- Good afternoon, everyone.
It is four o'clock on August the 20th.
I am Michael Cass,
the acting Community and Economic Development Director
serving as Zoning Administrator this afternoon.
And I would like to call today's meeting to order.
Before getting started,
I would like to start by reading our civility statement.
"As your appointed governing body,
we will treat each other and the public
with patience, civility, and courtesy
as a model of the same behavior
we wish to reflect in Martinez
for the conduct of all city business
and community participation.
This includes respect for everyone's First Amendment right
to voice their opinion on matters
within the city's subject matter jurisdiction,
even if that opinion is different from our own.
The decisions made
will be for the benefit of the Martinez community
and not for personal gain."
I'd next like to move on to public comment.
"The non-agenda public comment is limited to matters
which are within the subject matter jurisdiction
of the Zoning Administrator,
and which are not action items
listed elsewhere on the agenda."
If you'd like to make a public comment
for an item not on today's agenda,
please use the Raise Your Hand feature
at the bottom of your screen.
Hearing none.
We'll now move on to the first public hearing item,
which is for a Conditional Use Permit at 908 Ferry Street.
Salmana, if I could please have a presentation.
- Thank you, Michael.
I'll go ahead and share my screen.
Okay, good afternoon, everyone.
Can you see my screen?
- Now we can.
- Today I will be presenting on a Conditional Use Permit
at 908 Ferry Street.
The project is located within
the Professional Administrative Office Zoning District
and has a General Plan designation of Downtown Transitional.
The lot size is 5,897 square feet,
which is about 0.14 acres.
And currently,
the subject property and the building is vacant.
It was previously used as a warehouse.
Surrounding the subject property
are multifamily and single-family residences
and the downtown core.
The applicant is proposing
to establish a French-style bakery with a retail component.
The wholesale and production kitchen
would operate seven days a week from 4:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
The retail storefront
would operate from Wednesday through Sunday
from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM,
and deliveries are proposed to occur
between 6:00 AM and 11:00 AM,
either along the Ferry Street frontage
or the site entrance at Green Street.
Items for the bakery and retail storefront
will initially be produced offsite
at one of the applicant's other locations,
and then the intent is to transition production
to the subject property.
So we would assume that the retail component
of the business would open first,
and then they would transition
to producing baked goods at the subject property.
At this time,
the applicant is not proposing any physical expansions
or exterior alterations of the building.
They're just proposing the land use itself,
and any physical alterations to the building
will be reviewed in the future through Design Review.
So to go over zoning compliance,
the bakery is permitted
within the Professional Administrative Office
Zoning District as a restaurant
and other eating and drinking establishment
with a Conditional Use Permit.
So staff is finding that the proposed use is consistent
with the intent and character
of the Professional and Administrative Office
Zoning District,
and is compatible
with the established commercial character of the area
as it is proposing a neighborhood-serving use
close to the downtown core.
It is also consistent with the General Plan Designation
of Downtown Transitional.
Staff received one public comment
from a neighboring property owner in support of the project,
but also sharing potential concerns
of potential smells and odors
that could occur due to baking or yeast fermentation
at the subject property.
So there are two notable recommended conditions of approval.
One that's already in the resolution
is requiring Design Review for any exterior improvements,
tenant improvements, building modification, signage,
or other physical alterations
proposed in conjunction with the approved use.
And this is standard for the Downtown Specific Plan area.
So they would be required to go through this
even if they weren't getting a Conditional Use Permit,
but that's just to clarify that this Conditional Use Permit
does not constitute approval of any physical improvements
that may be proposed for the site.
And then in response to the comment
from the member of the public,
staff is proposing another condition of approval
to address odor control.
I'll read it out.
So we're proposing,
"The bakery shall operate and maintain
its exhaust and ventilation systems
in a manner that prevents objectionable odors
that may adversely affect neighboring properties.
If the city determines that the use
is generating persistent or objectionable odors,
the operator shall take reasonable corrective measures
as determined by the city,
which may include modifications
to the ventilation or exhaust system
or installation of appropriate odor-control equipment."
So the findings for the Conditional Use Permit
are seen on the screen,
and staff believes that all of the findings
can affirmatively be made
because the proposed bakery is consistent
with the PA Zoning District,
and is a neighborhood-serving commercial use
near the downtown core.
The staff's recommendation is to conduct a public hearing
and adopt Zoning Administrator Resolution Number 26-20,
approving a request to consider a Conditional Use Permit
to establish a bakery located at 908 Ferry Street
in the Professional and Administrative Office
Zoning District,
Assessor's Parcel Number 372-392-002-5,
subject to conditions of approval.
And I'm available for any questions.
- Thank you very much, Salmana.
I have no questions at this time,
but I will likely circle back with additional questions.
I would like to now allow the applicant
an opportunity to make a presentation.
Vincent, you may unmute yourself,
and please feel free to present your project
and provide any information that you'd like to present.
- [Vincent] Yes.
Can you guys see me?
I don't see any camera.
- We can't see you, but we can hear you.
- [Vincent] Sure, that's fine.
All right.
So as you've already discussed, based on our application,
we're proposing to open a bakery with a retail storefront.
And a small part of it is gonna be wholesale operations.
But ideally, what we're doing
is we're producing for our other retail bakeries
in the Martinez location,
and we're delivering to our other bakeries,
along with a few other customers that we may have.
The goal is to serve artisanal breads.
So, you know, sourdoughs, baguettes, all that stuff,
laminated doughs,
so your typical croissants and breakfast pastries,
desserts, cakes, all that stuff,
plus coffee and, you know, basic drinks.
So what our intention is, it's really to, you know,
become part of the community,
just like we've done in San Francisco,
and just like we've started doing in Concord,
by having our onsite baking,
which is just filling the neighborhood
with really good smells and drawing people in,
and just generally, you know,
being a place where members of the public
can interact, people talk,
bring their kids, bring their family.
And it's just really to, you know,
provide like that good atmosphere.
That's what we want.
I mean, we are a family-owned business,
but we are all about, you know, providing,
you know, fun spaces,
and I guess a good place to interact
with friends and family.
That's really what hospitality is about,
and that's what we're proposing to do
at this location, right?
And yes, our hours of operation would be five days,
you know, from, you know, breakfast to lunch hours,
and then we would be working, you know,
from around 4:00 AM to 4:00 PM, more or less.
And we would be hiring locally,
just as we've done in Concord,
just as we've done in San Francisco.
We actually live in Martinez,
and we opened our shop in Concord
so that we could be in the same community
and so we wouldn't have to commute,
but we could, you know, provide,
I guess, the experience and the food
that we thought would be a good addition to the area, right,
to what was missing.
And we believe something of that sort
that was missing in Concord is missing in Martinez,
you know, just some more good food options, right?
And I don't know what else.
I guess just the comment on the hood ventilation.
I mean, in my experience, having worked in New York City,
Vegas, San Francisco,
and having, you know, just assisted in a lot of build-outs,
everyone has a standard exhaust system, right?
When we're talking about
kind of looking into industrial scrubbers,
I mean, this is for like large-scale industrial facilities,
which, in my opinion, are expensive to install,
and they have prohibitive yearly maintenance.
But I can understand concerns about smells.
You know, but it's a big distinction from a brewery
or like a slaughterhouse,
or a smoke, you know, like a barbecue space, right?
Like we're not gonna be,
I guess, contaminating the air with unpleasant smells,
or, you know, nauseating smells or anything like that.
In fact, what we do is,
and it's funny, you can see this on our Instagram
when the mayor of San Francisco,
you know, Daniel Lurie, came over,
and all he could focus on
was the good smells coming out of our space.
And what we said was that our goal is
to make the neighborhood smell better.
I mean, literally.
We could even put that on a T-shirt, right?
Like, it's just good, hearty smells.
It's just bread and butter.
Nothing fermented, nothing unpleasant.
And those good smells are what draw people in,
and really what create a space where people wanna linger.
And I don't know if my wife, Maria, has anything to say.
- [Maria] I was gonna say the same thing.
- [Vincent] You know, we're pretty much on the same page
with all this stuff.
But that's what we have to say
about what we plan on doing with the space.
And yeah, we just wanna provide for the locals.
You know, we're gonna hire locally,
and we're just, you know, we don't wanna have
any kind of negative impact, right?
So our build-out will probably take a year,
a year and a half.
But while that's going on,
we hope to open within three to six months
the smaller space,
so that it could be our, you know, our cafe
where people can get the pastries
that we're baking in Concord
and they can buy them in Martinez,
and they can sit down, have a cup of coffee,
you know, and enjoy some pastries.
- Great, thank you very, very much, Vincent.
I appreciate your presentation and your passion.
And it's always great to see
locals opening businesses here.
I do have a couple of questions for you, though.
So as part of Salmana's presentation,
she spoke about the intended operations
from a delivery standpoint,
that it would be on both Green and on Ferry Street
that deliveries would occur,
some of them starting as early as six o'clock.
Can you elaborate a little bit
in terms of what type of deliveries you envision
happening on one side versus the other?
There is the garage door.
If there is an intention down the line
to have, like, trucks pull in there
for delivery and drop off,
can you elaborate a little bit?
- [Vincent] Sure.
So a lot of our vendors are local vendors.
Like we use Central Milling that's based in Petaluma
for all our flours and, you know,
it's flour that comes from California.
And, you know, same with the dairy, Sonoma County.
So in any case, you know, these people
deliver, like, once or twice a week
and, you know, they just deliver
either a pallet or half a pallet,
and, you know, or, you know, if you wanna think about it,
like, you know, six milk crates kinda thing, right?
And those kinda things
would just be dropped off and brought inside.
And as of right now, I mean, just looking at it,
it seems like Green Street is more approachable
with the little, I guess, alleyway,
or that little walkway that's right there
and doorway, right?
So it seems like that's more unobtrusive
than the garage door, which is very useful,
but that street kind of seems like very residential,
and kinda a little tight over there.
But, you know, logistically it's just maybe
like no more than two deliveries a day.
And then our driver, when our driver comes to pick up,
I mean, they're just taking, you know, a bunch of boxes
and putting them in their van.
That's it.
You know, we're not ordering,
like, you'll see a lot of restaurants
that they order from, like huge industrial,
like, restaurant depots, like Sysco.
We don't buy food like that.
So it's a little bit different.
- Okay.
I mean, you definitely addressed some of my concern
with the additional information
with the limitations on the number of deliveries
that are happening on a daily basis.
You did speak, as part of your presentation,
in response to the public comment
that we received from Scott Busby
in regards to more industrialized scrubbers.
Staff was recommending a not-as-specific approach
to address that concern
without being specific with the types of equipment
that would be needed.
Are you comfortable with that approach
as was recommended by Salmana?
- [Vincent] Were that if it was felt
that in the future that this was an issue,
that the city would recommend
that some additional ventilation would be installed?
- That we would work together on that.
- [Vincent] Right, I mean, if that's what it comes to,
I can understand that.
I'd rather that there not be
any kind of conditional clause attached to this.
Like, as I told Mr. Busby,
who I understand is a busy man, I totally get it,
I said, "Just come to our bakery."
Anyone who has any worries about smells
or anything like that, just come to Oak Grove Plaza.
You'll see.
We make the entire plaza smell good.
People smell us like almost a block away.
There's really nothing negative.
But of course, you know,
if anyone has, you know, concerns like that, that's fine.
I mean, I can understand.
I can understand.
And obviously, we'd work with the city,
and, you know, we could find a solution.
But I would just highly recommend,
if you have any concerns,
please just pass by the plaza and come check us out.
You'll see what we're talking about.
- I appreciate the clarification.
I have two more questions for you at this point.
So there is a state law
that applies to all food establishments.
It's SB 1383, so Senate Bill 1383,
which relates to the potential of efforts
to minimize food waste.
Hopefully, we have almost none.
I can say that I have visited one of your other locations
and had a chance to try your goods, and was very pleased.
So hopefully there will be minimal items that are not sold.
But what is your approach
with goods that are not sold on a daily basis?
Are they just disposed of?
Do you do day-old pastries that are sold the following day?
What's your typical approach there?
- [Vincent] I mean, when it comes to bakeries,
we try to keep our numbers correct
so that we, you know, we try to keep track of our numbers
so that we don't have any leftovers.
But a very simple solution for our leftovers
is that we make bread pudding, you know?
So if there's, you know, leftover stuff,
we just make bread pudding,
or I don't know if you've been in other bakeries
where they do twice-baked croissants.
They just, you know, there's solutions
for things that are left over.
But generally, that is not an issue.
In the past in the city, we have donated food
to like Food Runners or other companies,
you know, that will bring them to, you know,
food pantries or soup kitchens, right?
We have done donations like that.
But generally, we keep track of our pars
so that we don't have such an issue.
We, you know, do giveaways or even through DoorDash.
There's different options, but we don't throw food away.
- Great.
And then last question I have is,
did you have a chance
to read through the conditions of approval
as recommended by staff?
And do you have any issues or concerns
with any of them as drafted?
- [Vincent] Is this what, I believe I did see them.
- So that was in the resolution
that was attached to the staff report.
- [Vincent] Yeah, the one that was in the link.
I believe everything was fine.
I mean, the only thing that I saw that was different
was the recommendation for the, you know,
if there was an issue with, you know, the smells, you know,
teaming up on a solution for that.
But other than that,
I didn't see anything else that really caught my eye.
- Okay.
I appreciate that.
I am gonna now open the public portion,
but I might circle back to you, Vincent.
Thank you for the additional information.
So at that,
I will now open the public portion of the meeting.
Anyone wishing to speak on this item?
If you could please use the Raise Your Hand feature,
which is located at the bottom of the screen.
Okay, seeing none.
I will now close the public portion of the meeting.
And then just quickly going back to Vincent,
are there any final comments that you'd like to make?
- [Vincent] I mean, nothing is set in stone,
but this is just kind of like a passion project
that we hope comes to fruition,
and, you know, we just appreciate everyone's support on it.
- Great, great.
So, thank you very much.
So, I'm now prepared to take action on the project.
So being fully transparent,
I'm very excited that this business
is going to be coming to Martinez.
I think it will be a welcome addition.
I think it's filling a significant want for our community,
and I have full confidence,
and finger and toes are crossed
about this business being very successful
and being a really important part
of our downtown and our community.
So on that, I am prepared to approve the project
through the adoption of Resolution Number 26-20,
as recommended by staff,
with a couple of minor modifications.
First, there's a numbering issue
with the conditions of approval.
We should fix that.
Secondly, there's a couple of references
to 2005 instead of 2000,
excuse me, 2025 instead of 2026.
So reflecting those modifications.
Third, there is the as-drafted condition of approval
number 18,
which speaks to the requirement for Design Review.
As worded, it includes tenant improvements.
I'd like to strike tenant improvements,
because tenant improvements
typically refer to interior changes,
and this should be limited
to exterior modifications to the structure.
Interior changes can be done
just by going for a building permit.
And then next,
there's two additional conditions that I'd like to add.
The first would be that the business owner
will implement best practices
to reuse any unsold baked goods and other products
and/or donate them to nonprofit organizations
in a manner to divert any potential food waste
from the landfill,
and leave flexibility for how Vincent, his wife,
and the team handle that.
And then next, Salmana, would you mind bringing up
that condition of approval that you recommended again?
- Yes.
(no audio)
- Okay, so I do wanna include a condition of approval,
but I'd like to make some modifications
to this condition as drafted.
So I think I'd rather have it say
that the bakery shall operate and maintain its operations
in a manner to prevent objectionable odors
that may adversely affect neighboring properties
as determined by the city.
And then if the city determines that the use
is generating persistent or objectionable odors,
the operator shall take reasonable measures
to address that impact.
I do not wanna say how that's done,
'cause I think it is gonna depend on what that impact is.
And on that, I hate to end on that,
but again, Vincent, very, very excited
to have your business come to downtown Martinez.
We are here to help you,
so please keep us in touch as you move forward,
and we look forward to working with you
to get you open as soon as possible.
So please continue to work with Salmana.
And anyone has the right to appeal my decision.
There is a 10-day appeal period from today.
And again, congratulations and welcome to Martinez.
- Thank you. - Thanks.
- So next, we'd like to move on
to the next item on the agenda.
If I could please have a staff presentation
on 3017 Lester Road.
- Thank you, Zoning Administrator Michael.
Hello, everybody.
My name is Imanol Tovar,
and I am going to be giving a presentation for a request
for a Conditional Use Permit at 3017 Lester Road.
A little bit about this project.
It is at a rural residential single-family zoning district.
The General Plan designation is Residential Very Low,
and it is a fairly large lot at 44,867 square feet.
The existing use is single-family residential,
and so is the surrounding land uses.
The project description is to construct
a 1,280-square-foot accessory structure
for vehicle storage and shop.
The metal shed includes a garage door, windows,
and two exterior light fixtures,
which I will show in a bit in slides.
And here is the location
of the proposed accessory structure.
Here are photos of where it will be at the site.
The picture on the left
is where it will be placed on this site.
And the picture on the right is from Street View.
As you can see,
it would be behind some trees and some vegetation.
It'll be further back uphill.
Here are the elevations of the accessory structure.
As you can see, we have some windows on the side,
the garage door, as well as a door to come in and out.
And here is the rendering.
As you can see, the light fixtures.
The metal siding will be white for the top,
which will match the existing home,
and a light gray metal siding for the bottom.
So for zoning compliance,
this complies with all of the zoning requirements
for a RR-40 Rural Residential 40 zoning district.
It complies with everything,
except for an accessory structure size,
which is limited to 1,000 square feet,
unless a Conditional Use Permit is granted.
So as you can see here, there is a typo at the proposed.
It should be 1,280 square feet.
So as mentioned,
a Conditional Use Permit must be granted
if an accessory structure is going to be exceeding
the 1,000-square-foot size.
Here are the findings for the Conditional Use Permit,
and staff believes that all findings can be made.
The accessory structure complies
with all other zoning regulations,
and the size of the lot provides sufficient space
to accommodate the accessory structure
without changing the use of the property.
Some notable conditions of approval include lighting.
As mentioned, there are two light fixtures.
So the exterior lighting, two fixtures on the shed,
exterior lighting shall be faced downwards
and appropriately installed with respect to convenience,
safety, and effect on occupants as well as neighbors,
and that a building permit submittal
will be required for this proposed work.
With that, staff is recommending to conduct a public hearing
and adopt Zoning Administrator Resolution Number 26-21,
approving a request for a Conditional Use Permit
for a proposed 1,280-square-foot accessory structure
with a maximum height of 15 feet at 3017 Lester Road
in the Rural Residential zoning district,
Assessor's Parcel Number 162-081-007.
And with that, I can answer any questions.
- Great.
Thank you very much, Imanol.
I have no questions at this time.
I would like to invite the applicant to make a presentation.
(no audio)
Matt, go ahead.
- [Matt] Michael, how are you?
- Good, yourself?
- [Matt] I'm good.
It's just another shop on my property,
which most, a bunch of people have in the neighborhood.
I'm trying to protect my equipment that I have
that I use around the property.
There's a couple of tractors
and the boat that you see in the picture.
It's also a place to work on a few things here and there
that I own.
I'm happy to match colors,
as Imanol and I have talked about,
but it's just another protectionary measure,
and it also gets all my equipment that's out in the open
behind a closed structure.
So I know sometimes heavy equipment can be an eyesore,
so this tends to help that.
- Thank you so much, Matt.
Quick question for you.
The equipment that you have
that you're gonna be storing here,
is it just stuff that you have for your personal property?
Or is it used for commercial purposes?
- [Matt] No, it's just a...
I have an old Caterpillar that I run around on the property
and a skip loader that I use
to haul material up and down the hill.
As you can see on the drawing,
it's not a flat piece of property,
so it's not easy to get rock or whatever,
when we're doing landscaping in the yard,
up and down the hill.
- Well, thank you so much.
I guess the other question I have for you,
similar to the last application,
have you had a chance
to read through the conditions of approval,
and do you have any issues or concerns
with the recommendations by staff?
- [Matt] I have not seen that,
and maybe I missed it, Imanol, I'm sorry,
but I'm happy to read that.
I work for a builder, so I understand what they are.
I can read through them quickly
over the next day or two if I have to,
but I don't tend to worry about too much.
Are there some major concerns that you have
that maybe you can bring up?
- I just like to make sure
that individuals have read through them
so there's a familiarity.
And know if there are concerns,
prefer to discuss them upfront.
So at that,
I am gonna open up the public portion of the meeting,
so any, excuse me, of this item,
so anyone wishing to make a public comment on this item,
please use the Raise Your Hand feature,
which is located at the bottom of your screen.
Okay, seeing none.
I will now close the public hearing portion,
but just give Matt,
if you have any final comments that you'd like to make.
- [Matt] Yeah, I have nothing from you guys
in regards to the conditions,
so I'm going back through all my emails with Imanol,
so I have not seen them.
But other than that, it's just a simple shop,
tends to blend with in my own property.
It's hidden pretty well.
My concerns, I will be honest,
are some of the trees are probably gonna have to be trimmed
for insurance reasons,
and all the new California rules that came out yesterday,
but which could open it a bit.
But again, it's going to be something simple
that looks like a shop and painted as you guys request.
I'm not looking to have something ugly on my property.
- Okay.
Well, appreciate that.
So just to put on the record, I did go out to the site.
I've driven by the site,
and I don't have any concerns or objections to the project.
Properties there in this neighborhood
are significantly larger,
and I think can accommodate a larger accessory structure
than the standard is
that's applied elsewhere within the city.
Additionally, not only is it a larger site,
but it has a considerable setback
from the front property line
with where the structure's being proposed to be located.
So I am prepared to approve the project
through the adoption of Resolution Number 26-11
as recommended by staff,
and with no modifications, just as recommended by staff.
So anyone has the right to appeal my decision.
There's a 10-day appeal period, which starts from today.
If you're curious in appealing the decision,
please reach out to Imanol
and he can walk individuals through the process.
And Matt, congratulations.
We look forward to working with you
as you pull building permits for this item.
- [Matt] Appreciate it.
Thank you, guys.
- Thanks.
Okay, moving on to the next item on the agenda,
which is for 6606 Alhambra Avenue.
It's for the finding of public convenience and necessity.
Imanol, if I could please have a staff presentation.
- Yes, thank you.
As mentioned,
this is the findings of public convenience or necessity
for 6606 Alhambra Avenue.
Project location, it is on a corner lot by Alhambra.
It's an existing convenience store with a gas station.
And the lot size is 23,522 square feet,
and the floor area is 1,915.
The surrounding land uses include retail, restaurants,
and residential.
The zoning here
is going to be zoning Neighborhood Commercial.
The proposed project is the expansion
of the convenience store and gas station
within the same footprint.
And they include to have the sale of beer and wine,
which requires a Type 20 alcohol license.
The operating hours are Monday through Friday
from 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM,
and Saturday and Sunday from 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
So on this slide here, you can see the census tract.
The census tract highlighted is 3211.03.
Each census tract allows a certain number of licenses
based on the population.
In this one, it allows up to two offsite alcohol licenses.
The two active off-sale licenses
include Safeway and Vinnie's Restaurant,
and the address is here on Alhambra Avenue.
This would be the third off-sale license
that is being proposed.
So with that, we would have to make through ABC,
since it has reached a census tract
and has reached a license that exceeds the amount,
we would have to make a finding,
a positive finding of public convenience or necessity
before it can be approved.
So staff's findings for this is that the proposed project
will offer Martinez residents a wide range of beer and wine.
It would provide in-service and retail
that may not be found in a grocery store such as Safeway
or in the restaurant such as Vinnie's.
This would be a different service,
and beer and wine is already permitted by right
in the Neighborhood Commercial district
where this resides in.
So it's already permitted by right.
No Conditional Use Permit is needed,
but that positive finding of public convenience or necessity
is required.
But with that,
staff is recommending to conduct a public hearing
and adopt Zoning Administrator Resolution Number 26-22,
approving a request to consider
making a finding of public convenience or necessity
for the sale of beer and wine Type 20 license
due to the quantity of existing licenses in the census tract
an existing gas station located at 6606 Alhambra Avenue
in the Neighborhood Commercial zoning district,
Assessor's Parcel Number 164-340-005-2.
And with that, I am open to answering any questions.
- Great.
Thank you very much, Imanol.
No questions at this time, but I will invite the applicant.
You can unmute yourself,
and if you'd like to make any comments or a presentation.
- [Phani] Hello, Michael.
Hello, Imanol.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity.
I just wanted to let you all know that we are expanding
and modernizing the existing convenience stores.
We are in fact closing the mechanic shop.
It used to be oily and stuff.
We wanna make this more convenient
for the neighborhood customers to come in
and buy all kinds of stuff like groceries,
like, you know, food, beverages, snacks.
We are also planning to put coffee, hot stuff,
and pastries, and stuff like that.
So it's kind of a wide variety that we are putting,
including beer and wine.
That's what I wanted to just appeal to everybody.
- Okay, thank you very much, Phani.
Same question that I've asked on the two previous comments.
Have you had a chance to read
through the draft resolution and conditions of approval,
and do you have any issues or concerns
with as recommended by staff?
- [Phani] I have not read that, Michael.
Sorry about that.
But I will go through that,
and I'll ensure that I don't have any concerns or issues.
- Okay.
Well, thank you very much.
I would like to now invite members of the public
that would like to comment on this item.
You can do so by using the Raise Your Hand feature.
Mark, please feel free to unmute yourself
and make any comments.
- [Mark] Good afternoon.
Hello, Michael. - Hi, Mark.
- [Mark] My name is Mark Weinman.
I am the resident at 6601 Las Animas Drive,
which is kind of directly behind
where the Chevron station is.
There's a vacant lot, and then there's homes,
and I'm that first home right there.
So I did have some questions
that I hope might be able to be answered,
especially with the...
And I haven't looked
through all of the conditions of approval,
but one thing that I'm concerned with is,
will there be any limitation on hours
where beer and wine can be sold?
And will there also be,
I guess, a rule
about not selling single cans of beer and things like that?
Has that been addressed,
or can you comment on that, I guess?
Will there be any limitations to that respect?
- Mark, I'll have staff respond to your questions
as soon as you finish your public comments.
- [Mark] Okay, thank you.
Okay, so keep going.
All right.
Well, can you bring back up the presentation
and go to the census tract map,
'cause I would just like to make a comment there,
and I have a question around that.
While you're pulling that up,
the census tract, kind of the edge of the census tract
is literally a block up the street.
I think it's either at Devon or at Blue Ridge,
or not Blue Ridge, Virginia Hills Drive.
And the next census tract over, if you will,
which is just down the street,
there are several restaurants and other entities
that also sell alcohol there.
In addition, there is a Thai restaurant
in the shopping center where the Chevron station is located
that also has an application on its window
stating that it is looking to sell alcohol
at its establishment there.
It's called Home Thai Restaurant.
But was there consideration in looking at this?
Well, I know that we're in 3211.03 here,
but 3220,
3230,
and I can't see the number of that, but 3470,
that one line, kind of dividing line,
I think is Alhambra and Pleasant Hill Road.
And there's lots of,
and I know that we go by census tract here,
because I used to be on the planning commission,
as Michael knows, for the city of Concord for years.
Was there consideration
in looking at neighboring census tracts
and the concentration, if you will,
of the liquor establishments there as well?
I'm not opposed to this as much as I wanna make sure
that we do have some of those limitations in place.
There have, you know,
being this close to the Chevron station,
there have been issues before at night
with fights and things going on around there.
It's been pretty quiet lately though,
so I do have to say I think the situation has improved
over time,
but I just wanna make sure
that we're not gonna be adding any issues
to the immediate area, since I'm really close to this.
So I'll stop my comment there.
I thank you,
and appreciate the opportunity to bring this to you.
- Great.
Thank you, Mark.
Imanol, if you wouldn't mind responding
to the applicant's questions and comments.
The neighbor's, I misspoke.
- Thank you, Mark, for asking those questions.
Yes, I'd be happy to answer them.
So I know you asked about the alcohol,
the sale of alcohol and the hours.
They are open from 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM,
so they won't be selling any time outside of that.
And they will have to comply with ABC regulations.
And this is in the conditions of approval.
And if I do need to, I can also show them on screen.
But typically with liquor stores,
and anyone who is selling alcohol license,
the police department has included
some conditions of approval
to make sure that alcohol is being sold
compliant with ABC's rules and regulations.
And it requires certain things
like alcohol training for the employees.
There are other ones.
I can pull them up if you'd like.
- [Mark] No, I'm looking at them right now,
so you don't need to do that.
- Yes, but those are conditions
that the police department did have some input on,
and are included here as well.
Now, I think answering the question
about if other tracts were considered for this,
we were only looking at tract 3211.03.
I do know that the other tracts mentioned,
3220 and 3230,
I believe those belong to the city of Pleasant Hill.
And this parcel is actually right on the edge
of the city boundaries.
So we did not consider what Pleasant Hill had,
and the licenses, whether they're exceeding or at the limit.
We just looked at the City of Martinez
and this tract specifically.
- [Mark] Okay, thank you.
Maybe advice for the future.
Even, you know, I do understand that, yes,
when you cross the street down on Virginia Hills,
it's Pleasant Hill basically there,
and your jurisdiction is Martinez,
but that doesn't belay the fact
that they're still right next to each other here.
So maybe in the future
to at least think about and consider that.
But I know that you're tied to the rules
that you have to follow here, and everything like that.
So, but again-
- Mark, I do want to clarify also
that this is not a request for a Conditional Use Permit
where we would be looking at a wider area.
It's only the request for the public convenience.
It's only that portion.
- [Mark] Yeah, that's helpful to understand too.
I appreciate that.
Thank you, Imanol. Thank you, Michael.
You've answered my questions.
- Appreciate it, Mark.
And Imanol, I'll circle back to you,
but can you point me to the condition of approval
with the hours of selling alcoholic beverages?
And while you're pulling that up to identify which number,
is there anyone else who wishes to comment
on this application?
Okay.
I will now bring it back to Phani
if you'd like to respond to any of the comments
that were expressed by members of the public.
Now would be your chance to do so.
- [Phani] Mark, really appreciate your comments.
As Imanol said,
we will ensure that our staff has proper training
selling the alcohol.
And of course,
we'll maintain the timings that we have today.
It's what Imanol has mentioned in the slide deck.
And again, like you said, single beer, can selling
is not one of the options for us,
because they have to buy a case or something like that.
So definitely I acknowledge your concerns,
and we'll ensure that the neighborhood is safe.
- Great.
Thank you very much, Phani.
- Thank you.
- Imanol, did you have a chance
to locate that condition of approval?
- Yes.
So I misspoke.
The hours are not included,
but we do have a condition for nuisance activities.
That does speak of any illegal drug activity,
public drunkenness, drinking in public.
And typically those happen at nighttime.
But this, especially as mentioned
at the very end where it says,
"Especially in the late night or early morning hours,
lewd conduct or police detentions and arrest."
So it vaguely describes
about the timing and activity of this,
but no specific hours on here,
if that's something you are considering.
- And what were the hours that you referenced
that the alcoholic beverages were proposed to be sold?
- So the store hours are only from 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM,
7:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
So the alcohol should not be sold past store hours.
So I do not think,
and the applicant can confirm
that it won't be sold after 9:00 PM.
- [Phani] Yes, Imanol, that's very much, that's true.
I thought it was 10:00,
but I'll double confirm checking with that,
my employee as well.
We normally open from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM, not 9:00.
If that needs to be fixed, I will get that done.
But other than that, you're right.
We do not intend to open for selling any alcohol
beyond our timings.
- Okay.
And Phani, is there a chance, the ability,
that you can confirm those hours right now,
since I'm hearing-
- [Phani] I am, I'm just texting,
and he just confirmed that it's 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM.
It's not 9, 10 PM.
Sorry about that.
It may be my mistake.
I filled it out wrong.
That's why I just wanted to clarify that.
- Okay, and I'm looking on Google and it says 9:00 PM.
- [Phani] Okay.
He says 10:00.
It's weekends is 9:00 PM, Michael.
That's what my employee, my manager says.
- Oh, sorry.
Weekends is 9:00 PM?
- [Phani] Weekends is 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM, weekends.
And weekdays, it's 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM.
But I can change it if that's a concern.
We'll ensure that we won't sell alcohol after 9:00 PM,
if that's a concern.
- Yeah,
so I appreciate your flexibility, Phani.
- [Phani] Yeah, I will ensure.
Let me...
Yeah, go ahead.
- So I'm gonna close the public portion of the meeting.
So again, thank you to everyone
for coming out for this item,
expressing comments and concerns
and recommendations for the project
to make it more successful.
I generally am supportive of this project
and can support the desire to diversify goods and services
that are being offered by an existing business.
These are challenging times,
and things that can be done
to help sustain a business in other ways, it's encouraged.
I also appreciate the willingness of the business owner
to work closely with neighbors
to address any potential concerns,
and also appreciate that the police department was involved
and made recommendations
that have been incorporated as conditions of approval,
many of which were referenced by Imanol,
including issues surrounding nuisance activities,
the requirement for training,
signage requirement, et cetera,
as well as all of the requirements that ABC may impose.
So I am prepared to approve the project
as recommended by staff
through the adoption of Resolution Number 26-22,
making the finding of public convenience or necessity
with one modification.
I would like to add in a condition of approval
that includes hours of operation
for the sale of alcoholic beverages.
And I would just,
I'd like to make that a maximum of 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
And Phani, I appreciate your flexibility,
and really I'm going off of the fact
that there are some residences
quite close to where you are located,
that it's not the primary function of your business,
and the fact that looking online,
those are the hours that currently are listed
for the business.
Upon support
from the adjacent residences that run along,
I'm trying to orient myself.
If you get support from the majority of people
who reside within 300 feet of the property,
I would be flexible at a staff level
extending that to 10 hours.
And that can be done without the benefit of a public hearing
if you get signed off by the majority of neighbors.
But otherwise, 9:00 PM would be the end of the sale
of alcoholic beverages.
My decision can be appealed.
Anyone can appeal a decision
by filing an appeal within 10 days from today.
If you're interested in doing so, please contact Imanol
to discuss the requirements and process.
Phani, congratulations.
Mark, thank you for coming out this afternoon.
And at that, it is 4:54.
I will adjourn today's meeting.
- [Phani] Thank you, Michael.
Thank you, Imanol.