Planet Crosswise
Planet K provokes fight to keep Bee Cave 'normal'
By Jordan Smith, Fri., April 29, 2011
From the Department of Emotions Run So High Because the Stakes Are So Low: The city of Bee Cave is still fighting to stop Planet K from opening its doors at a building it owns on Highway 71 at Bee Caves Road. First, the city banned outdoor murals (way to stick it to the public art crowd, y'all!) to stop the store owner from having veteran Austin artist Kerry Awn paint a landscape mural on the side of the building (see "Banned in Bee Cave," April 15). Now, according to Fox 7, the city has filed a temporary restraining order to stop the shop from moving in. The fight over the smoke and gift shop has been emotional, judging by comments posted on the Bee Cave Bee website. One opponent wrote, "Keep AUSTIN weird" and "keep Bee Cave NORMAL." Another declared that the city's move to keep Planet K out of town is actually about upholding the Constitution. At the end of the day, it seems the anti-Planet K sentiment is largely about fear that the shop's image will somehow degrade the overall quality of shoppers flocking to this burgeoning city of malls – and we can't have that now, can we?
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