Imperial Beach Just Loosened the Rules on Its Storefronts. Who Is That For?
October 22, 2026
October 22, 2026
"The problem that we're having isn't marketing our businesses to locals," Mike Hess told a federal Small Business Administration roundtable in Imperial Beach this spring, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. "Everybody knows where we are." He was describing his brewery at 805 Ocean Lane, near the beach. He said that location's business was down roughly 28% from its 2022 peak, and he blamed a national reputation that keeps visitors from Arizona, Chicago and New York away.
Six months later, on Oct. 7, the City Council unanimously approved a package of rule changes the Imperial Beach Chamber of Commerce had asked for. Nearly every change makes a storefront louder, brighter or busier for whoever is already standing on the sidewalk outside it. The owners say the missing customers are visitors. The new tools are aimed at people who already live here and walk Seacoast Drive, Palm Avenue and 13th Street. For the next year, those residents are the audience Imperial Beach's small businesses are being freed to court.
The Chamber brought nine requests, and the Imperial Beach Eagle & Times printed each one beside the city's recommendation. City Manager Tyler Foltz presented them, and the council adopted the city's versions. Here is the before and after as it shows up from the sidewalk.
| What you see from the street | Before Oct. 7 | During the one-year trial |
|---|---|---|
| Business-hosted events in public space | 1 per business per year | Up to 4, based on availability |
| City special-event fees | Paid in full | 1 event per year waived for licensed businesses, applied for 90+ days ahead |
| Opaque window signs | Up to 35% of the window | Up to 50% |
| Pennants and feather flags | Not allowed | Pennants plus up to 2 pole or feather flags, during business hours only |
| A-frames, sandwich boards, menu boards | Not allowed as requested | Allowed on private property, clear of the right-of-way |
| Outdoor displays and sales | Permit required, 4 temporary sales per year | Permit process suspended on private property |
| Amplified sound or road closures | Permit required | Still permitted, capped at 8 per year |
| Roof signs | Not allowed | Deferred, since they would need Coastal Commission certification |
The fine print limits how this will look. Flags must come down overnight and before storms, and there can be no more than one per 20 feet of frontage. Displays have to stay entirely on private property without blocking visibility or access. Fee-waived events can't overlap with city events. So expect more color and merchandise at the property line, but no takeover of the public sidewalk.
The Chamber was open about why it asked. Over the summer it surveyed members about signage and outdoor-sales limits, and it said the sewage crisis was hurting business profitability and sustainability. The Eagle & Times opened its account of the vote by naming the economic impact of the pollution as the reason for the request.
The numbers behind that point to visitors. In September, KPBS reported on a county-commissioned analysis by ECOnorthwest. It found that Imperial Beach's tourism tax revenue fell nearly 30% between 2017 and 2024, a much steeper drop than the regional average. The analysis cited prolonged beach closures, a drop in tourism, and businesses reporting lower revenue and smaller staffs. The Eagle & Times put the hotel-tax decline over that period at 27.8%. The analysis, which KPBS described as preliminary, estimated countywide losses at $125 million to $500 million a year.
The Oct. 7 package makes it easier for Katy's Cafe at 700 Seacoast Drive, or a shop on 13th Street, to put a menu board out front, roll a sale rack onto its own private frontage, or host an evening event without paying the full fee. Every one of those signals reaches the people already walking past, and that mostly means neighbors on their way to the pier.
At the same roundtable, owners also said loan-based relief wouldn't help businesses whose revenue was already down, and that fixing the pollution itself was the real need. The Oct. 7 package doesn't cost the businesses debt, and it doesn't wait on anyone outside city limits. That probably explains why it passed unanimously while the larger fix is still at the county and federal level.
One detail in the event rules sets the timing for the next year. To get the waived fee, a business has to apply at least 90 days before its event. Count 90 days forward from this week and you land in January 2027. A business that wants to use its free event for a holiday market this year has already missed that window.
The rest of the package works right away. Signage, flags, A-frames and outdoor displays on private property don't need that lead time, so those are the changes that can show up on Seacoast Drive before Thanksgiving. If extra events arrive, most will likely land in 2027, inside the trial year and close to when the city plans its first review.
Until then, the town's late-fall calendar is the city's own, plus the Chamber's regular meetings:
Under the new rules, businesses can't schedule fee-waived events on top of those dates.
The idea that business-hosted events can pull people to the pier already has local evidence, and it came up at the same Oct. 7 meeting. According to the Eagle & Times' meeting coverage, a Mike Hess Brewing representative reported that HessFest XVI on Aug. 8 drew more than 800 people and raised $78,336 for Oncology and Kids and Zero8Hundred, up from $41,360 in 2025. Sponsors included U.S. Bank, Alaska Airlines, Filippi's and Amoretti.
The 2026 Sun & Sea Festival report came right after, and the paper recorded those figures too. The July 18 festival at Portwood Pier Plaza drew 65,000 people with about 35 vendors and five bands, on a budget under $50,000. City sponsorship fell to $9,938 from $17,000 the year before, mainly because Seacoast Drive wasn't closed. That matters for reading the new rules. A big crowd turned out without a street closure, and the trial keeps closures and amplified events capped while loosening the smaller, at-the-storefront activity.
The Chamber has run this kind of evening event already. On Oct. 2 it hosted Boots by the Bay at Bramble Bay Venue, 536 13th St., with food, live music, line dancing and vendors. Under the trial, each individual business can now host up to four public-space events of its own a year.
The trial runs for one year, and the city manager can review and adjust it within six months based on feedback from both residents and businesses. That puts the first checkpoint around April 2027.
Council members raised the questions that review will need to answer. Councilmember Mariko Nakawatase asked businesses to collect their own data on whether the changes help, and suggested a roundtable with the Chamber about adjustments. Mayor Pro Tem Jack Fisher said 12 months might be too short and suggested 16 to 18. He also said educating businesses on what is and isn't allowed matters most. Foltz said the waiver can be extended, and that option is already built into the process. Businesses that already have roof signs are exempt from the deferred roof-sign question.
The rules came from the Chamber, but the review is open to the people who see the flags, read the A-frames and decide whether to stop at a sidewalk rack on Saturday morning. Within a year, that feedback will show whether a package aimed at locals can make up for some of the visitors who stopped coming.
If you own a business here and are thinking about using any of these allowances, this post is a summary of reported rules, not legal advice. Check permits, fees and placement with the City of Imperial Beach before you set anything out.
Madeline Foley serves on Imperial Beach's Military and Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee, and The Foley Group will keep following this trial through its spring review. If you have questions about what's changing on Seacoast Drive or how it affects your corner of Imperial Beach, Let's Connect.
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