Sebastopol mistakenly greenlights chain pizza despite downtown ban

By Da Lin

The city of Sebastopol recently made a surprising administrative mistake: it approved the opening of a Little Caesars pizza restaurant in the downtown core, an area where chain businesses have been banned since 2018, with a few exceptions.

Francesca Malerba-Locke, who owns Attico, a local consignment furniture store, said the error goes beyond pizza. She values Sebastopol for its small shops, local flavors, and a downtown that feels unique.

“Disappointing that a big mistake like this would go through,” Malerba-Locke said.  “It doesn’t add to the charm of the [town].”

She added that it could take away the commercial space from a restaurant that would have provided a better food option for locals.

City leaders discovered the mistake only after Little Caesars had already begun building out the space. By that point, officials said they couldn’t legally stop the project.

“It’s an error. The city of Sebastopol has taken ownership and admitted we’ve made an error, an administrative error on approval.  But Little Caesars, I guess, took that approval and ran with it and started making improvements. And so they had a vested interest by the time we realized our error. And we had to let them move forward,” said Councilmember Neysa Hinton.

Not all residents are upset. Some younger Sebastopol residents said they welcome the fast, inexpensive option.

“For me specifically, I do like it. Because I’m a big fan of it,” said AJ Mercado, a local worker. “I mainly just like it because it’s cheap. It’s not really the best food, but it’s cheap enough for me.”

Hinton said that ultimately, the decision is up to the customers.

“The consumer now will decide whether they like it or not with their pocketbook. I point out we don’t have a Burger King and we don’t have a McDonald’s in Sebastopol. They both went out of business,” she said.

Others said they will continue supporting local businesses.

“What do I think about Little Caesars? I don’t think it’s necessarily a part of our community here in Sebastopol. There’s a lot better pizza to be had in Sebastopol. So that’s where I’ll be going,” said resident Rick Rocklewitz.

Steve DeCosse, who runs Acre Pizza — the only pizzeria in the downtown core — said the new chain won’t impact his business.

“We’re just building a resilient community, one pizza at a time.  It won’t impact us because of the quality of what we do, and we’re really supported by our community, and they understand this,” he said.

For Malerba-Locke, the main takeaway is ensuring that future applications don’t slip through the cracks.

“Original as possible so that people coming to town and they see stores that are unique,” she said.

The city said it has added safeguards to prevent a similar mistake in the future. Little Caesars plans to open to the public sometime in the next week.