Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good evening, welcome to the June 16th Planning Commission meeting. If I could have quiet in the chambers, please. Thank you. We have one member not present, Commissioner Roberts, but all other members present. I believe that she may join via Zoom at some point, but not at this time. Let's see, please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Pursuant to council administrative policy meeting rules and procedures section 5.2 decorum generally public comments by members of the public are generally limited to five minutes or less time if a larger number of speakers is anticipated or if approved by the chair. Speakers desiring answers to questions should direct them to the planning commission and if relevant, they may direct them to the appropriate staff member. Speakers can also follow up directly with staff during regular city business hours. Please file a speaker's card and the administrative secretary on the form provided on the counter at the back of the chamber. During this portion of the meeting, those present in the council chambers are permitted to speak on items that are listed under items not on the agenda during this portion of the meeting. Public comments for scheduled agenda items should wait until that time. Zoom participation will be accepted. Oh, well, no, I guess we'll just keep it in the chamber. Sorry, Zoom participation will not be accepted at this time. All right, so let's go ahead and open it up for public comment.

At this time, we have one speaker card for general public comment. Danny?

Okay, well, good evening. And don't want to buck anything, but if there is a council person or anyone on your side of the house that's missing, open comments are welcome. accepted even in like this yeah it's not just for uh items so i don't know if anyone on zoom is actually caring or not but you know better be safe than sorry oh i actually should have done when i'm getting ready to do okay so there's one thing it's on the agenda but i'm not really I'll probably skirt the edge, but not encroach. And if I do, I apologize. And that sound you're hearing, by the way, is what you hear behind Costco. So for those of you who have heard about Costco and the noise and the people living there, this is what it sounds like. I can't hear it. I'll hear it when I go home. So I don't know how loud it is right now. I can tell you it was pretty loud. So I'll leave that over there because it is irritating as all get out. It's interesting how We have more car washes and gas stations than we do adult outdoor, indoor activities vis-a-vis clubs and bars, particularly downtown. And Some of these establishments are brand spanking new. One of them just opened a couple of years back. And then you have an establishment like Caps that's been here God knows how long. But there are, I want to say seven in a six block radius. Seven. And I'm wondering, Why shouldn't there be eight? But I'll discuss that at the appropriate time. My curiosity is more towards, and this now goes into this too, staff. 2024, I believe it's the same staff, they approved a license. 2022, staff approved a license. Now planning, and this noise, this was approved by planning for those homes on the other side of this place in 2013. So none of you guys. But it was poor planning, poor execution, terrible results. There are some things that a body has to be held accountable for. The body has to be held accountable for this. The body has to be held accountable for decisions that may upset the few and just live with that as opposed to living your life on Facebook and next door. I don't know, I'm sure a lot of these folks are here tonight for one of those two items. And again, I'll go into greater detail, but it is interesting. I read a comment that said something along the lines of, do we need another place where people can have fights during concerts? I've been to establishments where there haven't been any fights and there's been music. I've been to farmers markets where there have been fights. It's a perception is what I'm getting at and I'll get into it more, but I am disappointed. And I will go into details as to why. But I would say, look at our demographics and stay tuned.

Mr. Dorman, point of clarity, I believe you were referring to WinCo, not Costco, is that right? Okay, thank you. Just want to make sure that was clear. Thank you.

At this time, we have no other speakers here in person for general public comment. We did have Commissioner Roberts join Zoom. However, she's not accepting to become a panelist. So Commissioner Roberts, if you can hear us, please accept that invite to become a panelist. And at this time, for those that are in Zoom, if you have any general public comment due to Commissioner Roberts joining us remotely, we are taking Zoom public comment. So please raise your hand if you'd like to speak right now.

I can hear you. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Robertson. Please ensure your camera is on. And we have no Zoom comments, Chairperson.

Thank you, April. Moving on to the consent calendar. D1, regular planning commission minutes from May 19th. There's one set of minutes for the regular meeting of May 19th. Is there any discussion or can I entertain a motion?

I make a motion to adopt the consent calendar. I'll second.

Roll call vote, April.

Commissioner Roberts?

Yes. Aye.

Commissioner Johnson? Yes. Aye. Vice Chair Flor?

Aye.

Commissioner Jones?

Yes.

Chairperson Brand?

Aye.

Motion carries.

All right, moving on to public hearings. Item E1, variance to legalize an existing carport located at 232 Nancy Street. Let's see, an application for the variance to allow for the following within the R2 moderate density multifamily residential zone, a two foot encroachment into the required 12 foot aggregate side yard setback requirement, a 13 foot and six inch encroachment into the required 20 foot rear yard setback requirement and a 24.9% increase to the required 40% maximum lot coverage. The applicant is seeking to legalize an existing 525 square foot carport located at 232 Nancy Street.

Staff report with Miguel.

Thank you. Thank you, Chair. And good evening to the members of the public and to the rest of the Planning Commission. It's Miguel Contreras here to present 232 Nancy Street, which is Variance Application 26-001. THE SUBJECT SITE IS HIGHLIGHTED IN RED, LOCATED AT 232 NANCY STREET, HAS A GENERAL PLAN LAND USE DESIGNATION OF RESIDENTIAL MEDIUM DENSITY AND A ZONING DESIGNATION OF MODERATE DENSITY. multi-family residential. The specific request for the variance is to allow for a newly built carport within the R2 zoning district to have a two-foot encroachment into the required 10-foot, or it should be 12-foot, sorry, 12-foot aggregate side yard setback, which is highlighted in blue, and a 13-foot and six-inch encroachment into the required 20-foot rear setback, highlighted in yellow in the image. and additionally a 24.9% increase to the 40% maximum lock coverage, all to accommodate the carport that you will see on the screen. The property has a long history, the property, site itself and the surrounding development, which is known as the Brentwood Villas. They were built and approved back in 72, and they were actually constructed between 72 and 74. Back then, the zoning was multiple residence MR-30 zoning. However, down the line, the property and the surrounding neighborhood was rezoned in 1987. It was rezoned as an effort to comply with the 1983 general plan. And that rezone is what established the current setbacks and imposed that 40% maximum lock coverage. Going back to the history, so... Back, I believe it was 2021, the residents actually caught fire and not the applicants, but the prior owners sold the property to the applicant. They had submitted a building permit for internal remodels. And when the applicant bought the property, he went ahead and demoed the previous existing carport, which didn't have any fire damage. And he demoed it and constructed the current one. this became a code compliance case and the applicant submitted building plans for the new carport however when uh staff reviewed those new plans it was found that they were out of compliance with the with the setbacks um however staff feels that it's appropriate to allow a variance and um staff has made the findings or drafted findings to approve said variance due to the history of the law and how the zone had changed on them to really restrictive zones to where the applicant really couldn't enjoy the privileges that other like zoned properties would enjoy. The findings that the Planning Commission would have to make are on the screen in order to approve the variance. Once more, staff has drafted findings for these, and they're part of the draft resolution. The project would be consistent or would it be exempt from CEQA requirements pursuant to the sections on the screen. And staff would recommend that the Planning Commission adopt Resolution 26-016, approving the variance.

Thank you, Miguel. We do need it quiet in the chambers. I can appreciate your feelings with regards to really any project. I'll ask very nicely for the chamber to be quiet. Otherwise, we have to clear the chamber.

We're gonna open public comment on this item.

Oh, yeah.

Any questions of staff from the Commission? I have questions. Yeah, please. Miguel, thanks for the excellent staff report, by the way. On, I think, page three of the staff report, it mentions that the general plan was passed in 1983, And then in 1987, the city went ahead and updated the municipal code. And at that point in time, the municipal code made this neighborhood part of an R2 zone and basically made all of the housing noncompliant as it stood. But because they were already there, the homes were grandfathered in. But in a situation like this one where a home burned out or was knocked over by an earthquake or any disaster, flood, it seems like it would be impossible for a person to rebuild any home there because it's not possible to build a home that is compliant with R2, given the small lot sizes, given the large setbacks, and especially given the fact that on page six, you mentioned Brentwood Municipal Code requires them to have two covered parking spaces, which would, I assume, be either a two-space carport or garage. So if we don't grant this variance, we would be asking somebody to knock down there are two covered parking spaces that they're required to have. If we let it stand, it's not in conformance, but I don't understand how it can be. So have I got it pretty much right?

You have it pretty much right. There is a slight nuance. So when the fire occurred, there was no damage to the existing carport. So if the applicant, even if there was damage to the existing carport, the applicant would have been able to rebuild it as is. The issue here is that it expanded. However, the applicant did demolish the carport. So this new carport, you know, it's an effort for him in part to meet the two car covered requirements. In terms of if the house were to burn down, there are provisions within the code that would allow a residence to be built as was. It's the expansions that become an issue when it comes to grandfathering in. Oh, sorry.

I'm sorry. I don't mean to interrupt. I'm just trying to get it clear in my head. Once he took down the carport, Did he or did he not have the right to build a single-car carport?

Once he took it down, he could have built the carport as was and called it grandfathered in. Once he took it down and created a larger carport, he lost that nonconformity and now has to comply with the current setback requirements. However, because he can't comply with them, the proper process is to go through a variance to legalize it.

I see. And the other than the carport, the house that he rebuilt is the same as it was as far as the same footprint? Correct. All right. Thank you. I appreciate it.

Any other questions of staff? Commissioner Roberts, I don't want to forget you.

Can you hear me okay?

Yes, ma'am.

Okay. Yeah, I just need a little more clarification from Miguel. So I'm more concerned about the process, Miguel. And so if I'm hearing you correctly, the applicant did on his own reconstruct the carport, bypassing a process. And code enforcement came in and had a conversation with him. And now we're here having a conversation about the carport and the need to have conformity with the code. Did I get that right? In reading the packet, it seemed like that's what had happened. The process was bypassed and now it's not and now it's before us. Did I get that right?

Essentially, yeah. Once the applicant demolished the carport, had he wanted to build a similar carport as is right now, he still would have needed a variance for the size that he was proposing to build it.

Mm-hmm. Okay. And so that's what we're hearing now. But when he tore it down, did he communicate with the planning department and getting all the paperwork and the permits, the permitting and all of the approvals in place first for rebuilding?

For that, I would leave that question to the applicant. The issue is that the original building permit for the interior renovations due to the fire, they were initiated by the previous owner. Then a few years went by, And the current applicant bought that property. So I'm not exactly sure if there was some confusion on his part in terms of the carport was part of that approval or that building permit or exactly what... In his project description, he does mention rain. However, I don't know what prompted him to demolish the original carport in the first place. But this type of scenario happens in planning often. People make an assumption that their shed or what have you is in compliance. Then they get a knock under the door or a letter. and they either bring the shed into compliance, get the proper permits, and that's the end of that. The uniqueness with this one is the reduced setbacks. That's what makes this one unique. Had this been another person who just built another carport without a permit, his remedy would have been just to get a retroactive building permit for that carport. The issue is that the property is substantially smaller than what the required lot sizes are for the current R2 zoning district.

Okay, thank you. Commissioner Johnson.

Just out of curiosity, so if we were to decline this for some reason, he would have to knock down that carport and then build one in compliance, how big would, because I think it's a 12-foot setback.

For the rear setback, it's 20 feet. For the sides, it's a 12-foot aggregate.

So from the rear setback I'm talking about, how big would this carport be?

He wouldn't be able to do it because the minimum size for a garage is 20 feet. Right, correct.

So we're in a situation where he couldn't do it

The remedy would be to have the original carport that was there. That would have been the remedy, having that grandfathered status. That way he has a carport for a one-car cover and nobody from the city could say, hey, how come you don't have a two-car garage or a two-car covered parking? It's because that's how the home was built and that's what got grandfathered in.

Okay, thank you.

Any other questions for staff? Seeing none, April, can we move on to public comment?

Would you like to have the applicant come up and speak first?

Yes, if the applicant's in the audience. Thank you, sir.

Hi, good evening. Yeah, there's a lot of history behind this project, and the way it's kind of, I think, being interpreted right now needs to kind of get some clarification. So the property was completely burnt, and we had to knock it down. We had, like, three walls that were standing. The original carport also had a lot of dry rot, and the way the... The property is structured and the utilities are structured. Can you guys hear me okay? So all the utilities are situated in the front of the house and they run all the way through the carport. All that had to be demoed and during the demo process, all that got taken down. The integrity of the existing carport wasn't going to be something that we could renovate. And so we knocked it all down along with the other structure. And another thing that I wanted to clarify in terms of the permits, how we got the permits, the house was burnt down. The insurance company hired an architect to actually draft the permits. Those permits, when we bought the property, were assigned to us. and the architect that drafted the permits was somebody that was supposed to be working with us um so the property was purchased like in um october of 24 and um so we we had rain you know coming it was rainy season and then once we had to demo everything the walls these are duets and they have you know sharing walls once we tear down our roof and that structure the The other two neighbors are exposed to the elements. So all that rain was gonna just go into their house. There's only drywall that was keeping rain from coming into them. So we reached out to the architect on multiple occasions. I have maybe 30, 40 text messages, phone calls saying, hey, we need to get this updated because we wanted to change the inside of the house and we wanted to change the carport. At this point, we're walking around the neighborhood. I would say maybe 40 to 50% of the neighborhood already has existing carports to accommodate multiple cars. We're thinking everything is fine. We haven't ran into the whole issue with the zoning and that was overlaid on the existing structures. We're thinking we just need to get the roof on here. Our plans that we did for the carport, our carport is now attached to the existing structure. So it's not like it's separate. And the other thing, these houses really don't have an AC system, HVAC system. They had wall-mounted heaters. And what we did is we actually, within that structure, we made a space to add HVAC so that people would have a modern home. with all the amenities. And so there was a lot of issues that had time constraints and we were trying to reach out to the architect. He wasn't giving us any feedback or talking to us. But we kept getting inspections and the inspector would come by and pass everything that we were doing. So everything was being done up to code and being done right. So we just had to put a roof and make sure that everything was waterproof before the rain came because we didn't want that liability. so that's what happened it's not like we were just being defiant we're going to shut this we're going to you know tear down this carport that is functional and we're going to build whatever we want that's not the attitude that we had and so it wasn't until we got to the point where like hey we're almost ready to submit for a final inspection that we reached out to the architect and the architect is like wait like what are you doing I'm like yeah we've been trying to get a hold of you very apologetic says I'm going to talk to the people from the building department and get this straightened out for you that obviously never happened that's how we got to this point so the other thing that we you know when when we hit this roadblock you know then you know i came to a meeting almost a year ago and then you know this how this whole process started um and then we started learning the history like miguel you know pointed out today of how we had existing structures, the R2 overlay was placed on it, but it made everything non-conforming. So then I'm like, you know, we started talking to Eric and other people from code enforcement, and the real solution here is to do, rezone that neighborhood with a PUD, right? So you could actually customize the all the setbacks and the guidelines to meet that existing structure because the mistake was made back when they overlaid it on that. And then the Band-Aid was like, let's just grandfather everything in. That really didn't solve the whole problem. But, you know, we hit a wall with that. And then so now we're here trying to apply for a variance to solve the same big issue, but just on one structure, the one that we're working with. So I'm open for any questions if you guys have any questions.

Thank you. Any questions of the applicant? Okay. Can we move to public comment?

At this time, I have one speaker card for those that are present. Danny?

Hello, gentlemen from McKenna Payne. do know that from what I'm hearing, had there been no fire, we wouldn't be here. Without seeing the structure, and again, I don't know this guy from a can of paint, but I would suspect that in building the new structure, the old structure would look out of place. And so if I'm gonna build a brick building, rebuild a brick building, but over here I have plywood. Well, at least for me, it makes sense to make it all look the same. So it sounds like he had done all of that. And so you're at a point where Why not grant this? I understand what he was saying about rezone, but brother, believe me, you really don't want to go into a rezone. It's better to take it. I'm talking to the audience now. Take it one or two at a time. Doing a whole rezone is a mess. But again, I circle back to had there not been a fire, we wouldn't be here. Had he left the structure up, assuming that he would have rebuilt it the exact same way as it was and how the neighborhood looked, we wouldn't be here. But unfortunately, a house did burn down, the entire property didn't burn down, and it sounds like this gentleman just wanted to make it pleasing to his neighbors, to whoever lives there, and so on. And now, Chairperson, if I may, To the audience, we have some new people here today, and I know why they're here. And there are limitations as to what these folks can and can't say, and there are limitations about what you guys can and can't say. I have found over the seven years I've been coming here and tilting at windmills that Shouting down from the audience, from voice and opinions. Mr. Dorman. Yes.

May you stay on topic, please? Okay.

Thank you. Well, I'll stay on topic. Yes. So for those who want to come up and say their piece, there it is right there. Go say your piece right there. Write it in. Participation.

It's a great thing.

At this time, I have no other speaker cards for those here in person.

Thank you, April.

Did you want to speak, ma'am? Okay, go ahead and go up, and then after, if you could, fill out one of those yellow cards in the back afterwards, okay? Ma'am, go ahead.

If the podium is too tall, there's a button on your left there to lower it. That works too.

Oh, I don't know if you can hear me. I'm the next door neighbor for that address. And then my concern is I love the property how they looks. They give a brand new way to look. The only reason why I'm right here is because They make the beautiful house, but my house looks down. And I hear a lot of noise. I cannot sleep during the night because the noise of the wind. It make a big difference with that. I not even thought that that gonna make a big difference, but it's a little bit different. And then we notice and there's more dust. Is that because it's the roof too high or because, I don't know. That's my only concern. Like I said, I don't have any problem because that looks beautiful, and I wish my house can be the same way like it looks, and all the house looks the same way like that. The property looks like right now. They did a great job right there. I love the house. But the only problem is that my concern is the wind during the windy days, and that's extremely noisy in my property, but I never hear that. And I don't know. I think that's, I'm not a very talking person, but this is my concerns that I bring to you. Like I say, I don't have any problem to see the house is so beautiful and the person right there is so nice, the person who work right there, they did a great job and they're so beautiful, but I don't know what, I can say that only concern for me is that. I don't know, you can hear me about that? Yes.

Yes, OK. My husband was the president for 20 years ago. He was the president for the association. And he mentioned that they have to be all the houses equal.

because they say they have in their mind how they're gonna build their property. We know the rules, how everybody start making, actually nobody go in the association, nobody go with the rules what they had before many years ago. When we got the house, we give it the rules and how we have to do it, because this is association that we have to follow through. But many people doesn't go with what they have to do. Many people like right now for me, my concern right now where I live is right there they have many people, they have a big space right there with the grass open area and they go and do termes or whatever they call and they bring a lot of more people for another places and we still have in this community a lot of problems with people who come from other places and start stealing things. We not feel secure to leave the mops, the brooms, the bucket or anything because people going, Many people start building fence without permit for the city or anything. They just put the fence right there.

Ma'am, can you stay on topic, please, in relation to this variance request? I can appreciate some other challenges, but can we stay on topic, please? Thank you.

Okay, thank you so much. So I think this is all my concerns about Like I say, this concern about, we were talking about the problem.

Oh, he wants to talk about it, but I don't know. Do you want to talk about it? Speaker's time has expired.

I don't think this is nothing to concern about. We're talking about the association, but this is something I think it's another issue, I guess, because we're talking right now about this problem while we have the next . Thank you.

At this time, the speaker's time has expired. Thank you very much. Thank you. At this time, we'll go to Zoom. If you'd like to speak on this item, please raise your hand. We have no speakers in Zoom.

Thank you, April. Let's see, can I get a motion to close public hearing?

Make a motion to close the public hearing? Second that.

Roll call vote.

Commissioner Roberts? Aye. Commissioner Johnson?

Aye.

Commissioner Jones?

Aye.

Vice Chair Flohr?

Aye.

Chairperson Brand?

Aye.

Motion carries.

Okay, discussion. Open to any substantial discussion that's needed.

I'm willing to go. When I first heard about this item, it was like, why would somebody build something and then go ask for a variance? And if I thought that was the case here, I would probably be inclined to not grant it, but I can see what's going on here. I can see what has happened. There was a fire, the property changed hands. There was a problem with the permitting. The architect was hard to find once the ownership had changed. I believe that the current owner wasn't trying to pull anything. He did mention that he had inspectors the whole time that the work was being done and was in contact with the city. And I'm looking at the property. I looked at the work that was done. It looks nice. We can hear from his neighbors that the property looks nice and they're actually wishing they could do the same. I THINK AS FAR AS THE SUGGESTION THAT THE APPLICANT HAD MENTIONED THAT HE HEARD FROM THE PLANNING MANAGER IS A GOOD ONE TO LOOK INTO A REZONE. THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THE PLANNING COMMISSION CAN DO FOR YOU, BUT THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE AUTHORITY THAT CAN DO REZONES. IF YOU WANTED TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT, YOU COULD TALK TO THE CITY COUNCIL. I assure you most of them watch these meetings. But having said all that, I would be inclined to grant the variance and I'm ready to make a motion unless there's more discussion. Let's see. I make a motion to adopt resolution number 26-016, approving variance number 26-001, subject to certain findings and conditions. Roll call vote.

Commissioner Roberts?

No.

Commissioner Johnson?

Aye.

Aye.

Commissioner Jones?

Aye.

Vice Chair Flor?

Aye.

Chairperson Brand?

Aye.

Motion carries 4-1.

Got your variance, great. Okay, this time we'll move on to the application to amend a conditional use permit to change the ABC Liquor License type for Vinnies Emporium. Adopt resolution number 26-014, denying the requested conditional use permit amendment, CUP 16-008A1, to change the ABC Liquor License type and use classification for Vinnie's Emporium, previously known as the Brentwood Emporium, from a restaurant selling beer and wine, type 41, to a nightclub slash bar, type 48, located within the existing building at 561 First Street. And Sarah with the staff report.

Good evening chair, planning commission, members of the public. Before you tonight is an amendment to the conditional use permit CUP 16-008 for the operation of a new business known as Vinnie's Emporium. Beniz Emporium is proposing to be the new owner and operator of the business previously known as the Brentwood Emporium located at 561 First Street. The property is located within the downtown specific plan and more specifically is designated within the downtown core district. To provide you some background on this property, it kind of varies. So I will start by explaining the fact that the business or businesses within the downtown serving alcohol until 10 p.m. are permitted by right, meaning that there is no requirements for conditional use permits. However, alcohol of any type served after 10 p.m. in the downtown specific plan requires a conditional use permit. So for the background, in 2007, the business operated as a neighborhood market, including an off-sale alcohol until 10 p.m., which was a use that was also permitted by Wright. In 2015, the Brentwood Emporium, excuse me, the business changed into the Brentwood Emporium and Deli and Tap House and served beer and wine on site while continuing to maintain the 10 p.m. closing time, which is, again, allowed for use by Wright. And in 2016, the Brentwood Emporium requested to extend the hours of beer and wine sales that were required, which required the approval of a conditional use permit, which was ultimately granted by the Planning Commission for the rights to have live entertainment until 12 a.m. and the sale of beer and wine until 1 a.m. Earlier this year, the Brentwood Emporium closed its doors and the building has been for sale since. Under the existing CUP, which runs with the land, a new restaurant could operate and have live entertainment until midnight and sell beer and wine until 1 a.m. at this location without amending the existing conditional use permit. However, the application before you tonight is a request to change the alcoholic beverage controller ABC license from a type 41 for on sale beer and wine eating place to a type 48, which is classified as on sale general public premise. This change would fundamentally change the use classification from a restaurant serving beer and wine after 10 to a bar and nightclub classification, which requires a conditional use permit, regardless of the hours of operation or the type of alcohol sales. The change would allow the sale of hard alcohol or distilled spirits and would not require the service of food or a restaurant in conjunction with the alcohol sales. Additionally, it would not allow minors to enter the establishment at any time and would also authorize the sale of beer and wine for consumption offsite. The staff report notes many general plan and downtown specific plan inconsistencies in detail, which I will address here at a high level. As proposed, the current request is not compatible with the existing land uses due to concentration of activity during the late night hours, the age restrictions to access the business for those under 21, and the focus of the business operations on alcohol sales. Bars and nightclubs typically generate much more noise and traffic than a restaurant would and can tend to lead to potential safety issues and an increase in police calls for service. It should be noted that there are residences located directly next to and across the street and the change of use to a bar nightclub has the potential to be extremely impactful to the neighboring residences and businesses. These incompatibilities do not promote the vision and the goals of the downtown specific plan, providing a family friendly neighborhood environment for all to enjoy. Staff has received significant amounts of public comment on this project, many of which note support for the proposed business operator. It should be noted that the, excuse me, that a conditional use permit review is based on the use and not the business operator as a CUP runs with the land and could therefore one day be operated by a different business owner under the same conditional use permit. Prior to the packet publishing for the public's review, the staff received 253 comments. 12 of those were in opposition. The rest were in support of the applicant's request. Since then, since the publication of the agenda and a few came in during the meeting tonight, I think we're at a total of 55 comments after the publication of the agenda. Five were in opposition and the rest were in support of the applicant's request. Given that staff does not find the proposed use to be consistent with the downtown specific plan, staff does recommend that the Planning Commission adopt Resolution 26-014, denying the requested conditional use permit amendment, CUP 16-008A1, subject to the findings set forth in the resolution. That concludes my staff report. I'm available for any further questions. We also have the applicant here to answer questions if needed. Thank you.

Any questions of staff? Commissioner Johnson.

Just out of curiosity, what is the closest location that has this type of ABC license?

Sure, the only one I believe actually in the entire city is Crown and Crow. So that's on First Street. Just a couple, a block down basically.

Do you know how far it is? I think it's like just a building, right?

I don't have the dimensions. I can look that up really quick for you, but I don't have that off the top of my head.

I can measure. Just out of curiosity, what is behind? I know there's homes behind. the Emporium? Is there any kind of wall structures behind the building?

So the entire building for the Emporium, which does contain other suites, so there's I believe a hair salon to the west of the or the on the west side of the building, but On the south side, it is directly adjacent to a residential unit. There's a residence above as well, but the whole building is for sale. So that would be under the same owner operator as the business theoretically.

And last question, you said that they could sell alcohol off-premise.

I believe we had Lieutenant Thompson, was it? Yes, he's here. Oh, he's here? He's to your left. Are there any questions from commission for Lieutenant Thompson? He's our planning liaison.

You can also reserve questions for later, of course, during the public hearing, but he is here, yes.

Okay, just to want to make sure they know. Since you're here, sir, does the Brentwood Police Department have any comment on this application?

Good evening, Chair and Commission. My name's Lieutenant Thompson. I'm with the Brentwood Police Department, and I have just about 21 years of experience with the city. In terms of support or no support, all I can really tell you is that we don't have a crystal ball and we don't know what we don't know on what a business like this would bring in terms of calls for service to the city or the police department. I can confidently tell you it will increase calls, just how many, that's the unknown. Any type of business you bring into the city has the propensity to in increased calls for service, I can speak In my 20 plus years here, we've had similar establishments in the past, 15 plus years ago, two in particular, that were similar in nature and I was actually a police officer working the street at the time and the call volumes for those businesses were high on the weekends and the evenings and led to numerous arrests, disorderly conducts, fights, public intoxications, DUIs, et cetera. This could be a completely different business model, different business owner with a different vision and levels of security. So again, we don't know what we don't know. I can just speak from experience of what we dealt with in the past and that we are gonna have to prepare staffing levels for something like this and how to mitigate, especially if you add the possibility of bringing in a source of entertainment, whether it be live bands or, yeah, just certain types of bands named higher level, ones that are recognizable, might be drawn in crowds from outside the city limits, right? And that is going to just increase a larger audience.

Thank you, Lieutenant Thompson. My understanding is right now the Brentwood Police Department is not fully staffed with officers. Is that correct?

Correct. We're down approximately 10.

Down 10. All right. Thank you. I don't have any more questions. Anybody else?

Anybody else? Okay. I think the applicant would like to address the commission. Great.

Thank you.

Hello, everybody. So I would like to address some things on the report. She said there were going to be a lot of changes that really aren't going to be changes. Most of the operations that were the Brentwood Emporium will be assumed by us. They already do live entertainment, off-premise beer and wine sales. The only difference I'm asking for is to be able to sell cocktails. That is a huge linchpin in the success of this business model. I'm not asking for any changes to how late they can go. I'm keeping the same 12 o'clock, 1 o'clock, no problem. Sorry, nervous. Some other things to address are security. Currently, so your crystal ball. We have 24 years experience running Vinnie's Bar and Grill in Concord, California. You can see in our application a letter from our lieutenant, who was my direct report on their code enforcement for six or seven years before she got promoted, who gave us a very nice letter saying, in fact, that for the size of our establishment and the type of business we ran, we had lower than average calls. This can be expected to be The same thing in Brentwood because we are the same people, we're the same operators, we're the same family, right? We are not some corporate overlord. We are mom and pop. You can come in, you can meet us, shake my hand. How are you doing? As far as security goes, We have our own PSO license. That means we're a private security company in our own right. We have a license from the BSIS. We hire guard card individuals. In Concord, on a busy night, we have 10 to 12 guards. We work very well with Concord Police, and it will be very similar here. Security, front door, ID checking. searching if the night calls for it. Every night of the week, we have some sort of security force present there. If it's a slow night, if it's Monday, we have one guy at least checking IDs at the door, guaranteeing safety, taking care of any problems that may arise, helping out, just being another eyes, another set of hands, whatever may happen. Another thing he's saying, if we bring in a big name, okay, we're going to have people come from outside the city. This is the downtown. This is what you guys want. This is exactly what's in the zoning. You want entertainment. You want people to come bring their tax dollars to downtown Brentwood. Huge benefit. You don't want a big 16,000 square foot empty building on the corner of your downtown. That's not what anybody wants. We all want business. We all want safety. We want entertainment. We're all reaching towards the same goal. The only issue that I saw with Brentwood Emporium is it just didn't have liquor. It was just missing this huge piece of the puzzle that really could have brought it to where it needed to be. Any questions?

Questions to the applicant. Seeing none, Commissioner Johnson, no, okay. Commissioner Roberts, any questions to the applicant? Yeah, I do.

So you say that everything is going to stay the same with the exception that you want to sell spirits. So I got two questions. One, you're planning on having meals there, food, because, okay, so that's good. And that will go on until, I guess there'll be some stopping point in the kitchen. Usually 11 o'clock. Okay, fine. My other concern is, I mean, have you spoken with your neighbors about this? Have I gone door to door?

No. Has there been a big posting on the building? Yes. So they've had ample time to weigh in their comments and send them in.

All right. Okay, then that's all I have.

Thank you. What, Commissioner Johnson?

Just out of curiosity, I noticed there was a menu in the packet.

That is our current menu. The nice thing about the Brentwood Emporium is the size of the kitchen is a little bit bigger than the size of the kitchen we have in Concord, so we'll be able to use the exact same equipment we have. I mean, use, we'll buy the same equipment, so we'll be able to offer the same menu items. Easier for purchasing, easier for staff training, easier for moving staff between the two locations should we have something. We intend to sell food 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. every night, just as we have done for 24 years in Concord. We are going to have a full kitchen. The only reason I'm going for a 48 over a 47 is a 47 is a bona fide restaurant that sells liquor, but it comes with a caveat that you need to have 51% of your sales be food. Now, the size of the kitchen is nice, but it's not big enough that I'm going to be able to sell 51%, a million dollars worth of food out of that kitchen over the year. It's just not possible.

I don't know what the question, I didn't get a chance to ask that question, but thanks for the dissertation.

Things I'm remembering to talk about.

Okay, so back to what I was going to say. Yes, sir. I noticed there was a menu in here and I noticed you serve breakfast items and I guess you're going to have some, are you, are you going to have, I'm just trying to get an envision, trying to envision what's going on here. Is it more bar where people come in and get a drink or is it going to be, you're going to do the karaoke and you're going to have dancing and, or so, and tell me about the food. Is there going to be seating there for people?

There will be seating. So usually in an establishment like this, you'll have maybe a row of... booths you'll have sit-down tables currently the emporium has sit-down tables four tops high tops usually set three people they have two three bars so there are definitely going to be places for people to sit down and eat it's important you provide a place to sit they're going to eat something but yes it will be casual people will come in they'll say oh maybe i feel like getting a beer oh okay i've had a beer maybe i feel like having a basket of fries no problem you don't need to order a four-course meal to come into our establishment sing some karaoke and have a good time

And this is going to be what the menu is in here that I'm looking at. That's what you're going to be selling besides breakfast, I assume.

No, I will still serve the breakfast items. People still order breakfast up until 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

Okay, thank you.

Yeah. Thank you. One question. Just the immediate proximity to the neighboring homes. And I know the notices went out. It's good. What gives you the confidence that this use will remain compatible with the surrounding neighborhood over the long term?

Sure. Well, have there been a lot of complaints about the Brentman Forum currently? Because he has a full sound system. He's doing live entertainment. He's booking all the same acts we booked, similar. So there's going to be much the same there, country line dancing, karaoke, jam nights. In the packet, there was a, to allude to what you were saying earlier about what's behind the building. In the packet, there is an outline of the building. You will see that the stage is on the northeast corner by the marquee, and on the rear, the south side, which is towards the neighbors, the residential neighbors, is a lot of buffer. we're talking the kitchen we're talking a storeroom um the receiving area an employee bathroom also there's this huge 2 000 square foot warehouse that runs along the back south so there's going to be a lot of insulation in terms of sound that the back neighbors are they're not going to hear anything from the entertainment okay thank you appreciate it chris yeah yeah i have a question yeah yes sir um i'm trying to

To understand the difference between the 47 that's there now and the 48. It's the 41. The 41. All right. As it is now, somebody walking by on a Saturday afternoon, coming through the farmer's market, feeling a little peckish, they can go over there and... you know, their wife and their kids and walk in and get something to eat. My understanding is this license would require everybody that goes into the restaurant to be 21, which seems odd for a lunch place downtown where we are trying desperately to build a family-friendly destination for people to bring their families, for people coming in for UPIC, people coming in for Farmer's Market, people coming in for the various festivals that we have downtown. They'll walk by, they'll see, I don't know, burgers and fries or whatever, and they can't go in there because somebody in their group is not 21. Is that correct?

That's correct.

All right, thank you.

Similar things in Concord, but...

Yes, thank you.

Any other questions of the applicant? If not, we'll move into public comment.

We'll start with those that are here in the audience. If you'd like to speak on Zoom, go ahead and raise your hand. And as soon as we're done with the audience, we'll go to you. Our first speaker is Danny.

Okay, let me just tell you where I stand. Give them the license, okay? I hear everything about the noise and the police presence and all of this. This emporium's been here, I remember back in the day when I used to go buy liquor out of a liquor store. It's been, in one form or another, an entertainment venue. That has not changed. As was answered, if this is denied, he'll still have hip-hop nights. He'll still have line dancing nights. He just will have 10-year-olds come in while you have a bunch of drunken folks having hip-hip parade. And I know that for a fact because I went and saw the RBL posse there. And it was interesting watching 10-year-olds sit there and go, boy, what's that smell? See, there's a downside. Yes, we're family friendly, but you know what? There are some times I don't want to be around kids. I'd like to be around, as my kids would say, grown folk. We have Zephyrs, we have Caps, we have so many different establishments that are family friendly. I would love to have one where I don't have to see a kid or a dog. I'd be a happy camper. Okay. I think it's reasonable because again, if it's denied, he'll still have hip hop night and line dancing and karaoke. Okay. But if you're really concerned about the kids at eight o'clock at night, maybe there should be a restriction. Maybe at 9 o'clock or 10 o'clock when the parents are dragging their kids in because they really want to see sugar tea or they really want to get that two-step in. Maybe you ought to consider that. Because, again, yeah, we're trying to be family friendly. And when we talk about increase in violence, last year's Juneteenth, I saw people fist fighting in the alleyway. Right behind Zepper's, as a matter of fact, you know, that family-friendly restaurant that's right there. We had fire trucks. We had police cars. So, you know, this facade of, oh, if we allow drinking in a place that's already there, crime's going to shoot up. Remember, I can't say this enough. It's there. It's been there. If this is turned down, it will be there. Whatever noise issues that are being proclaimed now, they'll still be there. If there are any worries about crowds meandering, it'll still be there. The only difference is when Jimmy and Susie want to go see Mac Mall at 10 o'clock at night, they'll have little 10-year-old Jimmy with them because it's a restaurant. Let's have a place for grown folk, please, please, thank you.

Emil Geddes, Emil Geddes. Emil, Emil Geddes.

Hi, my name's Chris Bowles, I've been a resident for about three years.

Sir, it's not your turn yet.

What I'd like to do is I'd just like the people behind me.

Sir. Sir, it's not your turn to speak.

Sir. What?

April, can you read the next public? I'm Emil Geddes, the name that was called. And I've been a lifelong resident. I'm one of the realtors involved in the sale of this site. And I live downtown on 4th Street, which is not quite downtown, but still in that district. And I want to bring up that when I moved from the big house where it was quiet, I moved near a bustling downtown. And I don't mind the fact that my house has gone up almost six times in value since I moved in because of the bustling downtown. And also, I hear the football games. I hear that I get parking issues. But all of that comes with living in that environment. I grew up in a ranch out in Marsh Creek Road. And you could have parked every car in Brentwood there, but you couldn't walk to any event. So I emphasize that. I'm sure that commission and council have read the overwhelming number of support letters on this 16,000 square foot location, the Brentwood Emporium. This represents a great community desire and support. I take the steward of alcohol, which the Emporium and other sites provide as a very important responsibility. It is not a conflict to support family oriented atmosphere while protecting children even more by not allowing minors, particularly in larger events in space as this site exclusively provides. Very loving family adults sometimes desire an evening or place with the same additional layer protection of children by not allowing minors. There is a tremendous support of this venue to continue as a bar, restaurant, and because of its exclusive size, entertainment events. The new applicant is not asking to increase hours. as allowed by the license, but keeping the same hours as the last owners. He will serve restaurant food and is really asking what should not be considered a new license, but should have, as it's restricted, considered a modified of the current one that currently exists. And instead of just serving beer and wine and will not allow minors. I personally think this is a personal bias if turned down particularly if the use and zoning is already in place. This license does require a commercial conditional use permit. We support the planning commission as part of the CUP to require security scrutiny and not have liquor related disturbances as restrictions and conditions of this business and enforce if needed the offered limit of hours. This is an experienced family person who will improve this site that may remain vacant if he withdraws. This application increases community development needed on this end of town and provides an entertainment choice in a control responsible environment. We respectfully urge your approval. Thank you very much for allowing me to speak.

Daniel Duran, Daniel.

Good evening. My name is Daniel Duran. I live on Third Street and I've heard more noise coming from the yard. And I've never heard anything coming from the Emporium area. So I don't understand why you would deny this permit it doesn't make any sense to me i mean i've lived in this area for 71 years and i'm here to tell you that downtown burnwood could use it uh not for me uh no i'm just kidding um but i think the point is is that Young people need a place to go, absolutely. But so do older people. And we tend to be left out. I understand your position. I truly do. But I don't think you understand ours. And ours is that we may be old. We may not be able to do what we used to do. But there are times when we'd like to go out and have music enjoy the evening with our wives and our grandchildren because my grandchildren are old enough um and that would be a place we could go we don't have to go to vinnie's and concord no offense uh but uh yeah i mean it's it's a great place i've been there many times when I was younger. But yeah, I really don't understand, gentlemen. I really do not understand. And I would really like for you to explain to me and the rest of the people here why you would deny it. It makes no sense. It makes no sense at all unless you just want to make downtown a really strange place. Because like I said, The yard puts out more noise than the Emporium does when they have live music. So to say that it's a noise generation, no, I don't agree with that. And I live there. I live on Third Street. And yeah, I'm here to tell you, that's a fact. So the fact that you're saying that it's going to be too noisy, this and that, the police department's going to have to go there more often, From experience, I can tell you that just because you're drinking alcohol and dancing and having a good time doesn't mean that there's going to be fights. There's more fights at the Crown than any place else in town, in my experience. And like I said, I live on 3rd Street. So, yeah, noise, the yard. So... I'm telling you, I think that you guys are, I don't know what the problem is here, quite honestly. I really don't. But I've said my say, so thank you.

Justin Jones.

Families.

Hi, I'm Jesenia Jones, and this is my husband, Justin Jones. He owns a landscaping company, and I'm a mental health therapist. We've been here for a little over 10 years, and our kids just graduated, and they're off to college. And I'm hearing that Brentwood was a place for children and for families, and that is why we moved from Oakland here, because it was safer for them. also want to feel like we're welcome to continue to grow here and to continue to have fun and be safe and not have to go to oakland or san francisco or the city just to have a birthday celebration brightwood emporium was a place where we invested and enjoyed ourselves and we're just hoping that you guys could support families that are in transition no longer little kids we're still making a living, still investing in our community. So we're in support.

Definitely in support. Our kids are, I wanted to say and just elaborate, because our kids now they've, like my wife may have mentioned, they're gone. They're off to college now. And it's just me and her and the dog. But we would like to go and shake a leg, you know what I mean? And I can dance with the best of them, but... If we got to go spend our tax dollars elsewhere to another city, I don't really want to do that personally. I'd love to be here and enjoy myself here. I found myself enjoying myself here also at the Brentwood Emporium. To elaborate on my time there, we got to see an artist by the name of LaRussell. now he brings in little kids to see his venues as well there was not a single fight there was not even a single i don't even remember at all seeing the police department there because they would need to be there so i'm just trying to elaborate and trying to find uh i guess where your guys's head would be at if it was going in a negative direction because we've already experienced something quite similar and I didn't experience personally any negativity and I've also had many friends who've been to many venues at the Brentwood Emporium and they're the ones who actually got me to go because they said nothing but good stuff about it.

I think just our point is that we're willing to continue to invest in this community if you're willing to let it grow with us. So we're in support of venues like this and adult safe LOCATIONS TO HANG OUT AND CONTINUE TO CELEBRATE ALL THE HARD WORK WE DO TO BRING IN THE MONEY THAT HELPS THIS COMMUNITY GROW, RIGHT? SO THAT'S ALL WE'RE SAYING. THANK YOU.

Yeah, hi, my name is Rory Nissen. I'm a recent resident of Brentwood. Been here for about three years. And met a lady and we live together now. We're very active. We go to a lot of places. I have been to Vinnie's many times. And... I heard a lot of good rock and roll acts there. We like to dance. I like to stay active. I'm 71 years old and I like to keep active and dancing is a big part of it. So, you know, I hope this thing, when I heard Vinnie's was thinking about taking over the Brentwood Emporium, I thought, wow, that's perfect. Because I've been in the Emporium, and it's a tavern in there most of the time that I was in there, and I thought, this place isn't being used to its potential. 16,000 square feet, I didn't know it was that big. I knew it was big. I just asked the proprietor of Vinny's Concord how big his restaurant was in Concord. He said about 8,000. So that's twice the size. And believe me, when you get a good crowd in a place like that, you need a building like that. They're playing music, people are dancing, people are having a good time. All the time I've been at Vinnie's in Concord, I have never seen a problem. And I attribute that to the security that they keep there on a regular basis. I've always been impressed with that. Always somebody at the door. There are some people who are identifiable as security. You know why? Because I don't want to mess with them. So, okay, that guy's probably one of the security here. And it turns out I was right most of the time. You know, this is a fabulous opportunity for Brentwood. It is, and I would hate to think that Brentwood would deny itself the opportunity to have this kind of a place for the public to go to I came out here and I asked my girlfriend, her line is, how long does it take to get here? How long does it take to get there? She said, it takes 45 minutes to get to anywhere from Brentwood. Okay, so what do we do? We travel. Pleasanton, Livermore, Concord, of course, Walnut Creek, even across the bay. We'll go anywhere where there's... A good band and a good crowd to go to and a good venue. Venue's the key to having a good time at a place that he's offering to bring to this town. Like I said, I was jazzed when I first heard that that's a possibility. I hope the city council, I guess I'm talking to the city council, I hope the city council doesn't deny itself the opportunity to have a class establishment come to Brentwood and enhance the general quality of life in Brentwood, okay? Certainly for me, I'll tell you that much. Okay, thanks.

Anthony Waite.

Oh, I'm taller than the desk today. That's awesome. So hey guys, I'm Anthony. A little about me, I'm from District 3, and I have done event production since I was 18. I'm currently 31. I actually had the opportunity to do an event in Emporium. I've done events in Los Angeles, Six Flags, Waterworld, Great America, and the major sticking point is definitely the hard liquor. I mean, if you're not going to let this guy sell hard liquor, you're going to have three other owners right behind him. I mean, that is just a huge portion of what they need to survive as an events venue. Do you want people to really be driving out of town versus staying in town? Because it's behavior form. Sorry, nervous. It's behavior forming patterns. You want your people to be comfortable in your city. And there's so many great things that happen when you do events. You have people that get married at your venues. You have people that meet each other. You really have a lot of community engagement, whether it's like a Western Wednesday, a two-turn Tuesday, a hip-hop Friday, a throwback Thursday. You know, you really need to be able to give somebody somewhere to go in your city. And with the fights comment, I mean, there's already pre-existing events bars that have occasional fights. When I did my event at Emporium, or a couple events at Emporium, there was no fights. And it's a lot in who the owner is, how the marketing's being set up. And this guy looks trustworthy to me. Don't even know him. Face him, Conker, give him a break. And I'm definitely in support of community events here in Brentwood, which I think is your message, if I heard it right. So thank you very much for today.

Stephon Nixon.

Hi, my name is Stefan. I'm known professionally as DJ Heartbreak. I work with Vinny on a regular basis to produce now large-scale R&B events in Concord currently. I produce events all over the state, down to Los Angeles, up to Oregon, predominantly in the R&B space, which traditionally brings the crowd that sometimes people worry about. Vinny was one of the first artists Operators, business owners that ever said yes to me changed my life about 18 months ago. Now I throw R&B events every single weekend. The number one compliment that we receive at Vinnie's, and again, we do this every single weekend. I work with over 20, 25 business owners. The number one compliment that we receive is Vinnie's security staff. They do not play about security. That's actually the first question that he asked me about when we very first sat down was, what is our security game plan for this? We're talking about we have an event just this Friday. We're anticipating over 600, 700 people there we've produced. I think over 15 events together now, nightlife, brunches, something that we're very excited to do to the food comment potentially here in Brentwood is to produce an R&B brunch experience. That's something where if you're worried about volume, we've had many talks about volume before. uh i don't want to say eager to tell me no but if there's something that the city of concord and him have agreed upon uh for instance like having events out on his patio i've tried to kind of weasel my way onto that patio for months it's always been a hey no the city has told me this is not something they want to do there's a parking structure right behind volume wise this can't exist so I really can't think of a better person. Again, I do this every single weekend. There are owners who clearly do not think at all about security beforehand. Vinny is on the exact opposite side of that spectrum, and coming into Concord is always something we look forward to because of that. I can't emphasize that enough. It's just security. And then just from a business standpoint, I don't see how he can survive or anyone can survive in that building without the ability to sell mixed drinks. So it's something that I... support fully, not just because it's Vinny, but also because it sounds like the area needs it. Something that we look at together from our statistics is how many people travel from out of town. And right now in Concord, we pull from Arenda, we pull from Lafayette, we pull from my hometown in Walnut Creek, we pull from Martinez, we pull from Pittsburgh, we pull people from right here in Brentwood. Typically at our events, 20% to 25% of people, you can see this on the Eventbrite reports, it's my favorite thing to look at, come from Brentwood, California. So there's a lot of people here who want to hear R&B music, who want to do, as the first guy said, grown folks dancing, shaking a leg. There's a lot of people here in Brentwood who want that, and the diversity of events that he would bring here would be super beneficial. So I support it, clearly a lot of people do, and I hope you approve it.

Pippi Jones.

Hi, good evening. I don't usually need a microphone, but good evening. My name is Pippi Jones. I play a dual role. Not only is Vincent my brother, but I'm also part of the security staff. So yes, Roy, you were correct. One of us is here. Safety and security is very important in our establishment. As we've all mentioned, we are adjacent to apartment buildings. So I know that's one of the concerns that we have out here. We currently are very neighborly friendly. We always make sure that if there's certain stalls that are blocked off for our neighbors, those stalls are not occupied by our customers. As they've mentioned, security is very, very, very tough there at Vinny's for a reason. Family establishment, this bar was opened by our parents in March of 2002, and Vincent took it over in 2017, has kind of really blown it out. He's done a great job, as DJ Heartbreak just mentioned to you. Family friendly, this family establishment, not only does Vincent work there, our mom works there, my grown kids work there. Between Vincent and I together, we have nine children. We do a lot of family-friendly events. But there are days when we don't want to have kids around, right? As I think that's also being mentioned here as well, too. So I think that obviously not only am I in support of it because it's family, but I am in support of it because I think it's a great opportunity for Brentwood and downtown Brentwood to have. And we hope to see you guys shortly. Thank you.

Jeff Monster.

Hello, my name is Jeff Monzer. I'm the current owner of the Brentwood Emporium. And I'm here in support of Vinny and everything that he has coming into Brentwood. I'm a long time Brentwood resident. My wife and her family are long term, long time Brentwood residents. They're part of the farming community. And I'm lucky enough to call Brentwood my home. I'm lucky enough to move away from it and lucky enough to move back to it. lucky enough to wanna bring business to this place. A little bit about me, I actually throw big music festivals all over the country. And Brentwood being my home, this was kind of an area where I started kind of my journey. And when I came back to it, it was something that I wanted to bring back to this place because it was my home. It was something that I felt a passion for. When I bought the Emporium, it had sat there for about six, maybe seven years, I don't know. And ultimately I bought it with a vision to run a music venue. I've seen when it's been ran for since I'd say early 2000s. I used to live across the street with my aunt. I've seen Larry's. I've seen Mannheim's. I've seen the Brentwood Emporium. I've seen Harry's. When we came in, we wanted to turn this into a venue to where people can come and enjoy the city. Yes, it was also something that we felt like outer cities would come as well, which it did. It brought people from Livermore, brought people from Manteca, brought people from the Modesto area. Not so much the Bay Area because we had to deal with Vinnies. Outside of that, though, it was nice, like bouncing off. You know, I never got to meet Vinny until this whole thing was going on. And it was, I know, and I know he knew, we were always like throwing the same type of shows. We were always doing the same type of thing. And Vinny's right. You know, like since I've owned this place, there's no way you can pay the bills here without an alcohol license. There's absolutely no way a restaurant will be able to run a restaurant in there and expect to sell that amount of food. The kitchen is a bar and grill. It's a grill like you would go to a golf course or something. It does not have the capability to actually feed that many people. What Vinny's asking is going from a 47, which we were going to go to a 47. thing is, is I got tapped out. You know what I mean? I just didn't want to put my energy into it anymore. I knew this city needed what it needed. I knew it needed this venue. Because we have thrown so many great events at this venue, all ages, all types of music, all styles of stuff, line dancing, you know, hip hop. We have, you know, we have salsa. We have, you know, reggae. We have everything you could possibly. We have punk rock. We have heavy metal. And I know that a bunch of the neighbors from the surrounding area are here. I know some of them personally because I did go around the area and talk to a lot of them. I know the landlords for most of the properties around the areas. And I do know that what we've done in the area by sound mitigating in the area, we've lowered the decibel level for the outside area for any given time of day, meaning you can hear a car drive and it'd be louder than the indoor music. So ultimately when it comes to that and downtown decibel levels and stuff like that, we've done everything we possibly could to actually do our part to make sure that downtown residents wanted us to stay. Because when I originally bought this place, I wanted to stay there. I didn't want to give it up. I didn't want to walk away, but I had to. I have other things going on. I run multi-million dollar festivals all over the state, the country, and I got to put my effort and energy into and the things and my family that I need to do. I don't want this venue to leave Brentwood. Vinny came three days. We didn't market this thing, nothing. He just showed up, we started talking. I knew, as soon as he told me who he was, I said, are you looking for another venue? And that was the end of story. I showed it to a few more people, but I knew he was the guy. He was the guy. He's the guy that we want here, you guys. I'm telling you, as a Brentwood resident, Yes, he's asking for something. The reason why he's asking for it is because if he goes another way, it's going to end up being illegal. He won't be able to do what he needs to do with a 47 or 41 in that building. Nobody will. So thank you.

Maria Garcia, Maria Garcia.

Good evening, everybody. My name is Maria, and I live in Third Street. In 1980, I started living here in Brentwood, and the Emporio was, at the time, a supermarket, and it was very good to walk to the supermarket. Later on, there have been changes as time goes by, and I've been very happy to live in this neighborhood for 40-plus years. I hear about the changes, and I'm not really sure, but I think that we should be thinking about the impact in the neighborhood. Is it going to be good for our community? people that will live there. Yeah, I understand that person that's the owner is doing a good thing in his other businesses, and I'm sure they're very good at it. But I still am concerned for the families and our families that we live in the neighborhood. So let's... Think about it, or whoever's gonna make that decision. I'm not to judge who wants to go and then, so we all have the right to have a good time, but is the location the best thing? Can this project can be moved somewhere else without leaving the city? Is our schools, it's gonna be good for our schools, for our neighbors, and... I hopefully we can have a good family environment still and not turn it into nightlife. We have some nightlives already here in downtown. And there's some issues, but still, hopefully that some grow to be a bigger issue for all the neighbors because it was not meant to be like that. So hopefully everybody's happy with the outcome. But who's gonna impact is whoever lives nearby. And the children especially, I'm thinking of that. What are they gonna see? Thank you.

At this time, I have no further speaker cards for those here in person. We're gonna go to Zoom. So for those that are in Zoom, if you'd like to speak, please raise your hand. First speaker is Marisol Valles.

Hi, thank you so much. I'm a Brentwood resident and I would like to ask that you please deny this applicant's request so we can keep Brentwood in compliance with the downtown specific plan. We have worked so hard to maintain The downtown specific plan says no to adult only businesses. The owner and realtor say they will have food at all times. However, you have to take their word for it since it's not mandated in a 48. A 48 is only 21 and older, period. No one under 21 at any point of the day can go in. No food has to be served, period. And if a new owner comes after Vinnie's, They may not abide by the rule that they're saying they're going to do. So we have to understand that the 48 stays with the land, not with the owner. Other places downtown have full bars. So I'm just curious why we're allowing or even talking about this 48 and not a 47. I think there's other places downtown that if you're over 21, I think it's 9 or 10 o'clock, they start IDing people at, I think, La Fuente or 311. So why can't we do a 47 or talk about other options? And why are we even talking about a 48? The Emporium currently, well, they had music. So it's kind of confusing why it's so different. If they want the full liquor, let's talk about full liquor, but have it with full meals as well. Only one place in all of Brentwood has a 48. Why add more? Other cities like ours only have 148. No other one has more than 148. Vice chair floor mentioned folks walking around during the farmer's market, but remember, the owner says he's not open until 11. so won't really affect all hours of the market folks at the farmer's market won't be able to go into this new location. The other point is we are short on police. This will create additional calls. This shouldn't even be considered until we're fully staffed. I asked before at other meetings, but what is the call log during the evenings here in downtown? And how are we currently staffed? And I know the police currently spoke earlier today and they said we're short 10. So why are we even discussing this if we're not even fully staffed with the police force? The downtown specific plan states specifically, and this is in the plan, music venues, dance halls, billiard rooms, not serving alcohol beverages or those serving alcohol beverages until 10 PM provided this activity is clearly ancillary to food service. So they're not following the Brentwood residents and what the staff worked so hard to build. Um, and why would a venue with no issues need 10 to 12 security guards? Can you look at their liquor license? Because that makes me believe they must have issues. 10 to 12 seems extreme. When I think I've been a crown and crow, and I've only seen 1, please deny this applicant request to stay in compliance with the downtown specific plan. We have worked so hard to maintain in Brentwood. And remember, last week when the council talked about the Grove, they said no 48s. So please, we don't need another 48 in Brownwood. One is plenty. Thank you.

I'd ask the chamber to maintain decorum.

At this time, we have no other speakers in Zoom.

Okay, motion, I'll entertain a motion.

Through the Chair, it looks like we have one more speaker.

Oh, sorry.

Virginia Mitchell.

Good evening, thank you for having us here today. helped out at Brentwood Emporium working the front door, so checking in tickets. I've been in Brentwood since the 70s. My grandparents prior to that lived downtown. I have family members that live right across the street from Brentwood Emporium, right down the street on 1st, on 2nd, on 3rd. I have multiple real estate friends here. I'm in real estate. I'm a real estate broker here. I have multiple real estate friends that live downtown as well. A lot of my clients that would like to live in Brentwood prefer to live within walking distance of Brentwood downtown because they get to enjoy something that they don't have to drive 45 minutes away to go see. This is something that they can go and walk to. I'm a mother of three. I have the option of going to a family-friendly kid environment. I also have the option at my discretion to go somewhere where I can enjoy my time with other adults. and not have kids running around and being a tripping hazard, not saying that that happens all the time, but it is very well known to happen. Checking tickets at the door gave me an opportunity to meet plenty of people that were here, not only residents of Brentwood, residents of East Contra Costa County and surrounding areas. One thing that they were so excited to see was when Jeff opened up Brentwood Emporium and brought in large acts that are known not just in California, but known across the country that don't even perform in California most times, came out and performed at Brentwood Emporium. And yes, we were in competition with Vinnie's on getting the acts. As a resident, as somebody who frequents downtown Brentwood, knows many of the business owners and have been going there since I was 21, I can tell you that we were excited to find out that Vinnie's was putting in an offer to purchase Brentwood Emporium. This family has a very successful business in Concord, downtown as well, right across the street from Todos Santos Park. I've been going there, I've gone there before in the last 15, 20 years. I'VE NEVER WITNESSED A FIGHT, HOWEVER, WHAT I'M GOING TO SAY IS WE WERE EXCITED TO KNOW THAT SOMEBODY THAT HAD THAT EXPERIENCE WAS COMING IN, GOING TO PURCHASE BRENTWOOD EMPORIUM AND WAS POSSIBLY GOING TO KEEP LIVE MUSIC HERE. SO THERE ISN'T ANYTHING NEW THAT WE WOULD BE DEALING WITH WHEN VENNIES COMES IN TO BRENTWOOD DOWNTOWN. IT'S ALREADY STUFF THAT WE DEAL WITH NOW. YOU ALREADY HAVE PEOPLE PLAYING MUSIC, LIVE MUSIC IN DIFFERENT VENUES THAT ARE DOWNTOWN OR AT BUSINESSES. And I think that overall what I've been hearing from my friends, my family, my clients are that they're excited for Vinnies to come in and they would like to keep that downtown environment going on with the live music instead of having to drive 45 minutes away. They wanna be somewhere where they can walk, take an Uber or be somewhere nearby home within 10 or 15 minutes they're home, thank you.

Nick Wright.

My name's Nick. Pretty much have similar sentiments to everybody else here. But for what it's worth, I've lived here for five or six years. I live right behind the Emporium. In that time, I... Never seen any type of issues, anything in the parking lot that would raise any concerns for myself. I work construction, it means I'm getting up early. I'm a light sleeper, so any type of late, loud music, that's usually the type of stuff that's gonna kind of push me the wrong way. Again, all that stuff said, Never had any issues. The Emporium's always been nice, clean, respectful people. I do love the fact that I can stumble out of my back gate and there's always something to do. Again, people are coming in from across town. I mean, it's right there. It's great. Again, it's always been nice people. Never any issues. And I've never met Vinny, but it sounds like they're doing all the same stuff. And... You know, again, I mean, if he's got all the security, I'm not, that doesn't concern me. If anything, it kind of gives me a little bit of ease in knowing that these guys, they kind of speak softly, carry a big stick. If people know that security is a serious thing and that this isn't the place to come and fool around. It's a place to come have a good time, relax, enjoy yourself, enjoy time with your friends, you know, start a bunch of riff-raff and all this other stuff. So again, I support what they're doing. The downtown area needs some sort of activity. I mean, there's empty lots all over the place and nothing's going on. I've been here for six years Again, you would think that you'd just be itching to develop this stuff and get more bodies down here in any capacity. You know, if it's only kids, you know, if they don't want kids in there, kids are kids. I mean, you can have it like right now. I mean, kids are going to be drinking out in the parking lot or doing something like that. If you have a venue where it's adults only, it... kind of cuts that aspect out of it where you don't have kids there for an underage event trying to do some drinking in the park. Kids are kids. They're going to do that type of stuff. But if that's not even on the table, again, I think the idea of having an adults-only place is... not crazy. Again, there's a lot of people that are raising their families here. It is nice to go someplace where there's not jabbering kids running all over the place, especially if, again, I've worked a long day. I just want to sit down, relax, have a drink of any kind. And it's, I think when people are hearing liquor license, they're thinking of just pouring bottles. I think it's more of just like a in a martini or your Cosmo or something like that. I mean, this is thin little dainty glasses. I don't imagine people are just getting completely out of control. Again, especially if there's already this base built in where they've got security, they've got people keeping an eye out, being responsible. Anyway, that was my two cents here. Thank you.

John Baldrige.

Hi there. I'm John. I live here in Brentwood. I also play in a band, and so live music as such is, you know, important to me. I just want to point out a couple things. One is that we've lost a lot of live music venues around this area, and I think... I'd hate to lose another one. I want to see that keep growing and thriving. So on that note, I want to kind of just drill into a couple of things that were brought up. One is the noise issue I think is completely irrelevant just in the sense that There were already bands playing at the Brentwood Emporium. There's nothing in the difference in license that would change anything as far as the noise quotient. Some of the bands that played at the Brentwood Emporium, System of a Clown, clown-themed metal. The Exploited was here. We had Long Beach Dub All-Stars. These are very loud acts, right? So there's nothing that changes from having that continuity. Personally, I think the continuity is actually good. People get used to going to a certain place for a certain thing, and and we can we can kind of keep that going if uh you know if it doesn't sit idle too long uh so that's one thing the noise thing i think is is completely irrelevant the uh the other thing i want to expand uh mr johnson i believe uh asked a really pertinent question earlier about uh where's the closest venue that has the same type of license um other people have mentioned the the crown and crow uh what i didn't hear really specified there like maybe 1500 foot walk away from one another and the crown and crow also has has live music as well And I think, like, nobody would come on a Zoom call and say that, you know, we only need one restaurant downtown, right? Because when you have businesses of the same type, you know, you get people down there, they walk around, they can go to different places, they can go see some live music, they can go have a drink, they can go to a restaurant. All those options are available. So, yeah. So I just wanted to address those couple of points. Thank you so much and hope you enjoyed this.

Rhonda?

Good evening. So I am a person who produces line dancing shows all around Northern California. And I've been in the Brentwood area for probably 12 to 13 years i currently teach out in orwood and here in brentwood and when it was harry's that was one of my venues and i worked for tammy zucker and i also work for vinnie at vinnie's and conquered because we have dance night on tuesdays and i co-hosted that occasionally with another gentleman that teaches there And I feel like Brentwood, this is a building that it's unfortunate, like the prior owner was up here talking about how it's a struggle to make it work. I mean, let's be real. If you can't have a full bar menu, you're going to sink. You're not going to swim. and i hate to see this beautiful venue sitting here rotting away when we have somebody that's willing to come in here in this community and make this a spectacular place for the whole community and as you can see we have a lot of community support there was a woman that was talking about oh the security why do you need well the security amount of people is based on how many people you plan on entertaining in your venue that night. If you've got 100 people, you need so many security guards per 100 people. It doesn't mean you're going to plan on having a big riot and you need all these security. That's just absurd to start with. So some of these people need to really get a little bit of a clue before they come up here and start talking about stuff like that. Because unless you work in this industry or this business, this side of it, you don't understand it. I work at restaurants that are family-friendly. There's young people... And at 8 o'clock, all the young people have to leave. And it's only adults after 8 o'clock or whatever, 21 and up or whatever else. My point is there's a way to do it that it can work for everybody. To just shut it out and say, oh, we're not doing it because, whoa, we can't get another liquor lot. Oh, God forbid, we need one more in the area. That's ludicrous. We have enough responsible adults. You can go there and get drunk on beer and wine if you're going to get drunk and not be responsible. You could do it at home. You don't need to go sit at the Emporium to do that. And the liquor license, in my opinion, That is something that cops are going to give DUIs no matter where somebody walks out of. If somebody decides they're going to go into an establishment and get drunk and drive their car, it doesn't matter if it's the Emporium or another bar. My point is I've worked for Vinny at Vinny's in Concord, and let me tell you, he runs a top-notch establishment. I've never had an issue in there. And while I was at Emporium, it was a beautiful place, and I would love, I would absolutely love... to see the community embrace this and have another option in this area to do fun stuff for people of all ages hopefully right so thank you guys for your time and i hope you guys really give this serious consideration otherwise in my opinion the building is going to sit there and nothing's going to happen it's just going to sit there and it's a waste a complete waste thank you moises talavera

So I guess the point's already been made that we kind of want this place. We really want this place, right? Yeah. Right? When we all come together, we've known each other. I know a lot of these people from being downtown, and I want to ask the council, do you guys go downtown? Because it doesn't seem, I don't know if you guys know where the location's at, or even just the vibes downtown. Because it seems it's a tight community, you know? Like, we don't get along sometimes, but it's still a tight community. We all came together, and we're all still here for it. I think it's crazy that we complain about the kids and the farmer's market thing when I have more complaints about the farmer's market than I do about anything else downtown. I'm messy, leave a mess, and people park in your house. I'm one of the also natives. Sorry, I'm a little nervous too. I'm also a native that lives here in one of the alleyways. I've been here since I was 16. I'm now a 36-year-old man. And Jeff's a great person. Him and his whole family and so is me. That's all I got to say.

At this time, we have no other speakers here. Back to you, Chair.

Can we, anybody left on Zoom?

There's no hands raised in Zoom, but if you are on Zoom and you would like to speak on this item, please raise your hand now. No hands raised in Zoom.

Thank you, April. Look for a motion to close public hearing.

So moved. Second.

Roll call vote.

Commissioner Roberts?

Aye.

Commissioner Johnson?

Aye.

Commissioner Jones?

Aye.

Vice Chair Flohr?

Aye.

Chairperson Brand?

Aye.

Motion carries.

You looking for a bio break? Okay. Okay. I think what we're going to do is take a short recess. Got to use the little boy's room. So we'll be right back. Thank you.

When.

When.

All right, thank you everybody for waiting. We're gonna get started again. Attention to the chamber, we're gonna get started again, please. Now we need the security. Folks, if we could find our seats, we'll get started again, thank you. Okay, now that we've resumed completed public comment, we will move into discussion. So I'd invite one of our commissioners to lead us off. Any volunteers? Oh, sorry, is Commissioner Roberts online? I totally forgot. Yes, I'm online. Why don't you give us your thoughts?

If I may, I would like to.

Yeah.

Wonderful.

So, you know, I listened attentively and intentionally to every speaker. And my takeaway is this. I think it's fantastic to have something that doesn't have us on the road driving for entertainment. But I'm also mindful that these things are already there. Everyone that spoke, spoke about line dancing and music, it's already there. The only thing that we're addressing right now is a liquor license. And for the life of me, and I've looked up the statistics, anytime you start serving hard liquor, to a crowd of 600, and I think someone dropped that number, 600, you're gonna have some issues. It might not end up in a fight, but you're gonna have some issues. Going into my second thought, where are these 600 people gonna park? I'm just trying to figure that one out. I think it's great to have entertainment but we're not the Concord Pavilion, not trying to be. So, and my last thought, which is a bigger concern, you try to put something like that around the corner from where I live as a resident paying a mortgage, I would absolutely have a problem with it. So most of the people that live or reside in that community where this emporium is. My bigger concern is how do you justify noise or that kind of movement of 600 people? And I know that that's a one-off, but based on what the gentleman communicated, and I was listening intentionally, That's a lot of people. I wouldn't want that in my neighborhood under no circumstances, not at 11 o'clock, not at 12 o'clock, not at one o'clock. But then again, it was communicated that you're already doing that. And the only difference is we're now serving spirits. So I'm a little confused about the bigger issue. If you're already doing all these things, I don't see how it's not already a success or cannot already be a success. Are we saying that it can't be a success, you can't have these wonderful events without serving hard liquor? I'm not sure about that. I'm just not sure about that. And when it comes to the Brentwood plan, you know, we go out of our way to reach out to the community to come in and provide us with their feedback before we put these things in writing, before we actually make this conditions. And I don't recall anyone, especially those that came before the commission and spoke about how long they'd been in Brentwood, providing feedback that would disallow clubs in the community. Had they, it might have gone a different route. So, you know, I look at the whole thing and I'm thinking, okay, times have changed. I get it. I do get it. But I don't know that I'm ready for an impact like that in a small community or a small neighborhood like the one we're speaking to. I do believe the gentleman has had some great success in Concord, but we're not Concord, we're Brentwood. And there's a big difference. I'm not so worried about security. I like the fact that the security is in place. I guess it needs to be when you got 600 people rolling in there from other places. I'm just concerned about the folks that have been there, that live in homes, that live in that community, And what they're going to have to endure with cars trying to find parking spaces, because that lot's not going to hold 600 people. Not at all. And what is going to happen when the crowd lets out? It's a lot. And I don't know that we have the bandwidth in Brentwood to bring that kind of entertainment in. Not against it. But the size of Brentwood in that neighborhood and what we are talking about, I just, I am concerned. And like I said, I'm a long-term resident myself. And if you tried to bring that in the back of my house, I would be up in arms. I'd be up in arms. As somebody who's paying mortgage, I would be up in arms. So that's my takeaway. I do believe that we need an adult environment to go to. And I believe that there are two already coming into our community. As a matter of fact, we voted on it and they are coming into our community. One's for jazz and another one is, we just voted on one. So it's not like we're shutting down. this type of entertainment. I don't believe we're doing that at all. But my concern again is the size of the venue and what that brings to the community at large. That's my concern. That's all I have to say.

Thank you, Commissioner Roberts. Commissioner Johnson.

Can we have order in the audience?

I understand there's very strong feelings tonight. Part of this process is that we have to maintain a level of decorum so everyone gets a voice. Eric, the occupancy of the current Emporium, I was curious about that, because I didn't hear that 600 number, so I did want to clarify that.

Yeah, I don't know if we have that on file, sir.

I don't have that information. I can see if the original use permit had it in it, but I don't recall seeing that previously.

Okay. Ma'am. Ma'am. What? Please, we need quiet. We need quiet in the chamber. Thank you. So let's just, I mean, I guess we could assume that it's 299 from our current owner. I'm fine with that assumption. So sorry, Commissioner Johnson, go ahead.

So I guess I'm really conflicted, to be honest with you. I see... I understand why people would want to have a venue where they, you know, adult entertainment, where they can go out without their kids. I also understand that the business, you know, I've been here for 26 years and I've seen that location struggle through, you know, various owners. So I understand that maybe the current location is, where it is and the current ABC license may not support, I remember when Sticky's Chicken and Ribs was in there and various things, it may not be able to support the business long term. Or at least that type of business. But I also understand what we have with our downtown specific plan and what the goals are there. So I'm really conflicted. I think that we do need a way to bring people to downtown, have drawers, not have to go outside our city if we want to do something. So right now, I'm conflicted about it. I think that... It sounds good, but I want to know, I guess maybe from Sarah, just supposing we did do this, what recourse would we have? Because it doesn't, I mean, if we do allow a 48, right, what restrictions can you put on it? Number one, what can we do? And then number two, let's say something did happen or, you know, it wasn't working the way, what options do you have to rescind it or is it, you know, one and done? Just kind of those type of questions.

Sure, so we could talk about a variety of different conditions of approval that you could put on there. Christy might be able to speak a little bit more to like the legal aspects of what we're allowed and not allowed to put on, but typically we could apply numerous amounts of conditions of approval and make sure that the applicant would be agreeable with them. If it was granted and let's say operations are becoming of an issue and we want to, look at the CUP again, there's always a standing condition of approval of conditional use permits where you would be able to review it. And I mean, there is a process to revoke a CUP, but that is very, difficult to do once a CUP is granted but there is chances to you know go back look at it again review it and see if you want to modify conditions of approval things like that there is a process to revoke but the process is quite challenging I don't know that I haven't seen one been be revoked here yet Christine might be able to speak more to that as well but

If you'd like some, yes, sure. I'm happy to speak to the use permit revocation process. So generally when a use permit is when an applicant is violating the terms of the use permit, you know, staff will go through the code enforcement process and you know, following notice of hearing the applicant would return to the planning commission and the planning commission would have a full hearing on whether, you know, revocation is appropriate for the violations. Usually it's a repeated violation basis that would bring it that far. There are certain findings that you would make in order to revoke the use permit because, you know, as Sarah's noted in her staff report, the use permit runs with the land. So it is an entitlement that we, you know, don't take lightly and we would, your commission would approve it with conditions and if it were to be, if you were to call it back for revocation, there is a full public hearing process that you would go through in order to do that.

Somewhere I missed it, the hours of operation

The existing hours of operation, they're allowed to have live music until midnight and alcohol sales till 1.

No, I'm talking about like during the day, like what time would they open?

Oh, what time? Let me look at what the approval is. I just want to make sure I speak correctly on what the approval is. Because they're not modifying that. That's under the original condition of approval. So let me just look at that. Give me just a second. Yeah, so the condition of approval on the CUP is 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. Thank you.

Commissioner Jones.

Yeah, thank you. I want to start by just, of course, thanking the applicant, everyone who submitted comments. I read every single one of them, and just everyone who spoke tonight, both in person and via Zoom. I've spent a lot of time on this one, reviewing the staff report, the downtown specific plan, the applicant's materials, the public comments. And like commissioner Johnson, honestly, I've gone back and forth on this one quite a bit. I understand why people are excited about the proposal. I understand the applicant's vision and I appreciate the investment that they're looking to make in downtown Brownwood. But at the end of the day, this is a land use decision item, right? And the question that I'm looking to answer tonight isn't whether people would enjoy this business. They would. It's whether I can make the findings required for approval of an established operation with a type 4.8 license. and you know after reviewing everything i i where i'm coming back to with the same issue as location the the property sits like right at the edge of the downtown commercial district and it's adjacent to homes it's basically the entry point into a residential neighborhood now The previous operation functioned under the Type 4-1 license, which is essentially defined as food being the primary use, alcohol being secondary. So what we're looking at tonight, despite I know everything that we're hearing, it's very different as in terms of how this business could choose to operate. Now, the applicant, very straightforward about wanting a type 4.8, explaining why, wants to make it a 21 and over operating model. I understand the business reasons for that. I respect them. And look, we've also received a lot of comments in support of the applicant. We received the letters of recommendation. We've heard from people who've had very positive experiences with the business and the operator. And honestly, I don't have any reason to doubt any of that. By all accounts, I would say the applicant appears to be a very respected business owner with a loyal customer base. And so I commend him for that. But again, that's not really the question that I'm being asked to answer tonight. The question for me is whether people, isn't whether people like the business or whether the operator is a good person, obviously is. The question isn't whether the concept necessarily has supporters, you're here. The question is whether I can make the findings for a Type 4.8 license at this specific location. And so that's where my analysis, as I've been listening to everything tonight, is really staying focused on. I've also heard the applicant say that he intends to keep operating hours very similar to what has historically occurred at this location. I appreciate that. But one of the challenges with land use decisions is that we're not approving an individual promise from a specific applicant. We're approving an entitlement that stays with the property. Operators can change, ownership can change, business models can change, and what we're evaluating tonight isn't just what this applicant intends to do today, it's we're evaluating what this property would be entitled to do in the future. And that's another reason why I keep coming back to compatibility and location. Now, I also spent time reviewing the applicant's operational and security plans, and it's obvious a good amount of thought has gone into them, and I appreciate the transparency, the clarity of how he's looking to run his business. But again, for me, the operations slash security and then land use compatibility, I think two very different questions because having a good security plan can help manage issues when they occur. It can help respond to problems. But what it can't do is create that buffer that's between this building and then the neighborhood and the homes that are right by it. And one thing in the packet that did stand out to me is the letter from the Concord Police Department. And... It acknowledged, like many nightlife-oriented venues, 21 and over, there were some issues that required attention, needed some police response, and that doesn't reflect poorly on the applicant. In fact, I think the letter validates and speaks well of how those situations were handled. It specifically says that the operator was professional and cooperative in addressing the issues that occurred. But for me, what it does reinforce is that even well-run, 21 and over nightlife-oriented venues are going to generate some impacts from time to time. And they're going to require ongoing management. And they might require police resources. And I think that's all the more reason why location for an operation like this matters. I do think it's worth noting, there was a little bit of discussion on this earlier, that just last week, our council wrestled with a very similar distinction during its review of the Grove Project. They approved the project, but they did remove the standalone bar component while retaining the restaurant-oriented alcohol service licenses. So there's a precedent there, and that's something we could ultimately end up going against if we chose to move forward with this tonight. I think the other piece is just going back to the downtown specific plan. The plan absolutely supports activity, restaurants, entertainment, a vibrant downtown, but it also talks about compatibility. And when I look at this site, Where I'm struggling is that separation or buffering that I would want to see for a type 4-8, you know, 21 and over bar nightclub that's directly adjacent to homes and is essentially the entry point into a residential neighborhood. And on that note too, I don't wanna lose sight of the people who live around this area. I know there's both sides of folks that are saying it's fine, but I also think there are those that might have some issue with this and we have to listen to them. A lot of tonight's discussion I think is understandably focused on what this project could bring to downtown. And I think everything that's been brought up tonight is valid considerations, but there are people that live in that area every day. And they're the ones who are gonna experience the long-term impacts of whatever it is we end up doing tonight. And one thing that I've learned in just land use planning is that we're usually at our best when we're making decisions that prevent conflicts before they occur, not trying to solve them after they've already become problems. And because once issues arise, we're often left just trying to manage the impacts rather than avoiding them in the first place. So I think part of our responsibility is, really tonight, is looking beyond today's operator, today's neighbors, today's circumstances, and asking whether a particular entitlement makes sense for this location over the long term. And that's why I keep coming back to just compatibility and where... I can make the findings for this location. We wanna make downtown. We wanna keep it active. We want it to be successful. We want it to remain compatible with the neighborhoods that have existed alongside it for generations. That's part of our responsibility as planning commissioners. And so for me, that's really what this comes down to. It's not about whether I think the business could be successful. I know it could be, but it's more making sure that we're doing the right thing from a long-term standpoint and thinking about not just this current operation, but future operations. So the question I think is whether I can make the findings for a type 4.8 license at this specific location, Everything before us tonight, I'm not there. I'm open to more discussion on it. But I think it's important to share those things that are going on because this is complex and this is something that I know people want. but I also have to look at location and compatibility. And I have to look at the downtown specific plan. And I have to look at what was just recently done literally a week ago by our city council. All of those things have to be taken into consideration when we make a decision like this. So I'm open to more discussion, but at this point, I just can't get there. But I'd love to hear more about what my fellow commissioners have to say and keep the discussion going. So I'll stop right there.

Vice Chair. Oh, my goodness. Okay. So I've seen a lot of people come in here tonight and advocate for this business. And I understand why. It's an exciting business. Vinny's and Concord is great. Vinny's a great entrepreneur. He takes care of his business and he manages it very well. And obviously a lot of you are having a good time there. I think that when you were solicited to come down here, I think there were a lot of things that you were not told. I think there's a lot that happens here that's not top of mind for you. And so I want to talk a little bit about what the Planning Commission is and what we do for Brentwood. The Planning Commission makes zoning decisions We don't do the zoning. If you wanna rezone, you gotta go to the city council. What we do is we look at the zoning that exists and we make decisions based on that. And that is what we make our decisions based on. It's not whether or not I like Vinny. It's not whether or not I like music. I've been going to rock shows since before most of you were born. I don't have anything against music. I don't have anything against going to a venue and having a cocktail. I was on a cruise ship last week. I don't have anything against any of that. I have no bias on this either way. What I have is a deep and abiding respect for the downtown specific plan. And I bet most of you don't even know what it is. The downtown specific plan is a specific part of the general plan. Every city in California required by state law to have a general plan that guides the zoning, guides the development, guides the growth. We must, we must conform to the general plan. It is not optional for us as a body. The general plan has taken certain areas of the city that deserve a special focus and made special plans. These are separate documents, but they are part and comprise the whole zoning for the areas where they are in effect. We have a downtown specific plan. The site of this business is inside the downtown specific plan. And we will conform to the downtown specific plan. And I'll tell you why it's important. The specific plans are so important that the city, when they create those plans, they have multiple public meetings. We invite the public to come down, participate with us, talk about what they want their city to be. These are people that are already here, they live here, they're residents here, they've made lives here, and they have a right to have a say in what they want their quality of life to be. And I invite every one of you who is a Brentwood resident to come the next time we do the review, which should be in a couple of years. It's getting pretty long since the last one. Hmm? So anyway... The downtown specific plan has a very clear vision for what downtown is. And there is a staff report related to this item. It's been publicly available since last Thursday. I don't know how many of you have been able to see it. I know that it was published online at one of the blogs and Facebook. So hopefully you've had a chance to look at it. There are multiple reasons. why this should not be done at this location. The gist of it is that the downtown specific plan envisions a downtown that is family friendly. That is just the beginning and the end of it. It's written down in paper. It is the law in this city. We cannot just sit up here and go, you know what? These great people came down here and they want this business and they like it and they see it as a benefit for us and we cannot make a decision based on that. It would not be legal and it wouldn't stand. What we can do is look at the downtown specific plan, determine whether or not this request is conformant with the downtown specific plan. I wanna talk a little bit about some of the things I've heard tonight. Lieutenant Thompson spoke to us. Thank you, sir. And did mention that calls for service are likely to escalate. You heard that there are 10 vacancies. for police officers in Brentwood. That's not a small number. And it's not because we don't have them in the budget. They've been there for several years. It is really hard to get police officers to come and work in your city. We have a real shortage. It's a crisis situation for us. So we are sensitive. I don't know if you think it's important or not, or if we're being histrionic or whatever you wanna say. We are sensitive. to anything coming into our community that's gonna put stress on our police department. We love our police here in Brownwood and we don't wanna put them through anything more than what they're already dealing with. So it is an important consideration and I've heard it mocked tonight and I think you just don't know what you're mocking. You don't know how serious the situation is for our police department. The idea that you just need to sell cocktails to make a music venue work. And I think I understand really what they need is to not have a requirement to sell 51% of their revenue as food to make that business work. And I hear that. And I think that everything else is just noise, basically trying to defend a position. but it's not something that I can make a ruling based on that, whether or not the business can survive the model without that 48. I heard somebody stand up and say, gosh, we've had more fights at Crown and Crow than any place in town, as if that was a justification for us writing another liquor license.

Crown and Crow is the only place in town that has one.

So I have no idea what that was about. I don't know that it's true that no business can survive at that location without serving cocktails. Maybe a music venue cannot survive at that location without serving cocktails. But I can tell you, downtown Brentwood is full. The businesses are pretty much all leased out. People are standing in line waiting to get a spot in Brentwood. We have a lot of foot traffic in Brentwood. years have gone into making it that way. And if you wanna be a part of this business community, then you need to conform to the standards of this business community. We're not going to just welcome you in because we don't have enough businesses. We've got people waiting to come in. So thank you, but we're fine. I'm gonna keep going. A resident asked, can this project be moved to another place in the city? And that's a reasonable question. If you look at the location, First Street is a two-way street. All the side streets, everything other than Brentwood Boulevard Downtown is pretty much just two directions. We're not really set up to have our downtown be the kind of location, like in Concord, I used to live there, they had Todos Santos, but there's four lanes running all around it. We're not set up for that here at that location. There are other areas in town where we have arterials and would be suitable for this kind of business. And I can tell you, I don't have any problem with this kind of business. I just don't think it's conformant with the downtown specific plan as I read it and as staff reads it. And again, the point has been made, but I'll make it again. A conditional use permit is not a permit that is granted to the owner. It's not granted to the operator. It is applied to the building. So we might have confidence in Vinny, but Vinny's not gonna be here forever. And I can tell you, I'm old, life moves fast. People come, they go for so many different reasons. Then he might not be here tomorrow i'm sorry but it's just true and then we've got a liquor license at that spot and who knows who's operating it but they'll operate it to the best way that they can make a profit and they may not be the best thing for our family friendly downtown. I think that's enough to what I wanna say, but I hope I've given people something to think about besides just wanting the business, just wanting to have a place to go party. I get it. I like to go have fun, but this is probably not the spot, and unless I can be swayed otherwise by my fellow commissioners, I'm kind of there, and I'm prepared to make a motion at any time.

Thank you, Rod. Yeah, there's been a lot said here. I do appreciate the just breadth of information that we've taken in here with respect to this project. I mean, like Commissioner Jones, I read every single email. and I've summarized them here, just all of these things that this audience wants, the community wants. more adult nightlife, entertainment. Vinnie's got this fantastic reputation of ownership and operation of this facility in Concord. The supposed economic benefits as well as something I'm passionate about is a support for the arts. Everybody's art looks a little bit differently and it's important that there's a venue for that art to be expressed. I know a few of you commenters had brought that up as well. I think it was like two, my account, apologies, about 250 in support and then maybe 40-something against, so overwhelming support. And a very, the thing that really stood out to me was that, you know, Eric, remind me again, it's 1,000 feet for the cup mailer that was sent out around the Emporium?

It's a radius from the property, correct, 1,000 feet.

As the crow flies, right? Yeah. Yeah. So all of those folks had the opportunity to... And actually very few did. Very few were willing to write in about it. And that's unusual for us, really and truly. At least this commission has never seen this level of response in general. And I just, as a member of the community, I sincerely appreciate all the input that all y'all have. I know some people have, we all have different needs. And the fact that y'all got to express it in a way, I'm doing my absolute best to hear every single one of you so that I understand it. Let's see. I think the... I wanted to understand the type 48 permit and how it's different from the type 41. I looked at, there's way more type 41s than there are type 48s. 600 and gosh, 50 something, don't quote me on that, all around. Because it's a bit more, I don't want to say that. It's accessible because it's just a restaurant. You have a restaurant and you serve beer and wine with it. And where that's not the, alcohol isn't really the primary component. We know that... Alcohol sales are one of the primary margin points for businesses like this. It's difficult when you're making restaurants now. You're our business guy. What is it, 1%, 2% overall margin? It's pretty minimal, right?

Oh, okay, well.

So a sort of diverse set of products is very valuable to a business. Business particularly in this economic climate. So all that to be said compared to the 4048 the 48 so there's 10% comparatively there's about 60 in all of Contra Costa County and One of the things I noticed about all of them is that a lot of them are just essentially in Transportation corridors and there's there's a lot of proximity to high population areas There's a variety of, I'll say it, I will say the demand for use is much less than, say, a 41. So in a sense, there's a, I would almost call it like a, in this instance, for a project like this, not this project specifically, but a project like this, it's very unique comparatively. I did really want to, comment to the public about kind of what's, one of the big things, I wrote a whole bunch of stuff down here. One of the questions I get all the time is like, we need more adult things to do in Brentwood. I mean, like, I have four kids. I like to get, you know, do something else other than watch my four kids. It's a lot of work, and so there, I really wanted to share with the public that we do have a number of offerings in addition to this application. Going down the list, right, we've got Vine and Grain at the streets of Brentwood. We've got Hop Asylum off of Lone Tree. We have the Voodoo Hookah Lounge, which is I think off of Brentwood Boulevard. Crown and Crow, nearby. 311, just right off of Oak. Tailgaters over on Brentwood Boulevard. Coco Wine Company, just even a few steps beyond Crown and Crow. Hookah Nights, that's actually right next to Hop Asylum. The Lounge on Oak, and the Blue Iguana. These are all locations, one, two, three, four, five, six, 10 locations that have a 21 and older type establishment. And these are examples of places that You know, some of them are newer, some of them are older, but these are the types of establishments that have existed and clearly have done well, because they're still here. I really heard the comments about, it scares me that our venues are disappearing. It really does. Because with the abundance of artists and performers, You need an audience. And I know that we have further venues coming. For those local residents especially, we have the streets of Brentwood, they're gonna begin to have concerts throughout the summer and subsequent months. The Brentwood Amphitheater is on its way. I think Commissioner Roberts mentioned C'est La Vie over, that's gonna be jazz and R&B and all kinds of variety of artists to perform there. So Brentwood is preparing itself for what I would describe as a major growth opportunity from what I think the young couple that was here earlier that talked about, they're empty nesters. And most of the town shuts down around nine or 10 o'clock. And it's important that some of our folks still have an opportunity to go somewhere, to do something. And so that variety. Sorry, I'm going through my notes here. So I did wanna return to the 48 specifically. And what's been said here, at least I don't wanna mischaracterize you guys, but what's been said here is about this permit follows the land. And so in a sense, the land is the primary anchor for this application. So whether it's in one year or five years, 10 years, if this business changes hands, as it seems like it is right now, that next operator, we would it would not cross. It would not cross any type of public oversight or public observation because it essentially would be a part of the conditional use permit. And I think that in knowing that, we know that essentially this is... I actually stopped by Vinnie's, your establishment on Saturday. It was a Journey cover band, I think it was, and Def Leppard or something, sorry. I was very pleased. I was greeted at the door. It was nice. I didn't like go in deep because I just really wanted to get a feel for it. And you know, big dance floor and the bar and the stage, very similar to Brentwood Emporium. I'm completely honest, very similar. So I understand why it's like, wow, wow. 8,000 versus 16,000 square feet, perfect. And I went outside. I walked over to near that apartment complex while they were playing. I didn't hear anything.

I found that, you know, the music inside was, you know, and it's a brick building too.

So it's like, I think it makes sense why. And so I can see that Vinny runs a first-class establishment in Concord. And the rights that have been given to him to operate that in Concord are different than the ones that are here. You know, we're different cities, we're different countries, We're completely different entities. And so in this case, we're looking to assess what the long-term use of this has been. We've had a lot of rezones over the years that even I've lived here. I haven't lived here that long, but it's important that we remember that that could effectively change hands. We have Pardon the terrible analogy, but I have to say it. So you give a racing driver a McLaren, he's gonna drive it well. He's gonna know how to use every ounce and every piece of horsepower on that car. If you give that same car to a 17-year-old YouTuber, what are they going to do? They're going to wrap it around a tree because they don't know how to use it. You're taking this wonderful thing, and in the hands of this person, as in Vinny, it's amazing. And then you take it and you give it to somebody else, and then they, you know, I don't want to comment on every 17-year-old driver, but in a sense, it's like that's an example of how something great can be, you know, also trashed. This is an extremely conflicting item because I feel like we have, there's a duty to the residents. And I know one of the things that we do here is we value Brentwood residents' input in a way that we value their input overshadows a lot. And in this case, we just didn't get a whole lot of feedback. But to Commissioner Jones's point, ultimately the land use is the most important part of this conversation. I think you hit the nail on the head with that one. And so, You know, if this commission feels comfortable with handing the keys off to another operator with the way that this, maybe not carbon copy of what this project looks like, then you should approve. But if not, if you have any hesitation, that's the lenience torrents And I was hoping that either Eric or Sarah could kind of like walk us through what this application process has looked like for the applicant and where, how we've arrived at the staff recommendation for, sorry, the staff recommendation for denial. Now that doesn't mean that, oh, we just deny it because staff recommends it. We often disagree with staff. It kind of, I don't know if it takes you guys off, but like we often disagree. And so I think it's important that y'all understand. I mean, Vinny probably knows because he's been doing this, but maybe Sarah, you could articulate it a bit better.

Yeah, are you looking for kind of just the conversations that Vinnie and I have had regarding the use and how we've gotten to the proposal today? Is that kind of what you're looking for?

Yes, and through the process, why did staff recommend the denial of the conditional use permit?

Sure, yeah, I mean, so the reasons for the recommendation of denial are based off of the specific plan and the general plan and everything that's been mentioned by the commission this evening. The staff report had a chart that had multiple different areas where the project was not found to be consistent and because the project was not able to be found consistent with the specific plan and the general plan where we weren't able to make the findings in order to approve the project and so if the direction were to be to try to approve the project, we would need to make those findings as to how we would be approving this and how we would be upholding the specific plan and the general plan. So I hope that kind of helps, but right now we haven't been able to make those findings. And if the commission can do that this evening, then there might be a way we can get to a different outcome, but we weren't able to find one this way.

Thank you, thank you That's enough for me any other comments rebuttals questions. I don't know.

Yeah, I was sorry. I'm sorry I'd like to if there's anybody on the Commission that's leaning towards Approving the 48 I'd like to hear what findings you could make that would make this be conformant with the downtown specific plan are consistent, I think is the word. In the face of all of the assertions that are made in the staff report, I'm having trouble finding any way that I could make a finding.

I was just gonna say, I, real conflicted about this. The downtown specific plan is specific. It outlines, they've outlined all of the reasons why it should be denied. And at the same time, I'm like, you know, I wish we could have a business venue like this in Brentwood so you know that's the source of the conflict, but there you know I don't know who said it, we spent a great deal of time not you know, working on a downtown specific plan and coming up with a vision for what we want it to be. And I know that we sometimes give exceptions on various things, various COPs. But for me right now, it's out there. We have that plan. I can't argue with the specific findings, cannot argue with them. I wish there was a different way for us to have a business there or a business like that here. But I don't know. You can't argue with this downtown specific plan, unfortunately. That's where I am.

Just for clarity, this might be a question, Christy. Is there any scenario where a CUP does not follow the land? But it could follow the applicant only?

No.

Okay, thank you.

And if I may, I do thank and I thank Commissioner Jones for keeping us on track. It's really important and no disrespect to what it is, the desire of the community and all that. But the specific plan and the cup is there for a reason. And as I indicated earlier, we do not create these plans on our own. We really do invite the community to come and voice their feedback, their opinion on what they think their Brentwood should look like. And for the life of me, I cannot recall feedback supporting this type of event or venue. But beyond that, it's been said and repeated, and I do agree that I'm sure Mr. Vinnie is an exceptional entrepreneur. I'm sure that that he has in Concord is run magnificently. But we have no assurances if we were to make an exception in this cup of the person that comes behind Mr. Vinnie. And that is a big unknown. And that's why we have CUPs. That's why we have a downtown specific plan to stay focused until such time presents itself for us to reevaluate. So for me, it's clear that for no other reason. The plan is there for a reason and I'm going to stay by the plan. It's the law. And as a commissioner, I'm here to uphold it.

Thank you, Commissioner Roberts. I believe that Vice Chair Flores had an intent to make a motion. I do.

I make a motion to adopt resolution number 26-014, denying CUP 16-008-A1.

Do I have a second? I second. Okay, roll call vote.

Commissioner Roberts?

Aye.

Commissioner Johnson?

Aye.

Commissioner Jones.

Aye.

Vice Chair Flohr.

Aye.

Chairperson Brand.

Aye.

Motion carries.

All right.

Yeah.

Moving on to informational reports from committees. Commissioner Johnson, transplant.

Meeting was canceled.

Design review. We did not meet. And land use, we did not meet either. Municipal code review. Is that you, Commissioner Johnson? No, no meeting. No meeting, okay. Just confirming, okay. Moving on to future agenda items, any new requests for this commission? No, seeing none. Moving on, the next regular Planning Commission meeting is scheduled for July 7th, 2026 at 7 p.m. and will be at the City of Brentwood Council Chambers located at 150 City Parkway. Do I have a motion to adjourn?

So moved.

Second? Moved. Roll call vote.

Commissioner Roberts?

Aye.

Commissioner Johnson?

Aye.

Commissioner Jones?

Aye.

Vice Chair Flohr?

Aye.

Chairperson Brand?

Aye.

Motion carries.

We are adjourned.

Okay.