In a photo the L.A. Conservancy took in April 2026, the Canyon Country Store looks the way it has for decades. The brick front is smooth, a clock is centered over the entrance, a Coca-Cola sign carries the store's name, and potted plants line the deck out front. The building at 2108 Laurel Canyon Boulevard dates to 1924. A market has operated in it since the early 1930s, and it has been the Canyon Country Store since at least 1956.
At 9 a.m. this Thursday, October 15, the city's Cultural Heritage Commission takes up the Conservancy's nomination to make the property a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. The meeting is in Room 1010 at City Hall, with a teleconference option. The September headlines framed this as a campaign to save the store. The city's process works on something narrower, the brick building. Whether a neighborhood market keeps running inside it depends on who runs the business, and no landmark vote decides that.
What the commission actually votes on Thursday
The October 15 vote is the first step, and a small one. In the Planning Department staff report for case CHC-2026-4816-HCM, staff recommend that the commission:
"Take the property under consideration as an Historic-Cultural Monument ... because the application and accompanying photo documentation suggest the submittal warrants further investigation."
So the commission isn't being asked to designate anything this week. It's being asked whether the nomination deserves a closer look. The report names the Los Angeles Conservancy as applicant and Canyon Country Corp. as owner. The property falls in Council District 4 and within the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council area. The report lists October 16 as its expiration date, one day after the hearing. That matches the ordinance's rule that the commission must decide whether to take up a complete application within 30 days.
The protection that started in September
The building has been under protection for almost a month already. The Planning Director deemed the nomination complete on September 16, 2026. Under the city's Cultural Heritage Ordinance, that completeness date starts a temporary stay. No permits can be issued for demolition, substantial alteration, or removal. Those actions are barred even if a permit was issued earlier, until the city reaches a final decision.
Thursday's vote decides whether that stay continues. The ordinance ends the stay if the commission finds the property doesn't meet the definition of a monument. It can also end if the City Council lets its deadline pass without acting. If the commission disapproves an application, that decision is final.
From Thursday to a Council vote
If the commission takes the nomination under consideration, the city's process brief from the Office of Historic Resources and the ordinance set out what follows:
- Site inspection. Two commissioners tour and visually inspect the property, usually within 30 days of the first hearing.
- A second public hearing. The commission has 75 days from taking the application under consideration to issue its report and recommendation. With the owner's written consent, that window can be extended by up to 60 days. Counting from October 15, the 75 days run out near the end of December.
- PLUM Committee. If the commission recommends approval, the nomination goes to the City Council's Planning and Land Use Management Committee.
- City Council vote. The Council has 90 days from the commission's public hearing to act. It can extend that by 15 days for good cause, and by up to 60 more with the owner's written consent. If the Council misses its deadline, the application is deemed denied.
A designation takes effect only once the Council adopts it. Two of those extensions depend on the owner's consent. That gives the property's owner some say over how long the process runs, though not over the result.
What a landmark can hold onto
The Conservancy's case rests on people more than on masonry. Its nomination page calls the store Laurel Canyon's "unofficial town square" in the 1960s and 1970s. It was where members of the Byrds, the Mamas and the Papas, the Doors, Buffalo Springfield, and Joni Mitchell crossed paths during a formative era in American music. Jackie DeShannon appears in front of the store on the cover of her 1968 album Laurel Canyon, and the title song mentions the store. Jim Morrison wrote the Doors' "Love Street" after watching the scene there from his house nearby. In 1969, the Toronto Daily Star described the parking lot and deck as "alive with brightly dressed, flowing-haired young people most hours of the day or night."
The ordinance's tools work on the physical building. City guidance says designated monuments get commission review of proposed exterior and interior alterations. The Conservancy's own guide notes that interior review applies when the nomination identifies significant character-defining interior features. This staff report does describe the interior: the open floor plan, the exposed masonry, and the connection to the basement. If those features end up in a final designation, the store's interior could get some protection too.
Neither the ordinance nor the city's FAQ requires a particular business, tenant, or use to keep operating. Taix in Echo Park shows how wide that gap can be. The City Council narrowed that landmark to two exterior signs and an interior wood bar top. The original restaurant building was slated for demolition, and the Los Angeles Times reported that the restaurant planned to close on March 29, 2026, then return in a smaller format in the new development.
The Canyon Country Store nomination covers a whole building, so it's a different case. Still, the point carries over. A landmark can preserve the deck, the clock, and the brick. The ordinance doesn't reach the sandwich counter or the firewood stacked out front.
Why the business is the open question
The Conservancy says it filed the nomination after community members raised concerns about the store's ownership transition and future. That transition has been reported in pieces. In March 2026, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the store had been sold. A co-owner rejected rumors that it would become a liquor store. In April, WEHOonline reported that the store's longtime operator had been excluded from the property by the new owners, that longtime employees had lost their jobs, and that he disputed how the liquor license was transferred. That report gave no legal resolution.
The public record has changed since then. The California ABC license lookup for 2108 Laurel Canyon Boulevard now shows the earlier Canyon Country Store license as canceled. License 676373, held by Canyon Country Cousins Liquor Inc., is listed as active. A liquor license tells you who holds the license at that address. It doesn't tell you who runs the store day to day, and it doesn't mean the store has changed its format.
What the store sells now is less clear. The most detailed descriptions predate the April change. In February, SFGATE described a convenience store and deli selling firewood, snacks, local wines, and supplies, with an outside juice-and-coffee bar. The Hollywood Reporter mentioned pastrami sandwiches, Cadbury Flakes, and a coffee cart that was added in 2000. The Conservancy's October 1 page says the store "continues as a beloved neighborhood market and neighborhood gathering space." The store's own website hasn't caught up. It still lists the former operator as owner under a 2024 copyright, and it names Pace as the Italian restaurant in the former basement space. The Los Angeles Times described Pace in 2023 as a restaurant renting the space below the store. We couldn't find more recent reporting on Pace.
The New York Times took up the story on September 22. Its headline said Laurel Canyon wants its beloved hippie store "frozen in time." Under the ordinance, what can be frozen is the brick building, and possibly some of the interior. Whether there's still a deli counter inside depends on the business.
Before Thursday
The Conservancy is asking supporters to email comments by Wednesday, October 14. The hearing is listed as item 8 on the October 15 agenda, at 9 a.m. in City Hall Room 1010, 200 N. Spring Street, with teleconference details on the agenda. A yes vote keeps the September 16 stay in place and starts the site inspection. A no vote is final and ends the stay.
Questions about what a landmark designation means for a property on your own street? Cindi Brodack is following the Canyon Country Store case through each hearing. She's happy to walk you through how the city's process works and what each step changes on the ground. Let's Connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
