Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Well, welcome. The December 3rd, 2025 regular meeting of the Downey Planning Commission will now come to order. Uh, commissioners, if you please rise or everybody, please rise and join us on their sir. Mr. Cycl, would you lead us in the pledge of allegiance, please? Yes, of course. We begin. I pledge algiance 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. Thank you. Commissioner Luhan, would you lead us in prayer, please, sir?

Whoever please bow your head hands. Uh dear Lord, we ask you to help us have the planning commission here tonight to come together and work through all of these uh items in our agenda so that we can make some good decisions for our community. Help us and guide us. And we ask for this through our Lord. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much. Um well u planning commission secretary Ria, would you please read the role? Yes. Commissioner Luhan, present. Commissioner Sakali present. Commissioner Legospi present. Vice Chair Uva present. And Chair Gara

here. You made a joke last night of the cemetery meeting. Everybody there said here and now the new trend is present. I get it. Let's go. Anyways, it's good to see everyone. This is the time set aside for oral communication from the planning commission. Does any commissioners uh wish to make an announcement, report on a conference meeting, or request any items for future agenda? I'll start off. Mr. Luhan, none for me, sir. Mr. Sling, I have none, sir. Miss Uba, none for me. I have none, sir.

Okay. Uh, I don't have any u uh other communication except that I did visit all three locations. We have three planning, three um public hearings today. So, I did visit all three of them extensively over the last couple days. And uh when you guys everybody out there cuz we're still on the clock when they think that our jobs are sexy, okay, and you get this delivered on a Wednesday to read for this today's meeting on there. Uh that's that's it doesn't make it very sexy. So when with leftover turkey, most of us were reading that on Friday here. So um but I did visit all three sites and I wanted to report that out. Um, does the community development director have a report on city council action or any other general updates?

I have none tonight, chair. Okay, great. So, now we will go into our agenda. Um, and now is the time set aside for public hearing. Our first public hearing, PLN23-23-00143. Um, there's the planning uh commission secretary re have proof of publication. Yes, I do. That's great. Will the community development director introduce staff making the presentation? Thank you, Chair Gara. Tonight's presentation for the first item is our senior planner, Abraham Luna, and we have a PowerPoint presentation for you tonight. Thank you. Great. Welcome, sir.

Good evening, Vice Chair,

members of the plan commission, members of the public. The item, the first item on today's agenda is PLN 2300141 for 9440 and 9454 Imperial Highway for a new In-N-Out Burger restaurant. The request from the applicant is to demolish an existing baking building of 6,311 ft and the request of a site pan review for the construction of a new 3,887 ft building and uh a condition use permit for the operation for the drive-through restaurant and outdoor seating. The lot is composed of two properties. One at the corner of Imperial Highway and Belfflower Boulevard shown in red and to the adjacent property 9440 Imperial shown in blue. The combined area of the lots are 2.35 acres. In-N-Out is only leasing 1.7 acres on the site and that area is shown in the transparent purple and that's located right above that yellow line on on the image. The combined area of the two lots is 2.35 acres. Um the project site has an existing vacant building that has been vacant for more than a decade which will be demolished as part of this project. The previous land use was a childc care facility named Carousel Preschool and Infant Center. The project site is surrounded by various land uses. To the west and north we have Kaiser facilities. To the west is the fulfillment center for the pharmacy and to the north is the orchid medical building for Kaiser. Uh

can I ask a quick question on that? Only on the Kaiser fulfillment center on there. That's not open to the public per se, is it? I went by there today and it looks like it's fenced in I think or or they have to come in the other way, but I don't think you can just come in there. No, I believe it's all fulfilling fulfillment center. So, it's for shipping, not for the public.

Great. Thank you, sir. Uh to the east we have other drive-thru businesses such as Starbucks, Jack inbox and the restaurant of stocks and a multi-tenant commercial building and a single family residential properties. To the south directly adjacent to the property is another multi-tenant building, parking lot and the restaurant of Lucky Burgers. The property is split zoned so it's zone C2 general commercial and M2 general manufacturing. The general plan designation on the right for the site is shown as CM commercial manufacturer. And although the zoning and the general plan land use designation of the property are inconsistent, the use is allowed in both the C2 and M2 zone aligning with the intent of the commercial manufacturer uh designation. And here are existing site conditions from Bellflower Boulevard and Imperial Highway. And here are additional photos from within the property. Uh one facing Imperial Highway and you see that orchid building for Kaiser on the left and you see the proposed building to be demolished on the right. And as stated earlier, the project site consists of two properties, 9440 and 9454 Imperial Highway. In and out will lease from the property owner the entirety of 9454 Imperial, which is the corner property in red and the portion of 9440 Imperial. Uh both properties will remain separate, but they will be held together through a lot tight covenant. The lot type covenant will be recorded with the LA County Recorders Office. In addition, the south portion of 9440

uh will remain a parking lot as it currently is. Uh the restaurant and outdoor dining and the trash enclosure will all remain within 9440 Imperial. And you could briefly see that in gray on the right image. So for site clarification, the parking lot that's located within 9440 has a primary driveway which is access from Imperial Highway and you can see that shown on the X on the screen. Uh right now it is fenced off but that is a driveway for access. Um, since In-N-Out is leasing that portion of the property, the driveway will be removed, leaving only access from the parking lot to the parking lot from the driveway of 125 12757 Belfflower Boulevard. And that can be seen with the red arrows shown on the screen.

Can you go back to the previous photo, please? Uh, question if I may. Uh on the 9440 Imperial Highway um there is appears to be like an alley or some kind of a driveway through uh with the opening on Imperial Highway. Is that correct? Mhm. And that's not part of this or is it? So it is part of it. So if I go to the next picture, you can still see that same outline. The X on the top of the screen is where that driveway currently is located. So that because it's being leased by In and Out, that driver will be removed. Okay.

Okay. Uh so access to that parking lot which is uh not grayed out on the lower half of the blue outline that is still accessed through the arrows which is you can see on the bottom right corner. So both of those sites uh 12757 Bellflower which is in yellow and 9440 Imperial will also have another light lot covenant holding those two properties as one to still remain or provide that access. As part of this project there will be off-site improvements which I will go into further detail later in this presentation. The two off-site improvements will be a dedicated dedication off of Imperial Highway which you can see in the uh diagonal hatch on the top and that is approximately 450 ft and the improvement of a de acceleration lane on Bellflower Boulevard. The bellflower improvement is not considered a dedication since the city has already purchased this portion of the property in 2015 when the city was conducting uh street widing improvements. Didn't the the city took that corner a couple feet right before that too in eminent domain right on the corner we bought that off of them?

I believe it was through eminent domain for uh that intersection 2013. Yeah. Along with other uh uh property acquisitions for the other properties in at that intersection. Yeah. I'm an anti- eminent domain person. But that made sense there. I was I voted on that. Would you rather we let you finish and not interrupt you or just get the questions out of the way? I don't mind. Questions or notions? Yeah, it's just harder to come back 10 slides later, you know. So, thank you. It's not a problem.

So, the construction of a new restaurant will is required to satisfy both the C2 and the M2 development standards. uh because of this play zone. So the table shown shows compliance with those development standards. And before I go through each development standard, I would like to point out that some of these standards in the staff report were written incorrectly. So those are shown in red. The red is what is accurate at this time. Uh so lot curvage the maximum is 50% and the property proposes 6.6%. Uh that includes both or all structures which is the restaurant, the outdoor dining and the trash enclosure. For building height maximums, three stories is a max. The project proposes one story at 23 and a half ft. Required landscaping is uh significantly uh given with the maximum or the minimum of 10% and the project proposes 16.4%. And that's provided at the perimeter of the site and uh significantly in the parking lot of in-n-out. In addition, all the setbacks are compliant. Uh minimum setbacks for Belfflower and Imperial are 15 feet. The project provides 146 on Belfflower and then 206 on Imperial. No setback is required for a sideyard when abudding a commercial property, another commercial property. Um so those setbacks are not required, but they provide two feet. In addition to the rear setback, 15 ft is required and 20 feet for the M2 zone. uh 66 feet is provided. Same for parking. 46 stalls are required. The project proposes 74 stalls, four accessible and six EV charging spaces. Uh queuing, our code reads for a total of eight cars. So, one before four before the order menu and four between the order menu and the

pickup window. And the proposed is 32 cars. And a trash enclosure is required which they do provide at 584 square feet. Can I ask you in the 32 cars in the queue? So how many besides the same how many can be inside that parking lot at any one time? That's obviously everybody's concern. Yeah. So at the time of the plans that were submitted to staff, they did not show that. But however, I know In-N-Out did provide some slides after our presentation. Those sliders I believe show 59 spaces within the parking lot. Could you also tell us how does this compare to Lakewood and Firestone?

Uh I will cover that later on. But to answer your question very quickly, um the project on Lakewood and Firestone was approved for uh 14 queue installs and that's within the actual drive uh drive through not throughout the site. Okay. So that's 14 and this is 32. Correct.

That's great. Yeah. Right. Thank you. So the building uses uh contemporary modern architecture style to keep the in signature in and out look. The building will have a varying roof height with parapits ranging from 19 ft to about 24 ft. And varying roof heights will allow the rooftop mechanical equipment to be screened from public view. Additional elements including red awnings on the windows and the red brick wings coat at the base of the building which wraps around the entire building to contrast the company's milk glass stuckle color.

Mr. Luna, if I may ask, so million-doll question, where would the iconic signage go? So, we did preser receive a sign package. Uh, that'll be at the corner. I I I I imagine you're thinking like the X correct thing. Yes. So that'll be at the corner at the intersection. So at the corner of Bellflower and Imperial. Okay. Thank you.

Yeah. And these are additional color elevations. So uh highlighted in red in the middle on the top image is the primary entrance and that is facing Imperial Highway. the west elevation facing the Kaiser uh pharmacy fulfillment center also has another entrance. Can I can I ask another question? I'm sorry. I think so this is 3890 square ft. How big square footage wise is Firestone and Lakewood? Just to get the visual. I don't have a number actually. Uh maybe our

maybe the applicant can tell us there. Yeah, at that point. So the elevations for the south and east which is uh where the driveway wraps around. So the south elevation has the pavement window and the east elevation has the pickup window. Moving on to landscaping. A variety of landscaping will be part of this project's landscape pallet. The site will have approximately 37 added trees from five different species and approximately 52 palm trees from different uh three different species in addition to the native and drought tolerant plants and shrubs. A majority of the landscaping will be at the perimeter of the site and within the parking lot areas improving the curb appeal from the corner of Bellflower and in Imperial. And moving on to the drive-thru, the project will have a double lane drive-thru that funnels into one at the order menu board uh towards the south end of the image. The drive-thru will accommodate 32 cars within the drafter lanes which is sufficient based on the QE analysis that was part of the traffic impact study and that was submitted by the applicant and reviewed by the plan division and our public works department. So can I ask you this is my favorite visual here that I got and I came coming back to it and I'd met with the staff on this. So coming turning right if you're coming down in if you're going eastbound on Imperial you turn right on Bellflower. So all that gray there, that's that's a Q- line, if you will. In other words, if you go straight out where this says Imperial Highway sign, that's the street, Baleflower Boulevard. But that first lane there, that could be that's part of a queue, if you will, to go in there,

right? So we call it a deseleration or a dedicated right turn in lane, and that's dedicated for u turning into the project site. Yes. Okay. And but the one on the top there um you know where it says site entrance down there that one's not as big right that's only uh if you're going eastbound on Imperial Highway uh you can turn in there there's a few cars if the queue is backed up right correct and that entrance does have two uh entries so there's one if you look at the arrows where it says site entrance one is for the driveway right

drive-thru I mean and then the other is to enter the project site so if there is queuing issues uh access is still available. Um however, we do have conditions of approval that state that all queueing must remain on site and knowing in and out the operation that they do. Um they manage to queue as much as they can on site and the presentation that the applicant does have shows what they perfect proposing. And now both exits you cannot turn left on right because there's mediums on both streets on Imperial Belf. You cannot turn left. You cannot turn left. I have to be right. Thank you so much.

So the QN assets mentioned in the previous slide analyzed 18 existing locations throughout California with data from 2021 and on. Uh some cities mentioned were Pine Beach, Daily City up north, Huntington Park and Inglewood. The average queuing between all locations was 25 vehicles on Saturday and accommodating for the 85th percentile of the study, the study showed the queueing to be 30 vehicles. Given the data showed during the peak times 30 cars were queued, the project provides 32 cars, therefore accommodating the expected peak demand.

Uh the existing in-out location uh as referenced uh was not part of the 18 locations studied. However, the traffic consultant did provide that queueing data which was taken on September 26, 2024. The average queueing was 27 vehicles on Saturday and at its 85th percentile, 32 vehicles were queued at the existing Downing location. Uh, and for reference, the existing location was approved for only 14 vehicles.

Wow, that's a big difference. And that 14 vehicles, if you could follow my laser on on the screen on the right, that's 14 right there where the transition between concrete and asphalt is. So 14 is not at the entrance. 14 is just where that laser point is. Isn't that is that building on the right hand side of the red roof is that before when that was the parking company of America or is this after the parking company of America? So this is existing existing uh Oh, okay. Yeah, cuz that whole top of it of that parking lot that was part company of America that they bought and tore down to make it right. So that did expand the queueing from I believe nine spaces prior to the now 14. Yeah.

The traffic impact analysis conducted follows guidelines by the city of Daring and Eddie County public works guidelines. Uh the traffic analysis includes four components. the analysis of existing traffic conditions, the project chip generation, the level of service, and the Q analysis. And it's important to mention that in-n-out is not open during the AM uh peak hour for level of service. The traffic impact analysis studied the existing conditions to operate at the acceptable level of C. uh with the added trip generation from the project which is an additional 2,878 trips during weekday times and 2,93 trips on Saturdays. The level of service for the intersection of Imperial and Bellflower changes from C to D, which still operates at the acceptable level. At this uh to conduct this analysis, the consultant collected peak hour volumes in March 2024. And with this data, the project showed the with this data projected how the intersection studied in the vicinity will perform with the additional flow of the new project. So in relation to the Q analysis, the off-site improvements will be required along both street fences fronted of Imperial Highway and Bellflower. The Imperial Highway improvement involved a roadway dedication of approximately 450 square ft to accommodate the extension of the existing de acceleration lane. Extension of this lane will accommodate right turns into the site without impacting traffic flow from Imperial Highway, specifically the right turn onto Bellflower.

Mr. Luna, if I may, the uh Bellflower Boulevard improvement about 4,000 square ft. Uh according to the uh one of the plan sheets shows like a cross cutter 6t wide or and uh new sidewalk and new new lighting. Right. Right. So, how is that going to uh mitigate the traffic impact? I'm sorry. So, the improvements of the

how is the offsite improvement uh would mitigate any traffic impact if you're driving southbound on Bellflower Boulevard and um what is that going to do to the traffic when you have an overflow? So, what is that six feet? What is that going to do to the to the impact of the flow going to the uh to the restaurant?

So essentially this dedication on bellflower will not dedication just street improvement on bellflower will add a third lane on bellflower south right. So that lane adjacent to the uh project site that's now only a right-hand turn in into the project site. The two existing lanes on Bellflower will still remain for you know traffic flow to flow south on Belfflower. Okay. Um the traffic impact study did say 75% of the traffic coming to the site is off of Bellflower. So if that's the majority where the site the um you know vehicles are accessing the site, we want to not impact the traffic flow on.

So you said there will be a third traffic lane coming down south along Bellflower Boulevard. Yeah. O only for that portion that is shown on on on Bellflower. Yeah. after the project site, it does transition back into the two lane. Okay. Thank you. Could just could you go back like three or four? This is I keep going looking at this one. Uh and this is uh PC PC10. There you go. Okay. I think Mr. Cycl, I had concerns on that too. And I think that's what this part here. See, that's where you can turn right on imper uh on Bellflower from that and then you can get into a separate queue so it doesn't disrupt traffic, if you will. That was one of my concerns, too.

Yeah. I I think I might might have a better image uh later on too to better explain that. Yeah.

So the other improvement will be the on Bellflower Boulevard which we just discussed. Uh that was previously acquired back in uh 2015. Uh Belfflower Boulevard will be improved by creating a de acceleration lane which will be an exclusive right turn lane into the project site from Belfflower. Without this lane, vehicles queuing onto the site uh would force motorists traveling southbound on Bellar to change lanes at the intersection uh to avoid the queueing of of the vehicles. In addition, the added third lane would provide adequate width for northbound U-turns at the intersection. Sir, how many cars could be in that queue there on the right side in the on in the red part there? You know what? We didn't get a number. Uh,

okay. 10 maybe. I would say 10 vehicles. We We have to take a look. We We didn't Yeah. Okay. Sorry, I didn't hear that. Well, I didn't hear that. We didn't analyze how many vehicles would uh fit into that area. Chair, chair, we can uh we can answer that question if you give us a few minutes. We can maybe have that answer towards the end of the presentation. Just simply take that length of that divide divide it by 20. I'll give you approximately how many park.

We'll go ahead. We have our city uh engineering uh team member Tim in the audience and so he'll give us the number in just a few minutes. Um if I can also emphasize what uh senior planner Luna is explaining is the deceleration lane allows uh typically vehicle behavior, driver behavior is that when somebody's wanting to turn right into any property, they slow down to make the turn. So the having the third lane, if you will, as Abraham is explaining, allows that slowing of that vehicle to not impede the other two lanes that are going full speed ahead. So that's one of the key benefits of the deceleration lane. The other key benefit that uh he just explained was when somebody is on this case going uh northbound on Belflower Avenue and decides they want to get a burger and a shake, they make a U-turn to go southbound. When there's only two lanes, then they're impeding that second lane and maybe if they don't are not experienced, they start making three-point turns. So by having that deceleration lane, that extra distance, it gives any vehicles making a U-turn that extra space to not impede the other true two vehicular lanes going southbound. So again, those are the two primary uh key benefits of the deceleration lane. The third one we hope is not used for queuing, but in the event that there's something big going on, people are really wanting to go to this site, there is that benefit of having not having overflow impede again the two lanes is what we're trying to prevent. So, we we had a lot of conversations about this. So, we're really happy that the design team was able to uh work this out and and provide this proposal. So that length we just measured, it's about 180 ft. So that's nine cars. Yeah.

So moving on to the business operations, In-N-Out has a companywide operating hour of 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. uh Sunday to Thursday and then 10:30 a.m. 1 to 1:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Uh staff does not foresee any impacts to the adjacent residents which are southeast of the project site. The nearest residential property is 135 ft from the project boundary and 250 ft from any queuing areas. It's a nothing burger. Mhm. Mhm.

And this image kind of shows what I was saying earlier. Uh you can see the the black lanes on Bufflower. Uh those are two. And then you can see the outline of the new proposed project site. So in addition to the analysis analysis conducted for the project, the city must make findings for no net loss. Uh no net loss relates to the impact on housing development allocated by the housing element which is adopted in 2022. So the two sites for this project site are part of our reena numbers which is what we're required to do for housing. Um the city must prove that there is sufficient surplus units to absorb the loss of these two sites not being developed as housing. The combined total of the units lost for these sites is 70 very lowincome units and the city has a total of 546 surplus units with no net loss plus other project sites that have been developed as commercial. Um the city still has a surplus of 388 units to accommodate the loss satisfying the findings for no net loss. The project was reviewed by our DRC committee which is the art development review committee. Other conditions were placed by public works related to the off-site improvements to mitigate any uh queuing impacts and the fire department to re relocate two existing fire hydrants both on Imperial and Belfflower Boulevard. The project was category exempt from Seagler under the class 3 exemption for commercial properties that do not exceed 10,000 ft. A public notice was published in the down patriot and sent to all property

owners and tenants on November 20th. No opposition was received for the project. And in conclusion, the staff recommends that the planning commission approve resolution number 254056 with the revised conditions of approval. And I forgot to mention that we do have some revised conditions of approval which are on your dis uh that change three conditions in the resolution. And there is copies available for the public in the back. All right, that concludes my presentation. I'm available for any questions. And also with me, I do have our principal engineer from public works, uh, Tim Berthus, and the applicant for In and Out and their traffic consultant to answer any questions.

Great. Thank you. Chair Gar if I may also the conditions of approval in the staff report have been shared with the applicants team um and along with the revised uh conditions and they uh are accepting the condition. So there's nothing really big there. Yeah. Great. Thank you. Um so does the uh anybody on the planning commission have any questions of staff? I know we were we were hitting him throughout like we always do. So we appreciate your your steady hand sir. Okay. Um, anybody? Um, yeah, I I don't have any questions, just a couple comments. Mr. Luna, great presentation. Thank you for your time.

And, um, I'm I I'm personally excited. I I also uh drove by the uh the site and um, God knows we need a second location, the Firestone location. The the traffic uh is it could use some help. So, thank you for this. Anybody else? I have a question. Um so in the event there is a a backup on Imperial Highway entering the restaurant going eastbound um is there any provision at all to resolve that matter?

So we have conditions of approval that require the applicant to ensure that queuing remains on site. Uh so usually what In-N-Out does for when their peak times arrive uh they they'll send out staff to you know cone off the entrance of Imperial Highway to ensure queuing remains on site. So it'll flow throughout uh the project site and I'll show that on this side I guess. Um if you look to the right screen the entrance will be still open. However, queuing will wrap here and wrap all the way down there.

Yeah. Could you go back to some of the early slides, the the land itself that was there before? So, um, okay. So, that bottom part there where the there's a parking lot and so forth. So, that is that new land that was because I remember the long building that, you know, we all literally took apart piece by piece there for the last 40 years. That was so ugly and terrible. But, so what made this happen is that they bought more land because the other ones look bigger the lot size itself.

So the lot has remained this size for as long as uh I did my research for which was quite some time. So the map shown earlier showing the zone in the general plan that's from 2005. So the actual land itself as you can see on blue that's remained as is. Okay. Um, it hasn't been improved recently with the parking lot. The parking lot, from my understanding, has been there for some time. Okay. And that parking lot is not going to be there any No, because the land is up on the top,

right? So, that parking lot will still remain. And I think uh this might show it a little better. It's a little smaller, but you see the project site and you see the remaining parking lot. Okay. You're too young, but before you were born, that used to be a Jacko Lane gym. Believe it or not, I once went to gym. Okay, I know I don't look like it anymore, but I used to go work out there. Jack Lane. Okay. And it's been gone for 45 years. It shows you how old I am, but yes. How much was a monthly membership back then? Oh, I it was probably a couple cheeseburgers worth, you know, so it wasn't very much. Yeah. Um, anybody else? Mr. Luhan, Missa,

just a quick question. And I know that um the in-n-out on on in Firestone sometimes people who are trying to eat at the restaurant have a difficult challenging cuz the queue is inside with the queueing here in the in the parking lot. Will it kind of avoid some of that congestion when people are trying to eat at the restaurant

rather than so the 32 car spaces um the 3 the 32 vehicle queuing would not impact the rest of the parking spaces. So it it it doesn't create any I guess deadend uh drive lanes. It will still remain accessible to you know the whole any patrons wishing to eat at the restaurant. And in addition with the additional parking that they provided, um they could cone off portions of the parking lot to, you know, have the queuing flow better and still allow vehicles to park without getting trapped in by the um Okay. queuing. Yeah,

cuz I know like the Chick-fil-A on Imperial Lakewood sometimes gets congested. People are trying to get out and have a challenging time there too as well. So, but it looks like there's a lot more parking here. Yes. Yeah. Okay. That was it. They They usually do a pretty decent job with their staff directing the cars once they get in there, right? Well, that Well, I'll ask the applicant when they get there. Okay, great. Okay, there no further questions as staff. Thank you so much. We appreciate you. Um before I open the public hearing uh and call the applicant of the representative, this would be the time for the planning commissioners. No, we already did that. I am so sorry. Uh, will the applicant or the representative please come forward to give testimony?

I did call, didn't I? I called the public hearing. Yeah. Thank you. Do I should I should I do it? Yeah. Yeah. I don't think I officially said that the public hearing was open. So, we will officially call it. Um I did want to make it really tough on our city attorney um in in ask a legal question since it's his birthday today. No. Uh I think we should make it as hard as him to make have to work today and interpret things or I'm teasing you. But happy birthday, sir. Thank you. He got nervous like what the heck is Jera doing out there. Thank you, sir. Welcome. Yes, sir.

Thank you. Happy birthday, John. Good evening, honorable chair and fellow planning commissioners. My name is Peter Katiki and I'm a development manager within and alber. I'm excited to be here this evening to propose our second location within the city of Downey. First, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank staff, especially Abraham Luna and Irma Hutron for their hard work and responsiveness during the development review process. Their constant communication and coordination is truly impressive and should be recognized. I will keep my remarks brief, but I would like to spend a few moments touching on the history and culture of In-N-Out Burger before discussing our proposed project. In-N-Out Burger was founded in 1948 by Harry and Esther Snder in Baldwin Park, California. Now, more than 77 years after they opened that very first location, with over 400 stores operating in nine states, In-N-Out is still a family-owned business. Every single In-N-Out Burger is 100% privately owned and operated. We do not franchise. Harry and Esther's granddaughter, Lindsay Snder, is the owner and president of In-N-Out, and she continues the legacy with our core values of quality, service, and community. In-N-Out Burger operates from a clear and concise three-pronged mission statement. This is the guiding principle that shapes everything we do. Our mission statement governs all our operations, hiring and training practices, company culture, and ensures that we stay grounded to our founding principles and values. Our motto is quality you can taste. All our food is made to order and there isn't a single heat lamp, microwave or freezer to be found in any of our kitchens. We are committed to only the freshest ingredients with hamburger patties made from 100% American beef

that is boned and ground from whole chucks by In-N-Out's own butchers and delivered fresh, never frozen to each of our stores. In addition to a quality product, we are renowned for our emphasis on customer service. At In-N-Out, every customer receives service with our signature smile, and your meal will be exactly as you order it. At In-N-Out, we understand that associates are the cornerstone of our success. We foster a team oriented atmosphere that encourages growth, provides extensive training, and ensures that every associate feels valued and supported. Glass Door routinely names In-N-Out Burger on its annual list of best places to work in the United States. For 2025, Glass Door named In-N-Out as the number three best place to work, and it was the only restaurant to be named in the top 10 places to work. This commitment translates into a positive environment that benefits not only our team, but also to the service we provide to every customer. In-N-Out Burger is proud to contribute to the economic vitality of the communities where we operate. Our second location within the city of Downey will create numerous local job opportunities, including approximately 50 or more associate person positions, plus additional store management and corporate support opportunities. It will also provide competitive wages and comprehensive benefits that support career growth and stability. Beyond employment, our operations stimulate economic activity, encouraging spending and supporting nearby businesses. This economic benefit extends further as the revenue generated from our business helps support public services, infrastructure improvements, and community pro programs. The positive ripple effect reinforces our dedication to not just being a place where people come to dine, but a business that plays

an active role in bolstering the economic health of Downey. Our investment in this city translates to sustained growth and prosperity for its residents and the wider community. Community is what has shaped In-N-Out Burger since 1948. As part of our mission statement, we are committed to assist all communities in our marketplace to become stronger, safer, and better places to work. We work with a variety of organizations seeking support with their fundraising efforts, including nonprofits, schools, youth sports, and city events, and much more. The company operates three foundations. The In-N-Out Burger Foundation, founded in 1984 by Esther Snyder, which focused on helping abused and neglected children. The Slave to Nothing Foundation, which was established in 2016 to help improve the lives of individuals and families affected by substance abuse and human trafficking. and also the His Eyes Foundation established just recently in 2025 and is dedicated to bringing hope, immediate support, and sustainable solutions to those experiencing homelessness. In-N-Out Burger underwrites all of the administrative costs of these foundations so that 100% of the money raised is given back to our communities. I invite you to visit the websites for these foundations to find out more about the great things the foundations do and why and how we support the causes that remain close to the heart of the company. These foundations support local agencies in the communities where we serve. Over the years, we have supported numerous organizations throughout the greater greater Downey area. From 2023 to 2025, our inkind donations, spirit night fundraising, sports sponsorships, and cookouts have totaled approximately a half a million dollars. We consider ourselves members of each and every community we operate in, and we are proud to give back in the ways that we

can. With our proposed development, we are able to provide 74 parking stalls, which exceeds the city's minimum requirement of 46 spaces. The parking lot is designed with optimal circulation and no dead parking aisles. This additional parking allows associates and customers to park on site, minimizing any impacts to the neighborhood. In addition, we have paid particular attention to providing spacious landscape that is evenly distributed throughout the parking lot and along our two major frontages, Imperial and Bellflower. Our proposed site plan has on-site dedicated drive-through queue of 32 cars. For comparison, the store on Lakewood and Firestone has a 13 car dedicated queue. This proposed store is on a significantly larger site with a longer dedicated queue. Our traffic study surveyed 19 existing stores in California, including the one on Lake Stone and Fire Lakewood and Firestone. Of the 19 sample sites, 85% of the stores had an 85th percentile drive-through queue that did not exceed 30 vehicles. Of those stores surveyed, the maximum Q length at the 30 at the 95th percentile was 34 cars. The project has a proposed dedicated storage capacity of 32 vehicles with the ability to accommodate four additional vehicles between the dedicated drive-through lane and the north entrance on Imperial Highway, bringing the on-site queuing capacity to 36 vehicles. In addition, In-N-Out has developed a very sophisticated system that has been implemented in new stores to speed up Q movement during peak times. Our Q management system begins when the stack reaches the menu board at car 10. At this stage, associates are deployed with handheld devices to take orders outside. Awareness of the queue reaching the 10th car is enhanced with outdoor cameras and

indoor monitors. There will be between four and six outdoor cameras on site with three or four of them specifically viewing the drive-through lane. These exterior cameras display on multiple monitors located inside the restaurant, including the manager's office above the grills and at both the pay and pickup windows. If the queue were to extend past the dedicated queue length, additional associates are deployed to manage the queue and traffic on site. This restaurant will be equipped with three burger grills. Two grills will operate at all times. Activation of the third grill will be done in response to high dine in or more typically high drive-through demand as activating the third grill significantly increases the speed at which drive-through orders are delivered to customer vehicles. To avoid any disruption to surrounding roadways, we have overstacking capacity of up to approximately 59 vehicles on site. With these practices and site design, we were intentional about minimizing impacts to the neighborhood and getting our customers onto our site as efficiently as possible. The city of Downy's mission statement is proudly committed to continuously improving the quality of life for the Downey community by providing excellent service in a professional, ethical, and responsible manner. At In-N-Out, we share in the vision of Downey, and our project will support these goals while upholding our shared values. We provide safe, attractive, and familyfriendly restaurants with highquality ingredients, excellent customer service, and meticulous attention to cleanliness. We create an inviting space where families and friends can gather for a meal. The 2030 Downey strategic plan includes goals for fiscal responsibility and economic vibrancy. This store would be our second location in Downey and

contribute to the city's strategic plan. We are committed to being a trusted and supportive partner to this community. From our thoughtful design to our job creation and community partnerships, the future is truly unlimited. Thank you. What year was the first your first store opened? 1948. No, no, I'm talking. I'm sorry. The first one in Downey. The first one in Downey. I'd have to ask my team. 2010. About 40 years. Maybe not quite that. No, no. The one in Downey was about 12 years ago. Yeah.

Was in the 90s. No, no, no. The one in Downey on Lakewood. On Lakewood. Oh, no. That was definitely in 2010 or so. It wasn't remodeled in 2010, 2012. Yeah. Remodeled.

No, when you guys opened, I was on the council and that was from 2006 to 2014. So, and the only reason I would tell you this because we used to go to ICSC and beg you guys to come, okay? Uh, every year I went three or four years in a row and then you finally opened that one there. You had a a problem. You guys were victims of your own success, especially when you first opened up, not only with the parking lot and the cars there, but there was a phenomenon that people ate a lot of cheeseburgers. So, you had Friday night football games and there was a million kids, especially the first 6 months. So, the trash cans would fill up and it would go and the wind would take it and it would blow two blocks away. There was a neighborhood there that came to the council meeting a couple of times like, "What is this?" Uh I want to tell you in and out being a corporate citizen your manager came and stood right there and says we will handle this and every night especially on weekends when your store closed you sent two employees two blocks away to pick up the paper so the residents wouldn't wake up the next morning with the papers on there. So I've always looked at that fondly and I just wanted to you probably have never heard that story but uh I wanted you guys to know that. So

I'll remember it forever now. I've always respected that that was something pretty good. But no, you guys opened when I was on the count. 1996. Okay. See, there you go. So, thank you. And then it just got bigger and you bought the stores next to it and you bought the parking lot next to it, everything else. So, thank you. Um, any questions from my fellow commissioners? No, just a question to the applicant. Uh, what what is the cost of the construction? Uh, I wouldn't want to guess on construction costs. I could tell you that the the off-site improvements uh total about half a million dollars. Um but venture to guess uh you know construction amounts I I would just be guessing multi-millions.

And sir, approximately when do you see breaking ground if it was to be approved tonight? And roughly when would you like to open up? What would be your goal? Uh if approved this evening, we'd move right into construction drawings. Um that process takes a couple of months. Um we'd then go straight into plan check. Um and then that that would be um some back and forth between us and the city of Downey. Uh and and any other approving agencies. Um we'd go straight into construction and our construction timeline is approximately 9 to 12 months. Excellent. Thank you. So maybe by this time next year I'm hoping so.

Great. So, and now that corner there, u I guess this is more for staff really fast on there. Starbucks, Kaiser, and Jack in the Box have there expressed I guess it's the next question. Are they expressed any concerns, thoughts, or we've been in communication with them? Since we sent the notices, uh, no opposition was received by staff. No. Okay. Now, I've always known too that that land is owned by the Downey Land Company. They don't sell the land. That's one of the reasons Kaiser didn't want to expand on that corner on there. So, I assume you guys have like a 100red-year lease or something or are you allowed to say it as a We're committed to being in the city of Downey. So,

okay. All right. Never mind. That answers the questions because Starbucks does not own their land and neither does Kaiser or Jack in a Box there on that same corner. So, okay. Any other questions on there? A couple questions. Um, is there inside dining room um seating? Yes. Okay. 8 84 seats and 28 outdoor seating. Okay. And the the one on Lakewood is not 84. It's nowhere near that. And that question came up earlier as to the square footage of the Lakewood store. It's approximately 3,000 square ft while this one's 3,887. So larger. 25% more. And do you find that most of In-N-Out's business comes from drive-thru and not uh in dining eating?

It's a mix. We we love to have our customers come in. Um but it it's just a mix. There are instances where people utilize a drive-thru and and not wake up the baby in the car seat. And there are other instances where friends want to gather and have a meal together and some laughs. Great. And thank you for your your presentation and the background and the motto and the the different organizations that you support. That was very very touching. Very nice. Appreciate it. I just want to say thank you as well for, you know, starting a second one knowing there's a lot of lot of uh options in Downey and still you're taking a chance here with Downey and and so we appreciate that. Appreciate it. Yeah. Yeah.

Um Mr. Cyclley, anything for you, sir? I'm sorry. Anything additional from you? No, no, no. Okay, great. Mr. Le, so thank you. We appreciate you coming in and uh you're going to we'll make sure that St. John Bosco block away from you guys on there. You're going to be getting a lot of those after their football games, too. So, thank you. Thank you. The uh was staff confirmed there's been any correspondence in favor or opposition? No correspondence was received.

Okay. Is there anyone here that would like to speak in favor or opposition to to the applicant on this? Yes, ma'am. Come on forward. That is a blue. We're still in public hearing. Yeah, blue number. Yeah, just leave it there, ma'am. Yeah. Okay. Hi. Um my name is You could just move the mic down. There you go. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Um my name is Sya Vill. I'm actually a resident just really close by to that new um construction. And I remember when we moved here in 1999, it was a vacant lot and I'm excited that something's happening there finally. However, I do have to also say within that time frame from 1999 till now, the traffic flow on Belfflower Boulevard is horrible and it gets worse and worse and worse. If you try to exit and make a left from that street, Borson Street, you're going to hit oncoming traffic coming off the freeway and then also traffic coming this way. So, it makes it literally impossible to make a left turn on that on that street. And so I want to know is um seeing that the that these big businesses that drive a lot of people to them. We're right off the freeway right there. So I want to know because we're not only going to be serving Downey cuz Firestone is inside the city and it's it's mainly there to serve us that are in the Downey, but this is also going to bring in people from the outside that people are driving down the freeway that hey, I want a burger. And that's exactly why I have to ask what is the city of Downey doing to protect my little street from all the incoming traffic because what I have noticed as well is that we have Leo on this end and then we also have Kaiser and I know as a commuter that if I need to get to my job in 5 minutes and I have a bottleneck at Imperial and Bellflower, I'm going to take a I'm going to take a side street to get there and Forson Street happens to be that side street. And I have seen an onslaught of new people just driving there. And not only that, but Kaiser parks their cars on our street when they have their their um their strikes. And so I want to know what has been placed to just protect that particular street because I we do have children and people turning on that street have hit my father's car twice, my sister's car twice and there's nothing that has been done there to protect the people that that one lonely residential street that sits there because everything else is

blocked off as soon as you get off of Belfflower Boulevard there. This street right here is blocked. So they they are not affected by any of that oncoming traffic. But Borson has not been addressed at all. So, I just would like to know if anything has been planned or put into place to protect that residential street. Okay. Thank you. We're asking and you're worried it's just south of this location off of Belf. Yeah. It's like the first street, right? Yeah, exactly. There's a building there like a retail building here. Here's the boy Burger, right?

And it's right there. So, then there's Dalan Street and and Borson. And Borson, if you just go a little bit further off, here's the entrance to the freeway. And I would like to know if there's going to be a neon sign that's going to be right off that freeway because that will also bring in more people off the freeway to that street. So, okay. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Your time is up, but I appreciate I want to ask staff on how would you like to answer that? I can answer different way.

I we um I would have our public works um uh staff member Tim uh provide some insight on the traffic analysis being that this is one of the side streets further south from the site. Um I know that this uh the analys the traffic impact analysis looked at surrounding areas and looked at what the key flows would be for ingress and eress into the site. And I also know that there's other types of street work uh planned in the city. So uh if I could have I don't know if right now during public hearing would be the time. Yes.

But but there's there's you're right. It it has to it has been talked about talked I I don't we don't have all the answer. Could you could you put up the Q thing on the street? And the only reason I wanted to show that is because they're they can't turn left off of Bellflower, ma'am. Um, and like I said, those are valid concerns for you and thank you for coming. Any one of those just Yeah, just stop on one of those. Um, uh, do the ones with the egress and um, the ones before. Okay, that's that's a good one. Here, go back. There we go. Okay. No, go back to the ones that show going in and out on the on the No, one more. One or two more. Okay, because Okay, this is good because you could see see the side entrance here on the right side. Ma'am, you you live just south of that just south of that building there where we're where uh and so forth. You can only go right off when they're leaving there. They can't go left. uh there because there's a medium there in the middle and the same thing up here. It would have to be somebody going northbound on Bellflower and literally making a U-turn at the corner to turn around. They can't go into that uh into that queue there, make a left-hand turn off of Bellflower. But I'll let the staff answer that. But that's those are valid thoughts, ma'am, from

that is correct. Uh the left turn the medians um restrict the left turn movements. But that said, um we frequently um review um these kind types of issues that are brought forth by residents. Um so I mean I us in the traffic division, we'd be more than happy to look at some possible traffic calming measures or other measures that that we could implement on Dallin to alleviate some of the residents traffic concerns. How far does the does the medium go down there? Is there a better one that shows all of that there? Um, that shows another view. There was one that was the actual foot. Maybe go back, sir. Yeah. Um, okay. So, there's the building there. So, you live just south of this where that little green thing is on the bottom of this page, right? That would be

Chair Garrett. I think uh the median ends uh just north of Dalon, which is the first West East Street uh right right below at the end of that median. Um and then there's also I wasn't sure if the resident lived on Dalen and Borson, but Borson, that's what I thought I heard, that Borson is the next southerntherly street um uh away from Imperial. So that's the second. Are we allowed to turn left into the other burger place? Yes. Yes, you are. Okay. You hire. So that queue there doesn't go either. So you live just south of that.

We get a lot of overflow from the Kaiser facility. Um so we get a lot of traffic just speeding by our street. Um and on Dalen Street just because um when traffic does echup, you know, um being on um making a left towards um Imperial um that's that's a two-way. There's a U-turn allowed, but a lot of people do not know how to make that U-turn. Sure. So, it backs up traffic because of people making U-turns just in general because it's right off the freeway, right off of the 605 and the 105. So, it's it's a very congested um freeway, you know, street, Belfower going north, right? Um so, that that's our biggest concern because a lot of people do use our street uh Boris Street and Den Street as a you know, way to bypass that traffic. um being that the fact that that the the there's only going to be access to in and out through Imperial, you know, that's going to cause a lot of people to use our street as, you know, as an a faster way of getting there instead of taking the U-turn or making the left-hand turn and then making a U-turn. So, you know, people it's going to cause traffic for us. And on top of that, we don't have a sidewalk on our street.

So, anybody that's walking on the street is already walking, you know, dangerously walking on on on the street. no sidewalks. So, we can't walk our dogs, you know, we can't do anything like that um without having to go to the main street. So, our street as it is, it's the only street there and we are we have trouble with cars getting clipped um you know, all that stuff. So, that that that's our biggest concern at this point. Okay. Thank you for your comments. Go ahead. Thank you, sir, for your comments. Mr. Luna, could you do me a favor? Could you go back to the um my favorite one with the blue and gold? The blue one one more time, please. Um that one.

I would like to pinpoint to our to our resident that made th those comments. Um sir, there there there will be an entrance on Imperial and another one on Belfflower. Correct. So we we have both, not just the Imperial. No, that's that's my point. But if people are making the the Uturn Yes, sir. So it it's if you go by there in order to make a U-turn, you have to make a really long backs. So no matter which way you look at it, it's going to cause, you know, it already chair, we're not able, if we could record public comment, that would be

No, I was just going to say we're we're out of we're out of line now. You guys are nice people and valid concerns and we're trying but the three minutes were up and we really shouldn't be doing this part, but we understand that. So, um, and yes, sir, go ahead. From the public works traffic side of things, we'll initiate a a traffic uh speed study. We have uh city-owned counters. We can have our staff place them on Dalan and Borson and and look at what those impacts are actually occurring on that street.

So, that's a little bit. We'll check that out. And then number two, I wanted to make sure we're clear. There's nothing in this we're approving and there's no plans to put any digital boards uh signage on the freeway. Uh so I want to make sure we answer that. Yeah, I knew that, but I just wanted to make confirm it from staff. Yeah, from the sign package that we received preliminary from In-N-Out, there no digital boards proposed for the site, only monument signs and wall signs, which is the wall signs attached to the building.

I knew. Thank you. Just wanted to answer that. Okay. Is there anybody else on there that would like to u Is there anyone that speak in favor or opposition to it? Okay. Uh does the applicant do you want to rebute that at all or are you guys good with our discussion?

Okay. All right. Okay. The p this is the time for us and final and last question of the applicant before we close the public hearing. Anything? I see nobody on the planning commission. So the public hearing is now closed. So now it's time for our planning commission to deliberate. Um and I want to facilitate any discussion any asking any clarification questions u any questions that would be answered by the applicant require reopening of the public hearing which would also open the public hear for anyone else to speak on there. But what is the pleasure of the planning commission on this time? Do you have any final comments? and then maybe I'll ask for a motion after any final comments. Clarification question.

Yes, sir. Um on um attachment C see it from here. Could you give us the conceptual commissioner? Could you give us the page number the 105?

Thank you. So on that page shows and I I can't see it very clear but I did see it enlarged on the screen earlier. Uh I the the uh Belfflower Boulevard is is a two-lane in each direction. And the concern that I have is just or clarification is um if first of all are they allowed to make a Uturn if you're traveling northbound to go back south? And if that's the case, um what's the issue if there's any parking on on the on the uh westerly side of the street? as they're going to hinder any any uh uh traffic. Also, it shows on the southbound two-lane with a sixoot gutter and a sidewalk. I I I don't see any any third lane unless this is incorrect. Maybe clarify that for me.

So, to clarify the question on Bloodfire Boulevard there is no parking allowed. So parking is um the two lanes on Bellflower traveling south are for free flowing traffic. There are signs on Bellflower for no parking. Uturns are currently allowed at the intersection. So if you're heading north on Bellflower and you want to make a U-turn to go back down south on Belfflower, they are currently currently allowed. Yes, it is a tight uh U-turn. I believe the uh traffic study recommended 30 feet for the wide to make that U-turn without doing a three-point turn. So that improvement would satisfy that request of the minimum of the 30 ft. Um I hope that answers your question.

Well, my my second clarification question is the uh the uh the six foot wide gutter. Is that a six foot wide gutter that I'm seeing here looking at on page 105? Uh Tim from public works. I'm not Do you know the answer

as they're looking at that? Uh maybe I just thinking that this might be showing existing conditions, but I think we're going to verify the site plan. I mean, I I'm not seeing the gutter you're referring to. Um, it's on the U W side going southbound. You want to

There's a couple of arrows. I mean few arrows showing down here that right there. What is that? It's kind of fun to see the It's kind of fun to see these things. So, we will have the additional southbound lane on Bellflower and then the new the proposed condition shows a 14t sidewalk and there's a small um drainage inlet that then um you know diverts out to Bellflower but it there it's not a 6oot Uh drain. Oh, what is is that a cross cutter? Thank you. On bellflower.

No. Bel. Well, this is the only drainage that we have here. It's passed. Oh, yeah. Okay. That was that was delicious. I think the 8 in chair Garrett also if it's uh we could also have the applicants team uh explain further uh their traffic. Uh

so you want me to open up the public hearing again? Okay. If if if you I think if it warrants further clarification between our team and their team, I think there could be a quicker clarification. Okay. I will open up the public hearing to get clarification on that. At this point to Commissioner Cyclley's question right away,

I handed our C30 site exhibit printed on a larger um paper 11 by 17. So along Bellflower, there's an 8ft sidewalk, a 14 ft wide right-hand turn deceleration lane along with the two southbound throughput lanes. So that's depicted on that larger plan. If um Abraham or the uh city engineer could share it with you, I think it would make it a lot more clear as to what's proposed. Good. Thank you.

Okay. Wonderful. Thank you. Can I keep this? You can keep it.

Okay. I'll go ahead and close the public hearing again. So, public public hearing is now closed. Uh any other questions or thoughts at this time? Okay. Um my only comments u on there before we we vote on it or make it I'll entertain a motion on there. U I'm glad that you guys are coming. You're good corporate citizens. We appreciate your involvement in our community now. Um that location down there has been empty for 45 50 years. The Jackaline building literally deteriorated piece by piece. It's been an eyesore. It's been a crimeridden corner because of homelessness and breaking down the chain lane fence and everything else. So, you're bringing that corner to life and we couldn't be happier. I couldn't be happier, excuse me, um that that you guys are coming in there. So, I think you it's going to be a great location for you. I think it'll take some um air out of the other location, which we want that. and uh it looks like it's a great project. Our staff speaks very highly of it of it and I think you guys have a new design team that they've been working with too and appreciate that too. So uh with that I'll be happy to make a motion to that we approve u um that we approve PLN 2300141 uh the plan review and conditional use permit. U this we have a second on it.

I'll second it. Okay, we have a motion. Can I clarify that includes the revised conditions present? Yes, the three including the revised numbers on there. So, okay, our planning commission secretary Ria has put up our screen. So, if at that time, everybody can vote, please. Motion passed with a vote of 50. Great. Right. Congratulations and welcome your extended stay in Downey. Thank you for investing in our community. Can um at this point, could you share your secret um um menu that we uh that we could all enjoy? Yeah. Send me your email.

There you go. Thank you. Okay. So, now uh now is the time set aside for public hearing on PLN-25-0000127. Uh, does the planning commission secretary have proof of publication? Yes, I do. Great. Will the community development director introduce staff making the presentation? Thank you. Tonight we have Lindseay Ortega from our planning consultant team uh presenting a PowerPoint. Thank you.

Great. Thank you. Do I need to go through all the sites to get to it? Okay. Oh, yeah. We're sorry. Pick your favorite. We'll go back to it.

Good evening. Hello, Chair um Gara and members of the planning commission. My name is Lindsay Ortega and I will be presenting PLN25-0000127 to you today. Before you today is a request for approval of a conditional use permit to permit the operation of a 139,745 square foot entertainment center with arcade, bowling alley, indoor sporting activity area and a restaurant with an ABC type 47 on premise sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages. A conditional use permit is required to permit on premise sale of alcoholic beverages. commercial recreation and arcades within the Stonewood specific plan. Although a commercial recreation facility use is not explicitly listed as a use permitted in the Stonewood specific plan, the specific plan does permit uses not specifically listed to be considered by the planning commission through a conditional use permit. Other commercial recreation facilities that operate at the Stonewood Center include the Galactic Challenge and Candyland Kids. The Stonewoods uh Stonewood Center is located on the north side of Firestone Boulevard between Lakewood Boulevard and Woodruff Avenue on a 63 acre site. The subject site is zoned uh Stonewood specific plan and has a general land use designation of general commercial. The subject site is surrounded by single family residential to the north and east and commercial and office use to the south and west. The arcade with commercial recreation activities is proposed to occupy the old Sears department store which closed in late 2021 at the Stonewood Center. Here's a view from the single family residential, a view from Woodruff,

and a view from Firestone as it is today. The 139,745 square foot commercial recreation facility will offer approximately 400 arcade games, various commercial recreation entertainment activities, as well as a 44,665q ft food hall with a type 47 license on for on premise alcohol sales. The proposed hours of operation for the arcade, commercial recreation use, and restaurant are 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. Monday through Sunday, and the use is intended to serve as an entertainment center for all ages. Private rooms will be available for rent to host birthday parties, corporate events, and um used for private karaoke rentals. And the private rooms will include his TV, karaoke equipment, and feature a clear glass wall and door to ensure full visibility from common areas at all times. The first floor of the three-story entertainment use includes a 16,472 ft entertainment area, including the arcade as well as the 44,665 ft dedicated area to food preparation and food service with some area used for office space and storage. There are three entrances on the first floor. A primary entrance from the parking lot facing Firestone Boulevard, a secondary side entrance from the northwest parking lot of Woodruff um off of Woodruff Avenue, and a main entrance from the mall that opens into uh the food hall area. When the mall closes at 10 p.m., a security grill gate will close across um will close access from the mall to the round one facility. The second floor includes the eight

bowling lanes, three private room rentals, and four billiards tables. The bowling lanes, billiards tables, and arcade games can be used based on a payer basis. The third floor offers an additional arcade space as well as signature feature of the entertainment center um called the SPOA um or the sports sports challenge area which serves as an indoor sports complex offering dodgeball, trampoline, ninja course, kids gym, basketball, indoor soccer, inline skating, pickle ball, and batting cages. Entry into this portion of the facility will be permitted after checking in and completing the required waiver and paying the admission fee based on the length of time to access the area. This grants unlimited access for the specified time frame to enjoy the different activities. The 44,665 ft food hall is located on the first floor with access points into the main into the main mall. And the food hall will offer a variety of Japanese food options with restaurant seating and a single bar located in the center of various restaurant options. The food hall will also serve as a central kitchen kitchen where food will be prepared, packaged, and distributed to round one affiliated food hall locations throughout Southern California. All food will be prepared on site by round one employees with service provided throughout the day and evening hours and pickup for the food uh the central kitchen is to occur twice a week in the morning. However, the demand may grow um pickups may also occur more frequently. Food will be distributed through the use of small refrigerated sprinter vans. The Stonewood specific plan limits loading and unloading adjacent to residential uses to only occur between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. I'm sorry, and 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Loading

and unloading on Sundays and holidays adjacent to residential is not permitted and a condition of approval has been added to reiterate the requirement from the specific plan. A type 47 ABC license for on premise sale and consumption of alcohol is proposed in conjunction with the restaurant and food hall. Alcoholic beverages may be purchased in the food hall restaurant area and may be consumed throughout the entire recreational facility. Consumption of alcohol will be monitored throughout the facility by way of an ID verification and a curfew plan is proposed for the later hours of operation. A third-party security company will be utilized by round one, ensuring orderly conduct throughout the facility, including the purchase of food and alcohol. Previously, the Sears tenant space was calculated at a rate of one space per 200 square ft for the 143,427 square ft tenant space. This required 718 parking spaces. The proposed round one arcade would utilize um approximately 45,000 square feet of tenant space towards the central kitchen and restaurant use which is calculated at a lower rate of one space per thousand square ft resulting in a reduction in required parking for the entire tenant space. Per the Stonewood specific plan, the commercial recreation facility would be classified as an as other commercial uses, which would require a one space per 200 foot um requirement, resulting in a total of 476 parking spaces for the commercial recreation use. In total, the proposed use would require 521 parking spaces. The Stonewood Center has 4,610 parking spaces which are intended to serve all uses located at the shopping

center. So, as a result, the parking spaces currently on the site are sufficient to accommodate the new proposed use because the use would require less parking than the original approved um use. The development review committee discussed and evaluated the project as it pertained to planning, police, public works, and building and safety matters as well as fire con. Uh, two noteworthy conditions include all loading and unloading shall comply with the Stonewood specific plan and that the operator shall implement a curfew plan that includes announcements over the store speaker 30 minutes prior to each curfew. The conditional use permit is categorically exempt from the review under SQA guidelines section 15301 because it has been determined to not be a significant effect on the environment due to the proposed use being contained within an existing building and not resulting in an expansion of that building. On November 19th, 2025, the notice of pending public hearing before the planning commission was published in the Downey Patriot and was mailed to all tenants within 500 ft of the subject site staff. Um there a memorandum was provided um on the dis regarding some conditions of approval. Um there were three minor typographical errors to conditions 16, 23 and 50. Um and those are included and also there are copies um for the public to view. In addition um there is a minor change to condition approval number eight um that was not listed in that memorandum and that relates to the hours of operation. The hours of operation in the staff report list uh 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.

whereas the condition of approval um it says 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. So that should be changed to 10:00 a.m. uh to 2:00 a.m. And with that, um staff concludes their presentation. We recommend um to the planning commission approval of um resolution number 25-4057 for um conditional use permit that would allow the operation of a restaurant with ABC type 47, the arcade and the indoor recreational area. And I'm available to answer any questions if there are any. And the applicant has also has their applicant representative Jennifer Odin here along with the round one team.

Okay. Well, thank you for that. I think the only question I had is I went by there today and it's all fenced off on the east side there. Is there construction or just interior construction going on or demolition? Obviously. Yes, the applicant does have an approved demo permit. So, demo work is um ongoing right now. Okay, great. So before I hear uh I open the public hearing, call the applicant or the representative be a time for any planning commissioners to disclose any prehering site visits or any prehering discussions you may have had about this project. So I I have none.

Well, I have a whole bunch. I've talked to you know I mean council member Ortiz and I we like are giddy about this on there now that we see the details. So maybe I I'd have to disclose that uh part. You don't get a council member. He's a former chair of this planning commission sitting here. So anyway, so I will disclose that part. Um so thank you so much having no other questions for you. We appreciate you. So the public hearing is now open. Okay. Uh so will the applicant of the representative please come forward to give testimony.

Good evening Mr. chair, vice chair, honorable planning commissioners. My name is Jennifer Odin. I am uh Round One's uh representative. I have the privilege of representing round one and I want to start by thanking first of all staff. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with your staff and I know the round one team feels uh the same. So the level of professionalism uh response and assistance throughout this project and availability has been second to none. So huge huge thank you to staff um as part of this project and moving forward. I have with me as you can probably see and I'll I'll ask all of them to stand up rather than introducing everybody one by one but um about 11 or so I think of us are here tonight from round one the round one team and this includes from executive vice presidents of operations to directors of licensing directors of construction uh loss directors of loss prevention uh food hall central kitchen licensing managers. So, this team is committed um to the city of Downey and round one is committed to the city of Downey and it's been an absolute pleasure as I mentioned uh to work with staff. So, if we have specific questions, we got the people to answer them, that's for sure. So, um uh it's just how important it is uh that they're coming into the city of Downey and how excited round one is for that. Um I appreciate Lindsay's staff report. I think it was just as throughout this process has been extremely thorough. uh included absolutely everything that uh we would want to hit on and I don't have much uh in response um to give my own report because Lindsay's was so fantastic. I just wanted to highlight you know Round One is a family uh oriented entertainment company. They have roughly 60 locations here in the US a global presence actually with about 150 worldwide. The hours would be the 10 a.m. to 2 am. The vision from round one really is everyday fun for everyone everywhere. So, it's a place for the

family, it's a place for co-workers, it's a place for friends to gather. Um, they're very uh buttoned up with respect to their security policies and procedures. Take all of those uh items very uh seriously. There's ID verification when it comes to, of course, the on-site sales, service, and consumption of alcoholic beverages in conjunction with the restaurant and food hall space. their surveillance cameras. They are a responsible professional uh committed ABC licency at this location. Certainly will be at this location and all of their others. All of their employees, managers are responsible, beverage service trained. Um there's 70 roughly I think it's 69 conditions uh in the approval. All of which every single one of them agreeable to the team. So um we look forward to uh working with the the city of Downey. round round one certainly does and we're we're available for any questions. But again, a huge thank you to the city and staff. It's been a pleasure and uh we're excited to get open.

Great. Thank you so much on there. Um this is a a large site. Is this average for Thank you all for being here too. Is this an average size u for the 140 50,000 square feet? Typically within range I would say. Um I come on. Come on. He's the director of Steven's the director of construction. Great. I will say it's typical to be in a major retail what used to be a major retail tenant of a mall. Certainly. Okay.

Hi, good evening. Um so to answer that question, typically our um stores, our traditional stores ranges from about 45,000 to anywhere to 80,000 ft². This one's slightly bigger because it does include our um sports challenge complex which requires additional square footage plus the new food hall concept and also the central kitchen portion that's included on the first floor. So So Down is kind of special for you guys too then, right?

It is a very special you add them all together. what is your um how many well again I guess it's hard to compare but how many people do you have at one time at on one of your you know best locations kind of thing. I'm just kind of curious how many people will be inside there. So right now currently our best location is actually our first store over in city of industry and usually on weekend nights we'll have three Friday night what three 400 people. Yeah. Okay. And I don't want to ask any proprietary questions on there, but how much of an investment are you guys putting into Downey on this location? It's a lot. What's that? It's a lot.

Okay. Give us a round number. Go within 20% so that way you're not giving us any detailed information. It goes into seven figures. Okay. All right. Good. We want to brag about you. So anyways, it will be our biggest project out of all of our portfolio. So great. Well, Downy's pretty special, so we're glad you nice noticed that. No, I'm kidding. I'm there. I mean, we are, but uh um any questions from the rest of our commissioners here. I have a question. Yes. Um you mentioned that serving alcohol until uh closing time or do you plan to stop the alcohol consumption, let's say, 1 hour before closing time?

Uh typically we uh cease alcohol operation 1 a.m. or 1:30. 13. 1:30. Last call being one. Okay. Thank you. What would be, if we approve this tonight, what would be the time frame? Um, we're actually currently in uh building permit review, right? So, whenever you guys give us the building permit, we love to get started. Okay. All right. So, I see you threw it back at us. I get it. I get it on there.

I did want to say, too, we're aiming Stephen and I spoke about this ahead of time. aiming for spring of 2026 as well. So, but the sooner as as staff mentioned, you know, the building permits, we're underway. So, I I mentioned to them outside that if we approve this tonight, by Monday, we should be open there. So, we'll try our best, you know. Great. Great. Um, commissioners, any other

have a comment. Um, I've lived in Downey for 60 years and I wish we had such a facility when I was growing up. We really didn't. We had a skaterama if anybody even remembers that. That was about the most fun that we could do as kids. And I also love this concept because it's not only for kids and teens, it's for adults and so many people and families can come and just within the three stories be totally entertained and dine and just have a great time. So I think it's a wonderful project to bring to Downey and I thank you for bringing this to Downey. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. It's exactly what Downey wants and Downey needs in my opinion on there. So yeah, we're excited about it. Sir,

thank you, Chair Gara. I have two quick questions and and one quick comment. Um you mentioned the uh the term center kitchen concept. So um will you explain that uh explain that concept a bit? Um and if how many locations will you be cooking and or delivering to roughly by using the Downey uh center uh as a location? So um just to explain the central kitchen portion first um so down this location down actually has the other component the food hall stores. So um we provide uh we partnered with the restaurant to Japan uh so we're bringing them over uh or sorry we sent some of our staff over there trained they're going to prep the food in the central kitchen location at least 80% of it and then the final 20% will be finished off at each food hall location. And as for the food hall locations, there's roughly about 10 in plant right now all over Southern California. So, um, that's the central kitchen in the food hall relationship.

Got it. Perfect. Thank you for that, sir. It's also on PC 376 mentioned. That's why we we call it the flagship because I guess it's Yeah. 80% of the food. So, yeah. Excellent. Um approximately how many folks do you see um how how many employees do you see perhaps uh hiring within our local community to to service uh this are you talking about the whole the entire just the location the Downey location roughly how many people you see yeah 100 employees actually that's great that's impressive thank you um and the last comments welcome to Downey I'm glad you selected Downey um we needed you and welcome thank you we're looking forward more tip.

Yeah. Thank you. The closest thing to fun you had we had the roller skating growing up and we had the fererals. Fererals. Yeah. Those are the two go-to places that we used to take dates to and now there's an alternative. I take my my 40-year married wife with me there. We have a seven, eight, and nine yard at home. They will be customers. Thank you. We appreciate your support. Okay. Um

I have I have a comment just just one of the things in Downey we it's a soccer is a it's a huge sport for youth here. Uh the city has a couple areas that we use it for AYO club and definitely I think I was saw in the pictures it looks like it's a foot football uh court

um Southgate has football courts out there and a lot of our kids families go over there. Hopefully you can maybe maybe put two courts instead of one. I know that's something that sort out here now if you got your plans, but you know just to say soccer is huge here in Paramont. I mean sorry in Downey sorry I work in Fairmont but but definitely it it it can create more u because AY's like over 2,000 kids playing club um I don't know there's different club teams here u that's huge. So that's something that just to take in can account as well. So

just um so the second and third floor will include the sports challenge complex and we will have over uh 30 amenities 30 different types of amenities that people can enjoy. So and football or dodgeball is um in the same court but that is one of the amenities that we provide. Okay. I agree with you Mr. Lehan. I think that that soccer court's going to be full all the time out there. So we have that. Okay. Having no one there. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Uh may staff confirm if there's any other correspondent in favor of opposition.

Staff did receive one correspondence uh yesterday from a resident that lived on Ciccilia just north of the Stonewood Center. Uh the concern was security for inside the premise and outside the premise. Uh staff did explain that after approval security plan will be submitted to PD. So, they'll work uh together to uh fulfill those security requirements in addition to um the on-site securities pro provided by Stonewood. Okay. And that seemed to relieve her concern.

I read the Yeah. the report. It said something about the the security and everything else on there. So, good. Good. Okay. Um is there anyone here that would like to speak in favor or opposition of the applicant? Okay. Seeing no one uh there's no rebuttal. So I will now close the uh public hearing is now closed. So uh commissioners uh we've we've all showed our enthusiasm for this and um any other discussions or you know we'll make make a motion that we accept this on there. Uh I got to read it out loud. PLN um-25-0000127.

I make a motion to adopt PLN-250127. I made the motion. I think you do. We have to mention the errors or Yes, with the additional revisions on there. Yeah. Yeah. So, I want to want to take a picture of the final vote. Okay. Anything else on there? Why don't we go ahead and vote then? I want to leave it up there. Ria, I want to take a picture of the vote because when it on opening day, we're gonna say, "Hey, we were there." Motion passes with a vote of 5-0.

Wait, wait, wait. There we go. Okay. Um, thank you. Welcome to Downey and let us know what else we can do as a community uh to help you out. But we're excited for you. I think you saw the enthusiasm and we're ready. And uh congratulations. Thanks for investing in Downey. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Okay. You know what's interesting? By the way, just by leaving the other day, uh I met with the Stonewood Mall manager and this planning commission. We approved that store like really close by to them where they're going to be at the one with the grabbers that had all the grabbers and so and they're what's it called?

Yeah, something closet. They're doing really well. Okay, I got to go check it out. But then we approve that, too. So, all right. Uh, so we are now Does the planning commission We are now opening for public hearing PLA N-25-0000135. Does the planning commissioner uh planning commission secretary Ria have proof of publication? Yes, I do. Okay, great. Will the community development director introduce staff making the presentation? Thank you, Chair Gara. Tonight we have our associate planner, Marissa Montero, who will be uh reviewing the PowerPoint with you. Thank you.

All right. Good evening, Chair Gara, Vice Chair Uba, commissioners, and members of the audience. The item before you is PLN-25-0000135 and PLN-24-000084 um a project at 9305 Firestone Boulevard for a Rebel Shell gas station. This is a request for the demolition of the existing 2300 ft² fuel canopy and a 200q ft² convenience store and the construction of a 2400 ft convenience store with a type 20 offsale beer and wine liquor license. A new 2021 square foot canopy over eight fuel pumps and the retention of an existing drive-through car wash with other site improvements. The following entitlements are requested as part of this application and require review and approval by the planning commission. First is a site plan review for all new structures and site improvements. The second is a conditional use permit for liquor stores and other offsale alcohol establishments.

Yeah, sorry. I think we're going to take a a quick pause uh maybe about uh couple minutes. Okay. And then I think we're going to ask you to maybe go to the previous slide. Yes, of course. Um, let me see. Was it just one other slide? Yeah, this one. If I could just take a pause and uh if we can mute our mics, I would

Okay, great. Thank you so much. All right, I'll just go ahead and start from the beginning. Um, so the item before you is PLN-25-0000135 and PLN-24-000084 at 9305 Firestone Boulevard for a Rebel Shell gas station. This is a request for the demolition of the existing 2300 square f foot fuel canopy and 200 ft² convenience store and the construction of a 2400 square ft convenience store with a type 20 offsale beer and wine liquor license. A new 2021qt fuel canopy over eight fuel pumps and retention of an existing drive-through car wash with other site improvements. The following entitlements are requested as part of this application and require review and approval by the planning commission. The first is a site plan review for all new structures and site improvements and a conditional use permit for liquor store and other offsale alcohol establishments in the C1 zone and a variance for a deviation from uh one physical development standard. The project site is located on the northeast corner of Firestone Boulevard and Woodruff Avenue on a 21,780 ft parcel that is currently developed with a 2300 ft fuel canopy, a 200 ft convenience store, and an 874 ft drive-thru car wash. The convenience store is located underneath the fuel canopy. The planning commission fir first approved the service station through zoning exception case number 228 in 1961 which authorized the establishment,

operation and maintenance of a service station with pump islands. In 1982, the site was redeveloped to its current configuration with a new fuel canopy, fuel pump islands, a convenience store, and updated site layout. The existing drive-through car wash was later approved by the planning commission in 1996. The slide shows two photos of the existing site. One taken at the southeast corner of the property along Firestone Boulevard and the other taken at the northwest corner of the property along Woodruff Avenue. The subject property is zone C1, neighborhood commercial, and has a general plan land use designation of general commercial. The surrounding area is a variety of different zones and land use designations. To the north is single family and multifamily residential. To the east is single family residential and neighborhood commercial. To the south is general commercial, specifically the Lakewood Firestone specific plan. And to the west is general commercial and the stonewood specific plan. Now moving on to the first application request, a site plan review. On this slide, you can see the proposed site plan that features the new 2400 ft convenience store, a new 2021 square foot fuel canopy with eight fuel pumps, and the existing drive-through car wash. The con the configuration of the site provides safe and efficient circulation for both vehicles and pedestrians.

I'm sorry, real fast on there. How many are there now? I know this is eight pumps. How many were there before? I know the size was 200 square feet versus 2400, but I don't remember how many there was eight and this is going to continue to be eight. Okay. I remember reading. I can't remember off the top of my head. I think we can look into it and get back to you. Yeah, it's not urgent. I just wanted to see how many we had now.

Um, so the drive aisles have been designed with adequate width to accommodate vehicles accessing the fuel pumps, the car wash, and the convenience store. The new site layout also includes circulation enhancements for the existing car wash, adding a queueing lane of six for six vehicles to enter and two vehicles to exit to further promote safety throughout the site. The drive-thru car wash exit will also include a stop sign and a speed bump to reduce potential the potential for collisions for vehicles exiting the car wash and vehicles entering the site from Firestone Boulevard. The site will also include a new trash enclosure, nine parking spaces, and an combination air water vacuum unit. The proposed site layout has been designed to comply with all applicable development standards of the C1 zone as well as standards related to drive-through services and service stations. Um on the screen you can see various development standards that we've analyzed for compliance. Um two there are two annotations. Annotation A um for the front setback and the rear setback for the landscape setback um signifies that portions of the front landscape and the rear landscape that are I'm sorry portions of the front setback and rear setback that are not landscaped are because of approved drive aisles meant to support circulation which is permitted um in the DMC. Annotation B signifies that the rear setback is not met. However, the applicant has requested a variance which is included in this application and will be discussed in the variance section of this presentation.

The proposed development incorporates a contemporary architectural design for the new convenience store, new new fuel canopy, and existing car wash. The convenience store building features a combination of highquality materials including stone veneer, board and batten siding, standing seam metal roofing, and fiber cement trim, creating visually appealing and durable facade. The drive-through car wash exterior will also be renovated to match the same materials and architectural style of the new convenience store. The fuel canopy incorporates a standard shell corporate design package and utilizes the same stone veneer as the convenience store. The proposed landscape plan includes a mixture of native and drought tolerant plant materials, including a variety of trees, shrubs, and ground cover. Existing queen palms will be retained and supplemented with additional palms. Ground cover will consist of the plants included on the slide. Um, and portions of the convenience store facade will also feature a a red trumpet vine going up. um this portion of the facade and this portion of this facade. So sorry, right here along the western facade and then right here along the southern facade. Uh this slide shows a rendering of the site with the landscaping from Woodruff Avenue. So, moving on to the next application request, a conditional use permit, which is required to allow the off sale of beer and wine, a type 20 ABC license within the proposed 2400 ft² convenience store. The beer and wine display area highlighted in red on the floor plan in this top corner um will occupy 8.6% of the sales floor. The convenience store

includes a walk-in cooler located at the rear of the building. There will be two cooler doors totaling approximately 16 square ft and a 95 square f foot customer accessible beer cave within the cooler. In total, approximately 111 square ft of the sales area will be dedicated to beer and wine. The convenience store is proposed to operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The sale of alcohol will be prohibited um between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. The applicant expects there will be three to four shifts per day with one to five employees per shift depending on the site needs. To ensure responsible retail operations, employees will will undergo training in customer service, personnel management, facility operations, responsible retailing of alcohol and tobacco, and workplace safety.

Can I ask a question other? So, what do we estimate the alcohol sales to be at this location? Do we have a a number? A percentage of their sales. Percentage of their sales. Yeah. Um I I think that's a question for the applicant to answer. Yes. Okay. And how about in the I'd ask the same thing. I mean, they currently have permission to sell tobacco now, right? So, that's not new. Okay. Yes. Okay.

Um Okay. Additionally, an additional security measure, uh cash registers will include hard stops to ensure age verification prior to completing any alcohol or tobacco sale. Um and just for reference, these are interior photos of other Rebel convenience store locations. So you can see that they offer a variety of goods uh and you know services like a c oops I went too far like a coffee station. Okay. The last application request is a variance from DMC section 9314.06A 06A um a development standard which requires structures in the C1 zone to maintain a 40 foot 46 ft rear setback when adjacent to a residential zone. So the parcel to the north of the subject site uh outlined here this rectangular parcel is zoned residential but has a general plan land use designation of general commercial. The residential zone is inconsistent with the general commercial land use designation. It is also currently developed as a commercial parking lot for uh a nearby business, the Wells Fargo. So, this is the parking lot for this Wells Fargo building. And this is the subject I mean I'm sorry, this is the parcel that is zoned residential currently but has a general plan land use designation of general commercial. Um, for reference, this other uh parcel highlighted in yellow is the nearest residential use uh to the subject site and there's a 55 foot uh distance between the subject property and the nearest residential use. So the need for the variance results from the adjacent sites existing inconsistencies between zoning and the

general plan, not from any action by the applicant. Other similar com commercial properties on Firestone meet the increased 46 ft rear setback requirement when immediately adjacent to residential uses. Applying the residential rear setback standard in this situation would impose an unnecessary constraint that is inconsistent with the existing and intended commercial character of the area. The project does maintain an 18 ft rear setback which exceeds the 15t setback required when a commercial property is adjacent to another commercial property in the C1 zone. Thus, granting the variance does not confer a special privilege, but instead aligns the site's treatment with surrounding commercial development and the general plans uh intended land use pattern. The development review committee discussed and evaluated the project as it pertained to planning, police, fire, public works, and building and safety matters. All departments issued conditions of approval related to the proposed site improvement and type 20 uh ABC license. Staff has reviewed the proposed project for compliance with SQA and determined that the project ex is exempt from review under SQA guideline section 1503 class 3 new construction or conversion of small structures. On November 20th, the notice of the pending public hearing um before the planning commission was published in the Downey Patriot and mailed to all tenants and property owners within 500 ft of the subject site. As of the date that this report was published, staff has received a letter of opposition with 18 signatures expressing concerns regarding the proposed type 20 offsale beer and

wine liquor license which I'll I'll uh which has been um provided to you on the dis and I'll explain a little bit here in this slide. Um so this slide really summarizes the concerns outlined in the opposition letter staff received on December 2nd. Um the letter states that the city is oversaturated with 67 offsale ABC license. An additional license would result in a concentration of licenses which would require the applicant to demonstrate that public convenience or necess or necessity would be served by the issuance of another license. They also state that there is already an existing type 20 license for an Arco AM on Lakewood Boulevard located within the same census tract as a subject property. They also provide um three nearby liquor retailers um along Firestone Boulevard as evidence of overconentration. The letter also states that issuing the license would cause public safety concerns contrary to public welfare. And finally, the license would generate many more traffic trips, thereby causing greater congestion and risk of accidents on Firestone Boulevard. Um, additionally stating that an exhaustive traffic study was not conducted. So staff reviewed the concerns in the letter and found the following on the slide. Um, so a oversaturation is deter determined by a census tract. So a public convenience or necessity or in short a PCN is only required when the specific census tract in which the project site is located is oversaturated with ABC licenses. The addition of one more offsale license in census tract 5510.01

where the subject site is located would not exceed the ABC permitted threshold. While the three businesses uh mentioned in the letter are in close proximity, all three are located in another census tract um 5511.02 because overconentration is evaluated by census tract. These operators do not create an oversaturation for the proposed site. Um, regarding the concern for public welfare, uh, staff had discussions uh, with our police department. Um, and based on that, census tract 5510.01 is not classified as a high crime area, meaning there's no crime related basis that would trigger the need for a PCN. The site's primary use will continue to Oh, I'm sorry. Regarding um the comment about uh increased traffic, uh the site's primary use will continue to uh be a service station with a drive-through car wash. The new convenience store will be an ancillary use that is not anticipated to significantly increase traffic. And finally, the floor area dedicated to the display of beer and wine is less than 9% of the total floor area of the convenience store. Uh, additionally, resolution number 25-4058 includes several conditions of approval that address concerns presented in the letter. Um, including alcohol sales limitations, um, no alcohol advertising on windows or exterior walls, um, no loitering signs posted um, on the site. There will be security cameras and recordings. And there will also be a panic and hold up alarm system. Therefore, uh, staff recommends that the planning commission adopt resolution

number 25-458 approving PLN-25-0000135 and PLN-24-000084 for the construction of a 2400 ft convenience store with a type 20 liquor license, a new 2021 ft fuel canopy, over eight fuel pumps, and retention of an existing drive-through car wash and other site improvements located at 9305 Firestone Boulevard. Um, this concludes staff's presentations. I'm available for any questions. We also have the applicants team available here tonight. We have um that is also available for questions. Um, we have Jennifer Odin, the attorney for the the attorney and applicant representing for the liquor license, Florentino Mendoza, the architect part of the design team, and Summer Ire, uh, the chief administrative officer.

Thank you so much for that. Does the planning commission have any questions? Uh, any further questions of staff? Okay. All right. Thank you so much. Thank you. Before I open the public hearing um and call the applicant of the representative, this would be a time for the planning commissioner disclose any prehering site visits or having prehering discussions uh the commissioners may have had about this project. I have none, sir.

Yeah. Okay. I I visited there today and drove around quite a bit and I never knew there was a parking lot for Wells Fargo back there. Okay. Lived here my entire life and didn't know that. Didn't know I can get out on Firestone that way, too. Now I know. Um, okay, great. So, the public hearing is now open. Uh, will the applicant of the representative uh please come forward to give testimony?

Good evening. I have the pleasure of addressing you twice tonight. Uh, Mr. Chair, vice chair, honorable planning commissioners. I'm absolutely going to say it again because that presentation by Marissa was fabulous as has been our experience uh and working with this project with staff. So, thank you again to staff. I wanted to highlight because sometimes this doesn't always come across in uh these presentations. So, the owner applicant of this of this uh premise existing one second on could we take this down the public comment because we're not there. We're still into the applicant. I don't consider this public comment. I mean, don't we leave the camera on when when we have the applicant or No.

Okay. Um, ma'am, and just to clarify, um, before you continue, you are here now representing this applicant. Is that correct?

Correct. My office has had the pleasure of representing the Anabi family, which is the the point I was just about to get to. Thank you, Vice Chair. Uh, excuse me, Commissioner Legasspie. Uh, looking different areas. So, um, yes, RAC Enterprises, Inc. is the applicant, a corporate entity, but I want to be clear, this is a familyowned, operated location. Sam Anabi is the president of RAC Enterprises. My office, as I mentioned, has had the privilege of representing uh Mr. Anabi and his family for a number of years. Just about two years ago, uh, the family purchased this location. And as a part of this site plan, variance and conditional use permit, the family intends to invest roughly 5 to6 million into that site. Uh Mr. Anabi um has has been the owner operator of Anabi Oil or RADC Enterprises uh for a number of years now and has grown that company uh into the su excuse me success it is today. Summer uh is is here is the chief administrative officer and she happens to be Sam's sister, of course, as I mentioned, a family-owned and operated location. Sam actually started Anabi Oil and the gas station business in 1991, and it was after his career as a law enforcement officer. So on Sam's team, when it comes to any of his locations, he takes public safety, welfare very, very seriously. He comes from a law enforcement background by trade. So we also do have present as well directors of loss prevention, security, risk management also with law enforcement backgrounds. So all of the conditions in the conditional use permit uh approval with respect to security cameras, panic alarm buttons, these are things that happen as as common practice for Mr. Anabi's locations and of course are agreeable here. There's 50 plus conditions, all of which are agreeable. So, this would be, like I said, a five

to$6 million investment into this site as the Anabi family has purchased the location. The conditional use permit aspect for the beer and wine is small in nature. Um, really, it's less than 10% of all total sales uh for beer and wine. And we're talking about 9% or less of the floor space, right? Roughly 100 square ft or so in that convenience store. So, it's a very much an ancillary use, but it's a use that the Anabi family is accustomed to. They're professional, responsible owners, operators throughout the state of California. They have numerous locations and hold ABC licenses. They're trusted ABC licences. Again, this is beer and wine only, not beer, wine, and distilled spirits and a small offering located towards the rear of the store. Of course, there's age restricted um mechanisms in place, training, all of those things uh that take place regard to the sale of beer and wine for off-site consumption. I did want to just hit on um the opposition that was received because unfortunately it came in the 11th hour um as this had been published in I think mid November roughly as as Marissa mentioned and to date there had been no comments in opposition and as a result of the the opposition it was written by an attorney uh if you've had the chance to read it it's about three or four pages it's broad legal strokes And as Marissa so astutely pointed out, um it's actually incorrect legal conclusions uh with regards to that public convenience or necessity. This site does not require the California state ABC public convenience or necessity determination. The census tract is not overconentrated. So those conclusions were incorrect. Um the individuals that signed the letter, I don't know if any of them are present. There's certainly not 18 people behind

me. So, um, again, it it read I've been doing this for about 10 to 15 years. Again, have had the privilege to represent the Anabi family. It read to me as if a potential competitor, a lastm minute um effort, right? Um, there wasn't anything personal from any from any individuals other than signatures. Um, but otherwise it was just broad legal strokes again which were uh unfortunately or fortunately incorrect. So I think there are enough conditions in fact I know and I know the owner operator and the policies procedures and attention to detail paid to security public welfare at these locations and we're happy to answer any of those questions but we respectfully request that you approve the site plan the variance and the conditional use permit for the limited amount of off-site sale of beer and wine uh so the Anabi family can invest tremendously in this community as well.

Okay, thank you. Is there any questions from the planning commission to the applicant? I do. Um the way I see the diagram of the layout, the way it's all going to be, you're going to have to it it's a demolition. Um the gas tanks and all that are going to be down. They're going to be moved. Explain to me how that construction part of it going to going to look and work. Absolutely. And I'm going to bring up Florentino for that, the architect. Uh, only so much an attorney can get you. Huh. They didn't give me I didn't get my construction license. So, that's a that's a good question to piggy back on you on their Are you you're removing the gas tanks, too? That's a good question.

Good evening everyone. I'm Florentina Mendoza representing Karaki Western States. We're the designer of the this project site. So with regards to the underground storage tanks, actually there's a memo right now to from the in all over California to to replace old tanks. So this site unfortunately is one of those that has an old uh tanks that needs to be replaced for a more uh secure and doublewalled tanks that uh we plan to to replace on this uh site. And the proposal is actually to to replace those old tanks with the new double wall modern uh uh tanks. And they're they're going to be located exactly almost at the same place as it is right now.

So there's no uh uh other uh expansion or something. Okay. Great. Very good. Thank you. That answers my question. Thank you. Um I'm sorry. Anybody else? Planning Commission. Any other questions on there? Okay, great. Um will staff confirm please if there's been any correspondence besides the one that we have up here in favor or opposition other than the letter you received. There has been no additional correspondence.

Okay, great. Um, is there anyone that would like to speak in opposition uh to the applicants report? Okay. All right. See no one um for rebuttal. So, um I'm kind of curious. So, when I I got this and we all got it at the last minute and so forth. I'm looking at the residents in the streets there and there's only one on Woodruff. I would think it would some of the objections would come next door uh to it. I think my point is that there's, you know, all the other addresses are they're pretty farther apart. So maybe they have an issue with um, you know, just alcohol in general. And I could see, I mean, I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt uh, of why, but um, looking at the sales, you said it's less than 10% of the sales,

correct? Okay. All right. So, um, as far as I'm concerned, I think those questions that were objections here were answered, especially the legal theories. Um, I want to ask the staff on there. So, how many licenses are we entitled to get? So, this would be a new license for us, right? And I think we had availability for another license anyways, right?

Yes. I think as Marissa and others have mentioned tonight, I would I will further confirm that in this census track, uh, we've confirmed with ABC and we have it from in writing from the state alcohol beverage control office that there's up to two licenses that can be assigned to this census track. Currently there is one this would be the second one. So for that reason it's not uh deemed an overconentration. It's within uh the limitations provided and that's uh we've again double and triple checked that uh just because it was questioned to us. Also, I just want to clarify that the correspondence before the planning commission is the petition uh in opposition from the attorney along with some signatures and other exhibits uh in the back with references to other licenses that are not again within the census track that's um at this project site. And just to further clarify, the same correspondence was provided a second time to staff. uh it was a duplicate of the of the correspondence um that's before you. The only difference is that there was a a memo, a cover memo, a transmitt cover. Uh but I just want to be clear that we did receive the same petition twice uh on two different uh times of the day. Um one towards the end of the day yesterday and another one uh today via email transmitt. I think uh the person was just making sure that we received the correspondence, but I just for the record wanted to provide that clarification.

Okay, thank you for that on there. I noticed some of those licenses, I mean, they're they're big markets, you know, they're Amipola and they're um, you know, several markets that we've seen on there, um, and so forth. But I think the the part that me personally is that the the signees there, unless they have an objection to alcohol in general, this is less than 10% in sales and nobody lives next door. Uh, maybe one, I don't know where the person on Woodruff lives, but all those other streets are not even close. So that those are my my thoughts. Um yeah, no, my last comment is I'm there I you're investing a lot of money in the city of Downey. This has been um that corner has always been kind of quirky to say the least. Uh it's hard and so forth and I think you know you were spending a lot of money there to invest in our community. Um I think with with what you heard tonight with round one, I think you might get it all back for I think it's going to be a great location for the regular sales. I don't think uh 10% in alcohol sales is going to make or break you on there. But I understand as a businessman uh the concerns to you know maximize that and you're going from 200 ft to 2400 ft and the designs look a lot better than what's there now. Um there's currently I want to I guess I asking the staff. So currently you can sell uh tobacco there, right? So okay so this is no different. I mean you might sell more if it's a bigger place but okay. All right. I'm not um I think

I just want to answer on the microphone because I think a couple of us nodded that yes, there is current tobacco sales at the location. So, this would not be a new location. Okay, great. Um thank you. Thank you for that. Appreciate it on there. Okay, so this would be the time to u any final comments or thoughts uh before I close the p the public hearing. You guys seeing none from from questions for them? And then I'll go ahead and close the public hearing after that. Okay, I see none. So, I will now the public hearing is now closed. So, uh, planning commission, this is the time to deliberate on your thoughts and anything you want to say on the record about this. Okay.

Chair Gary, I do have a question for staff if I may. Sure. Um um um just if at this location u to uh anyone's um knowledge um has our R our PD had any issues with this intersection with this location as far as crime increasing crime consistent issues anything um that has been um not addressed at this point with the current operator.

Thank you Commissioner Legsby. Uh to further clarify on some of the points that Miss Montera brought up earlier about how this is not a high crime area, um our um uh statistician at the Downey Police Department did run an analysis of a 500 foot radius around the site and compared uh any crime the crime stats for that area versus um a larger area of the city. And so um this this is not considered a high crime area. This is again that's an item that we double and triple checked. I personally had a conversation with the police chief earlier today um to review um the concerns that were brought forth in the opposition letter out of an abundance of caution. And uh again we have um internally reviewed that data. And so this is there's no concern for to answer your question there's no concern about any additional crime or crime already existing. And for that reason, we don't believe um this would be another impact. And also just to add what uh Miss Montero said, there's conditions of approval here that uh are quite extensive and uh the security um that's being uh aspect of it is also being considered in the conditions of approval.

Thank you, Miss Von. Miss Montero did mention it and she did elaborate on it, but it's it's a it's great to hear directly from you, especially if you had a conversation with our chiefs. Thank you for that. It's interesting the business next door. I still don't know what it is, but it was a nice office. It looked medical looking. I've never I've never seen it. How many times I've gone by there. I've never seen it. And you got the Wells Fargo and so forth. So that corner that the eyesore has always been the little hut in the middle there. And it's hard to get it has been hard to buy a drink. You have to get out and anyway. So this is a big improvement. So okay, at this time I'll entertain. Yes, sir. M. I have one one just question staff regarding the setback for the existing structure. How far is it right now?

Oh, it's quite a big as opposed to the northerly property. That's a good question. Uh if you give me one moment. I saw something about 15 ft 15 and 18 ft in there to clarify. Uh, you're asking about the existing setback from I'm sorry, this the existing setback of the fuel canopy to the rear property line. Yes. Okay. Could you just bring up the the diagram on there in your presentation because it showed some of the thing on there? Yes. From the setback. And then the setback has all I think has to do I don't know if it's all of it, but just the one side is the parking lot, right? And that's that was 55 ft. That I remembered that.

Yes. So, I want to get to this photo. Uh, so the existing setback from the uh I'll point I'll point on this screen over here. This structure to the rear property line is about 48 ft currently. Okay. And the new one's going to be a lot closer. The new one will have an 18t setback to the rear property line. Okay. I remembered I saw I saw the number 18 somewhere in there. And the car wash is going to be at the same location there. Correct. The car wash will not uh will only undergo exterior modifications to match the architectural style of the new building.

What? So that white building, that's the one I was talking about. I don't know what the the use is. It something I don't know. It looked medical to me or something like that. Um but that one there, so that's already there, right? And the car wash is not there. So that doesn't really impact it at all. Correct. Okay. And then there's 55 ft on the on the uh parking lot back there. So, okay. Correct. So, does that answer your question? Yes. Thank you. Okay. Great. All right. Um so, now what is the uh pleasure of the planning commission? May I have a motion in a second?

Yeah. Uh absolutely, Chair Garrett. I'll make a motion to accept staff recommendation and approve PLN2500 135 plus uh the additional items. Okay. And then PLN is would you amend your motion to also include PLN-24-000084? Uh yes sir. Okay. I'll second it. There's a motion in a second. Any further deliberations? Okay. Please vote. Great. Thank you. Vote of 5. Passes unanimously. Congratulations.

Thank you for investing in our community. We're glad you're here and we look forward to curious. I I know I can't Well, I can ask out loud. What's the time frame on this? Okay. Okay. So, in the next within the next year. Yeah. So, you're going to open right around the time that round one opens kind of thing. I just heard from the architect. We're hoping for June 2026. Done with Oh, okay. That'd be great. Thank you. All right. Thank you all. Okay. Great. Any further comments uh on there from the planning commissioner, community development or our birthday boy, Mr. Funk, our city attorney? Uh, no, nothing from me, but thank you.

Well, happy birthday, sir. We're we're happy for you. So, okay. So, were you guys celebrating your birthday across the the restaurant or something? No, he's going to go to the In-N-Out Burger now. Everybody following you with, you know, I was developing lunch just now. Just as I was thinking I did, too. I I'm serious. I'm probably going to go Could we uh Yeah, no kidding. We'll get in that long queue right now. Anyways, uh I I'm going to keep it short. I would be remissed if I didn't acknowledge the hard work of city uh planning division staff

on these uh three items. These have been uh a lot of time uh invested technical knowledge. um these planners and other teams that you noticed from public works um and other departments uh have gone to school have have loads of experience and they've poured all that experience into bringing these the three projects to you. So um I really want to commend their hard work um their uh passion for being very precise uh and uh being very responsive to the applicants as you heard today. Um, we are very very focused on being uh not just saying we're business friendly, but just really being practical in what we do and being responsive and working through uh solutions when we need to. So, I'm just very pleased with the staff and I just wanted to share that with you.

Thank you. We appreciate it. Uh, it was a long night. Um, one last thing is there will not be another meeting in December. So, the second meeting in December will not happen. Our next meeting will be January 6th. Uh, I want to wish everybody a great holidays on there. I enjoy working with every single one of you. Uh, we keep pushing the envelope forward. Our staff does a great job. If I can ask a favor as soon as we finish here, if I can if we can get the young man over there to take a photo of all of us up here and they're together and I want to include our great team over there, too. Uh, and so I want you in the photo, ma'am, on there. That's why I'm going to ask him on there because he took the long break. Uh, anyways, but uh, just happy holidays to everyone. It was it was uh it's great to work with you guys and we look forward to a great new year for the city of Downey.

There is one consent calendar. Oh, one second. I'm sorry. We have the consent calendar. Oh, we got to vote. Is that what you were saying too, Swatty? Or no, see, we were all saying goodbyes and happy golucky on there. Okay, you watch. The consent calendar won't pass now. No. Do I get a motion and a second to pass the consent calendar, please? So moved. Okay. Second it. Second it. I'll second it. Okay, great. We have a motion and a second on there. Please vote. You would have called us all back in here. Okay, two people, Elias and Hector, you got a vote on. Okay, great. Calendar passes with the vote.

Okay, now we can adjourn down there for the holidays and uh thank you all. So, and then wait a second. Can we get Yeah, hold on a second. Stay up here for a second. Let's get him. Will you come up here, sir, and be a photographer for us? I want it, but I want our staff in this, too. So, if you can just come from come back there. Oh, one with just you guys and then at us. No, we'll do it. Just do it from there. We're just going to sit down. We're going to sit. We're going to sit here like we normally do. We're going to sit like we normally do. You guys come up here. Down there. Yeah. You guys come up here. Leo, you you can stay there so we get you in the front where you're normal on there. I'm the secretary. No, you're not. It's like But you're part of the team. I'm looking for team. Do you want this? You got the commission alone.

We'll get one when afterwards. We'll get the second one on there. Will be No, you guys sit where you normally sit. Oh, we s