha can't just drink one
round of applause for another stupid and unnecessary idea.
What we need now is a law mandating more shoe stores.
Shoe Biz will just take over every storefront emptied by this new rule.
Aside from closing their main location and being replaced by a hat store.
I'm surprised there is enough business to support more head shops. It certainly isn't local traffic that feeds them. Just as the Castro has become a ridiculous gay-porn strip mall for tourists, the Haight is becoming a ridiculous strip mall of head shops—also for non-residents. Maybe living in these neighborhoods is so expensive we can't provide enough retail cash to support stores on our own blocks?
I would be ALL FOR a decent drugstore, grocery, and bring back the fabric shop.
While we're rushing headlong into a planned Haight St. utopian paradise I propose also banning eastern deity statuary stores (EDSS). What say you fellow residents of the Haight? Down with Buddha! Bring us a drug store!