Yogurt chain seeks Malibu Planning Commission exception Play

A family-owned yogurt shop chain headquartered in Orange County has to go grovel before the Malibu Planning Commission Monday.

Go Greek Yogurt wants permission to violate Malibu's anti-chain-store rules at the shopping center Whole Foods in the Park. The yogurt stand is a chain — a small one, but a chain.

It has spent tens of thousands of dollars on getting a permit to open, only to find out that opening would cause the shopping center to inadvertently cross the limit for the maximum allowable chain space. One of the other tenants had expanded, bumping the entire shopping center up to almost the maximum allowable chain-store footage.

The applicants say it's not their fault that a different chain store expanded while they were in the middle of getting city permits. Denial would have a substantial impact on a project that has already progressed through months of design, engineering and permitting.

The city Planning Commission gets this weighty decision Monday.