BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Palo Alto city planners are threatening to shut down a cat lounge and adoption center at the Stanford Shopping Center because the business isn’t considered retail, according to an online petition.
Mini Cat Town opened at the mall this summer with dozens of cats up for adoption. Kids pay $10 and adults pay $15 to pet cats for 30 minutes.
The storefront gets crowded with shoppers peering through the front window, and Mini Cat Town has a waitlist for petting times on the weekends.
But on Dec. 2, the city told the owners of Mini Cat Town that their operation was reclassified from “retail pet store” to “kennel and boarding,” an online petition said.
“The city’s decision could force us to close our doors, leaving the cats without a safe space or visibility for adoption,” the petition by Mini Cat Town said.
Planners said that keeping cats overnight counts as “boarding,” even though stores like Petco and Petsmart showcase cats that are kept overnight, the petition said.
30 days to move
The city gave Mini Cat Town 30 days to re-home all cats, cease operations and leave the space, the petition said.
The city has since granted an extension until Jan. 30, the petition said.
City planners are reviewing the issue and expect to clarify the regulations before the end of January, City Manager Ed Shikada said in an email yesterday.
“That’s all the information I have at this time,” Shikada said.
Mini Cat Town is a nonprofit started in San Jose in 2015 by three sisters: Thi, Thoa and Tram Bui.
The Buis have other locations at malls in Milpitas, San Jose, Pleasanton and Santa Rosa.
Mini Cat Town hasn’t had issues at other locations despite being under the same retail classifications, the petition said.
“Reclassifying us as a kennel jeopardizes our mission and limits the public’s ability to adopt and support rescue efforts,” the petition said. “If other retail adoption models like Petco and PetSmart can operate in commercial zones, why can’t we?”
The Buis are having their supporters lobby Palo Alto City Council to overturn the planning department’s decision.
They said they already have one supporter in Councilman Greg Tanaka. But Tanaka is at the end of his term.
Co-owner Thoa Bui turned down an interview yesterday because she said she’s still hoping to find a solution with the city.
“We don’t want anything to potentially make them angry and sway their decision,” she said in an email.
This is why people hate city government. Someone does something humane and then some bureaucrat tweaks a rule to kill it. I just don’t understand it.
Just how needlessly stupid and cruel can bureaucraps get?!
Ths also raises the question of why they don’t have any useful work to do that would help the city, instead of attempting to s—- over a kitty kat adoption facility?
If they’ve nothing to do that isn’t destructive or harmful to the community, let’s save the tax money and scale down city hall.
Don’t these highly paid, er, staff have anything better to do?? Maybe they need to waste a few more of our millions on some more retail consultants to opine on the matter?
That’s terrible! Mini Cat Town is my favorite retail pet store at Stanford Mall. Is there a petition going around that residents can sign to show support for Mini Cat Town? Which city council members are responsible for this? I need to know so I can vote against them during their next election.
Recently one of the planning consultants hired by the city of Palo Alto recommended that experiential retail be encouraged on University Avenue, with pay-by-the-half-hour nap pods as an example. Is this in a different retail class from paying to hang out with kittens?
Why NOT have a pet complex to attract children and shoppers and provide a service that benefits the pets and the community? It is a good thing to bond with animals.
The City Planners and Shikada are insane. They spend millions of dollars, yes millions, on consultants who never set foot in the city and then suggest “napping pods,” but they cannot see the advantage and good of allowing a cat petting store. If the store sold cat goods would it qualify as “retail?” The staff at City Hall makes triple figures several times over but have no common sense. Downsize City Hall! Fire Shikada. Spend the money saved on salaries to instead equip Fire Station 4. Apparently we are a stressed community without enough funding to provide fire protection on the south side of the city, yet we can waste staff salaries and time going after Kitty Town.
Fire them all.
Can they sell pet items (collars, toys, etc.) so they can be reclassified as retail? Let’s figure out WHAT needs to happen so they can stay! HOW can they modify their business plan to meet the requirements of the city? (This is beyond pathetic if they’re forced to leave. EVERY mall should have this! Good grief, THEY’RE DOING SOME GOOD in this frustrating world!!!!!)