New location for The Hydration Room denied
By Dolores Quintana
A proposal submitted to the Palisades Design Review Board to allow The Hydration Room to open a new location in the space formerly occupied by The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in Pacific Palisades, has been unanimously denied.
These are the reasons that the Design Review Board declined to approve the proposed store at 15278 W Antioch Street in the Pacific Palisades.
The ruling from the Design Review Board said, “The DRB does not feel that the proposed business enhances or protects the community-oriented uses or preserves the quality of the existing residential area.” as published by Circling The News.
The Hydration Room is a business that sells customized vitamin injections and IV therapies created by the anesthesiologist Dr. Brent Florie. These therapies are used in fitness recovery and are given to patients to relieve migraine headaches, hangovers, stress, and as a remedy for colds and flu among other uses as stated by their website here.
Members of the DRB felt uncomfortable with medical treatments and procedures being done in a former retail restaurant space and thought a medical or more clinical environment would be better suited to the business for a number of different reasons. There was concern from the DRB about why the City had not required a conditional use permit to clear the establishment for use that did not adhere to local zoning ordinances, especially given that we are still in the middle of the Covid 19 pandemic. Such health and safety protections are critical during normal times, but are even more crucial now.
The Design Review Board also felt that the Hydration Room’s proposal lacked health and safety protocols that would ensure sanitary conditions for workers and customers that would include hand washing sinks for janitorial and medical staff, a separate employee bathroom, and a clean room to produce hygienic materials to be used on customers. Cleanliness is essential to operating any type of business, but especially important to a business that uses medical procedures in any fashion.
Explicitly noted in the DRB written ruling was the observation that the Pacific Palisades Specific Plan Section 2F states the following: “… and promote the general welfare by prohibiting buildings, structures or uses which are inconsistent with the purposes or standards of this Specific Plan or which are inappropriate to their settings, surroundings … or their environmental setting.” as reported by Circling The News.
Section 2D was also cited in the report: “To assure that the commercial uses are consistent with the general character of the Pacific Palisades community, which consists of single-family residences, some multiple residences [sic] structures and significant open space and park-like development.” reported Circling The News.
The Design Review Board exists to assure the residents of the Pacific Palisades that any new development will conform to the design and culture of the neighborhood as it exists. In citing sections 2D and 2F, they have made the case that The Hydration Room is not a business that would enhance this specific area. In their letter to the City Planning Department, the DRB said, as reported by Circling The News. , “A problematic, palliative medical treatment facility in the center of Pacific Palisades, trendy as it may appear, is not consistent with the established character, identity and ongoing welfare of the Community.”
