Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. I'd like to call to order the Wednesday, July 15th, 2026 Zoning Administrator Special Meeting. Ms. Galina, first up, gender review.

We only have one item on the agenda, and this item was continued from the June 24th Zoning Administrator Meeting, and it's the Raymond Vineyards Winery Napa Knockout Temporary Event Category 4, and it's going to be presented by Joseph Doda.

Great. Thank you.

That's all we have on the agenda.

Perfect. Well, at this point, I will take item 2A and officially open the public hearing for Raymond Vineyards Winery Napa Knockout Combat Sports Legacy and Honor Gala Temporary Event Application P2600139. Mr. Dota, the floor is yours.

Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Parker, Ms. McMahon. Joseph Dota with the Planning, Building, and Environmental Services here in Napa County. To present item 2A, the item before you is a request for a Category 4 temporary event application filed by Rebecca Johnson of O'Donnell Lane on behalf of Association of Boxing Commissions. So for the application, Nap and Knockout Combat Sports Legacy and Honor Gala is proposed to be held at Raymond Winery at 849 Zinfandel Lane on July 25th, 2026 for a maximum of 600 people. Event parking and valet shuttle service will be conducted at the Ranch Winery. at 105 Zinfandel Lane, and the event will take place from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. with shuttle service concluding at 10.30 p.m. This event will be open to the public and limited by the number of tickets sold. This is the first time this event is taking place in its location and therefore must be approved by the zoning administrator pursuant to County Code Chapter 5.36. In evaluating this proposal to ensure compliance with the temporary event manual minimum standards table, the application was distributed for review and comment to PBES departments. Furthermore, this application was distributed to the applicable county departments, being Fire, Public Works, Sheriff's Office, and EMS, and outside agencies, being California Highway Patrol. This proposal was reviewed and approved by California Highway Patrol on May 12th and Napa County Sheriff on May 18th. for the site plan. It'll be at Raymond Vineyards Winery at 849 Zinfandel Lane again. That APN is 030-270-027000. The project site will be accessed via Zinfandel Lane. As shown on the event site aerial, the event venue features two distinct event spaces, designated drop off areas and valet service at the VIP entrance, a food truck alley, and ADA compliant restrooms throughout. Event space one features the gala space and event space two features the boxing ring and seats. To go over further detail for the boxing ring, event space two is surrounded by ample seating. The ring is 576 square feet and three feet tall. At any given time, the ring is expected to have two fighters and one referee. The event is providing catered food through a permitted caterer off the grid. In addition, all access to the event, seating, and restrooms will be ADA compliant. A medical standby services agreement was signed on June 15th. for two advanced life support or ALS ambulances for the duration of the event. The boxing part of the proposed event will occur within the crush pad area of Raymond Vineyard Winery. This space is currently approved as a S2 winery production or storage space and is proposed to host a temporary assembly group A occupancy during the event. Napa County Building Department requested an occupancy load and egress analysis be prepared, signed, and stamped by a California licensed design professional, such as a licensed architect or licensed professional engineer, acting within the scope of their license. Napa County expects the occupancy load and egress analysis will adequately demonstrate compliance with California building code requirements, including adequate egress and ingress for persons with disabilities, along with meeting the standards within the temporary events manual. Furthermore, inspections will be required and conducted upon installation and prior to commencement of the event. for the Ranch Winery parcel. The majority of the event guest parking will be provided offsite at the Ranch Winery. Guests will drop off their vehicles for valet parking and take a shuttle to the event venue located at Raymond Winery. On-site parking at Raymond Vineyards will be available for VIPs, rideshare slash private transportation drop-off, boxing participants, and staff. Guests will be guided by attendants to parking spaces within the Ranch Winery paved areas. And all parking shuttle services, again, will be concluded by 1030. So in conclusion. Therefore, at this time, staff has determined that the applicant will adequately address and demonstrate full compliance with the minimum standards table in the temporary event manual before the event. In addition, this public hearing has been noticed of property owners within 1,000 feet of the event parcel and other interested parties, as well as circulated in the Napa Valley Register on June 11th. This all being said, staff recommend finding the project ministerially exempt from California Environmental Quality Act and approve the temporary approval of the requested permit subject to compliance with County Code Chapter 5.36 and all applicable minimum standards in the temporary events manual prior to the event. This concludes the presentation. Staff and applicant are available for questions. Thank you.

Thank you. At this time, I'd like to give the applicant an opportunity to speak if you'd like. Otherwise, you can pass.

Hi, my name is Rebecca Johnson. I am partner owner at O'Donnell Lane, and we are the planning and production team for the event. I just first want to start by saying thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to speak and to the thorough nature of your review of our application. We did complete the occupancy load analysis that was sent to us last night. I did forward that off to the appropriate committee members this morning, so that has been shared. It did show that we are in compliance based on a guess count that we are aiming for, which is actually going to be closer to 400. And it gave us the occupancy load analysis at 458. So hopefully if everyone has a chance to review that in advance, that will deem necessary. We also, to Mr. Dada's point, noticed that we have hired both ambulance services as well as CHP at both entrances. We have a full security team on site that was hired separately as well as a third-party vendor, valet services, and our full event production team. We're here for questions if you have any otherwise. We look forward to providing any necessary documentation.

Thank you. Before I get to questions, I would like to open it up to public comment. And I would like to remind everyone that unlike conditional use permits or other discretionary permits, temporary event permits are ministerial and shall be approved and issued if the minimum standards contained in the minimum standards table of the temporary events manual are met. As such, the public should be limited to whether the minimum standards have or have not been met or will likely be met before the event. Any permits, approvals or authorizations required from other agencies, departments or divisions must be satisfied prior to the event. So at this time I will take any public comment. I'm showing none in the room. Do we have any?

We have one caller. Chris, you will have three minutes.

Can you guys hear me?

Yes, go ahead.

Hey, my name is Chris Gruel. I'm a California State Athletic Commissioner. And I just want to call and thank this body and everyone else in Napa County that we've had the honor to work with putting this event together. For those who don't know, combat sports is governed on a state-by-state basis, and we are that governing body here in California. And we are really proud that we are the only state in the country that provides these types of benefits for retired boxers. And this event will help us put much needed funds into that public account. So as boxers come online, there'll be enough resources in there to pay those benefits appropriately. So again, I want to thank everybody for the time they put into helping us steer this event through the process. And again, on behalf of the state of California and the California State Athletic Commission, Napa, you've been great to work with and we want to say thank you.

Great. Thank you for your comment. Any additional callers?

No other callers.

Given that, I will close public comment and I will move to a couple of questions for staff or Ms. Johnson. I saw in reviewing the staff report that the application originally showed 600 attendees, but based on the request from the building division for an occupancy load and egress analysis, you guys landed at 458.

Correct. That was the occupancy load analysis result. We've actually kind of capped our seating at 400. So our current CAD drawing shows 407 seats.

Okay. So you would be amenable to amending your asks to limit to 407?

Absolutely.

And has the building, Mr. Dota, do you know if the building has had a chance to review and had any feedback on that occupancy load analysis?

I know they're currently in the midst of reviewing. I have yet to receive a determination.

Okay. Is the building in a position to opine on that occupancy load analysis?

Dave Giudice, Chief Building Official, County of Napa. Yeah, we did receive the review and are currently reviewing it. We have a few questions. Paul Kelly, who is the architect that prepared the analysis, will be reaching out to him shortly so we can kind of straighten out a few odds and ends. But as far as the – it's consistent with what is being said here that we'll be probably able to work through these details. Okay.

Great. Thank you. Mm-hmm. Given the application, the staff's presentation, and my review of everything. I just want to ask Ms. Johnson, between now and the date of your event, you guys are willing to comply with even the minimum standards that haven't been met to date? You guys are willing to comply with the minimum standards table and all other requirements from agencies, departments, or reviewing divisions prior to the date of the event?

Yes. Correct.

Great. Thank you. Well, given that, I will find that the project is ministerially exempt from CEQA and approve the temporary event category 4 license P2600139 with the amendment to reflect max capacity of 407 attendees. and the applicant's agreement of complying with reviewing agencies, departments and divisions as well as the California building and fire code.

Thank you.

Thank you. With that, I will conclude today's hearing of the Is there something?

I just needed some clarification from Rebecca. That includes the 407 cap, includes all the volunteers, everybody that will be at the event. Is that correct?

In that space. In the ring capacity. Correct. Okay.

So there's other people outside.

There are two event locations. There's event one, which is sort of the, I would call that the reception space. That space would be separate. It's an open space. There's no walls. There's complete egress on all four sides. The food truck area as well, we did show a 20-foot egress for the fire marshal. But that is, again, outside of that production pad area. So the occupancy load analysis was for the production pad.

So the event could be bigger than 407?

If we included staff, not for attendees. We would not have more than 407 attendees.

So we'll limit it to 407 within the production ring area and then go with the original 600 max attendees for all event locations. Okay, understood. But the 407 max is for the ring area.

The production pad area, correct.

That suffices? Great. Any other last-minute questions? Thank you. Sorry.

Thank you for the clarification. Absolutely. Thank you.

Great. Well, at this point, I will conclude or adjourn the July 15, 2026, ZA meeting. Thank you.