Chang's Horse Taking a Beating in Monterey
Even the corporate culinary giants have to deal with the problems everyone else in the industry faces. P.F. Chang’s is currently struggling with their newest location in Monterey, California, and you might say they are taking a “horse whipping” from the people who have designs on the community.
If you have ever had the opportunity to shop at the Del Monte Center in Monterey, you know it is as tantalizing as white bread. It offers area residents and the few visitors touring Macy’s a venue to fill emergency needs when other destinations seem too distant.
In the eyes of the city’s Architectural Review Board and Planning Commission, it appears as though it were the Palace of Fine Art.
The boys from Chang’s China Bistro have been grappling with the Monterey powers-that-be for months, attempting to get approval for the horse that graces the entrance of Chang’s properties. The 11-foot statue- Chang’s trademark- may create an “awkward precedent” at the shopping center, claimed a planning staff report. The review board claimed that the horse is a business sign and those signs must be in the eaves of the location, not surrounded by shrubbery and hoisted on a platform.
Senior city planner Rick Marvin said, “The horse was determined to be advertising art.” Of course, who would want that? Why ruin a perfectly good loaf of white bread?
The horses are produced by one artist, for $40,000 apiece specifically for the Chinese restaurant. The statue is a replica from China’s Han Dynasty and with the exception of one location, can be found, - often in pairs- at each of the chain’s 200 nationwide properties.
Aside from the horse problem, Chang’s is also requesting a special use permit. The eatery wants to stay open until midnight, but the neighbors across the street from the shopping center are concerned about the late night noise. Nothing like getting hopped up on Celia’s Chicken Lettuce Wrap before roistering, boisterously in the Del Monte Shopping Center parking lot on a Friday night.
Governmental boards take great pleasure in making restaurant owners- and their horses- jump through hoops in order to appease the recognized power of public service.
The fiasco reminds me of an incident in Carmel, a decade ago. Ted Leidig, general partner in Carmelsbest Restaurants, owner of the Ocean Ave. Grill and seven other Carmel eateries, was under microscopic scrutiny by that city’s Architect and Design review board. The head of the board complained that the company’s choice of colors for the downtown restaurant didn’t fit the feel of the city. After a lengthy process, Leidig agreed to have the person with distaste for his color palette personally approve the restaurant’s outer complexion. She had difficulty making up her mind. After seven different colors were applied to the building, eventually she agreed the golden hue would be best. Finally, after four months of color selection, the building was painted and Leidig was free to get on running his business.
The Architect and Design board member eventually resigned her position. The story goes that her significant other was busted for excessive Marijuana growth in the backyard. You can imagine the stories running through the seaside town.
