Remarks by Brad Steward
115 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 3 of 5
- Play at 2:22:21
“Pardon me? I like that approach. Is your speaker on? I'm not sure if this is the best venue or not for that, but I think we can help you get to that.”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 2:28:24
“What does the word unusual mean in the term unusual events?”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 2:28:58
“Yeah, I guess the big watch out is Ojai is built on unusual nurses. And that's a tricky one. I understand why the language is in there. I'm not saying that to be demeaning at all, but it's just a bit of a red... flag because people come here to do exceptional and unique things and so your words count so we need to be Careful around that if I'm in the car club and Jay Leno is holding dinner at a cafe in town That's not unusual. That might be something I want to go to also if there is a breathing event In town that I want to go learn something about somatic breathing and I'm into that. That's…”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 2:30:01
“I'm not a Marilyn Manson fan Marilyn Manson probably has different standards of deviation than I might but anyways, it's a Just I think we need to be very precise about that. A lot of people come to Ohio, I would argue a core value of the town is the right to be unusual and different in a unique and innovative way. To me that's a core value of Ohio, so I would just mention that.”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 2:38:36
“As long as she has an ABC-approved kitchen for a Type 41 operation, and we approve it for the patio, right okay and we approve it for the patio she is allowed to have children there yes it's it's kind of half in our purview and half out actually I mean I mean the community development director does have to write to ABC they ask the city and say is this approved so are there any distinctions we need to be aware of and regarding children inside the building versus on the patio no okay”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 2:40:16
“Walk me through why we would not do that. Just let me understand that side, or what's the counter argument to the way we may be leaning?”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 2:40:46
“More like a bar. I think specifics help us. Pardon? I think specifics help us. They eliminate ambiguity for people.”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 2:41:41
“Yeah, I think what we're learning tonight is that there are these businesses on the seams where one zoning meets another, where you have people who are impacted. And so specificity, I think.”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 2:47:10
“I wonder if the operator would consider a little bit of a limitation there. And you could set the parameters. But for example, events are only Wednesday through Sunday.”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 2:47:45
“Yeah, and maybe it's a middle ground between the operator accepting, hey, I'll only do events Wednesday through Sunday, because that's sort of PICO. And then if there were an exception, there would be a TUP applied for so that they are flagged. And then you're probably in a position to say to whoever wants to hold that special event, by the way, guys, you have to pay the fee for a permit. I need to know 45 to 60 days in advance, and you go through that. That TUP process and I do think the notifications to the neighbors and everything would be great there.”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 2:48:38
“I mean, there's a certain, having, you know, ran a lot of events in Ojai, there's a certain on-the-ground reality to the kind of people who come to events in the given time that they come. Typically, there are not big Monday night events. And if there is something that's community-oriented, or Monday or Tuesday, if it's community-oriented, you know, Wednesday Wednesday on is kind of when you do that and that relates to chasing labor to work these events and all sorts of you know different things there but”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 2:53:49
“The tricky one is the noise ordinance is what it is. 7 AM, you can hit your blower in some parts of town. And then going under the principle of you have to be a better neighbor than the code requires, if you're backing trucks up at 7 a.m., You're not you know, you're not operating and in a way that's gonna be Good for you in the end. You're gonna have a business filled with conflict, you know, and so It's a it's a tricky one, you know We can't really do anything about the noise ordinance. But on the other hand you you have to Operate a business around it and you all have to live a life around…”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:00:14
“Yeah, one way of thinking about it would be to work backwards. So again, just injecting a little bit of operating experience, nine o'clock, things are pretty quiet. So if you do have something going after 9 p.m., it's usually a special event, and then you get into the gray zone of who you're impacting and how you're impacting them a little bit. So if we kind of said, well, 9 p.m. feels like an okay stopping point now, and then rationally for the business to serve lunch, probably somebody has to be in there doing something at around 9.30 a.m., 9 a.m., I don't know.”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:01:06
“Yeah, at 9 a.m., everything's going everywhere in town, generally speaking.”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:04:25
“Yeah, and every restaurant has what I would call the Lord of Flies effect, too, that when you get a bunch of kids and alcohol and people in a place, the operator steps in and issues a certain amount of control. Having witnessed some of the earlier bars getting going with families and alcohol and everything, it reels back in pretty quick. So I do think there's gonna be some organic solutions there. Have kind of a radical idea and I don't I don't know if it's in our purview. I like what we're doing here I think this is super valuable and I think using your words if I put myself in the shoes of…”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:07:27
“Yeah, and there's always a question of who owns the problem. Ultimately the city does own the problem. It's our zoning map and even the little wrinkle of do we have an M here or not an M? We own the problem a little bit and so I don't wanna shove the solution off on the parties because it seems like there's been a lot of acrimony. But I do think we could help them get there. And I know, not speaking for Bruce, but both Bruce and I volunteered the time we met you We urged you, make this your last stop for a solution, not your first stop. Make this your last stop where you guys come in and…”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:09:11
“OK. Talk to me about hours. Wait. I'm sorry. I don't want to interrupt you. But I do want to acknowledge something here. And I'm just going to use plain words because it's already a complicated issue. There are power dynamics here that I think the neighborhood is not aware of. You have a young woman running a business, and when people hit her with heat in the parking lot, that's not gonna get a solution for anybody. I don't know if that's true. I don't know if that's the real dynamic or not, but it is a little bit of a perception issue, and I do think you guys need to be aware of that. And…”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:13:56
“And can the city facilitate those and help?”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:13:59
“Yeah. We would like that. So the walk away for all parties is what's worse? That's a question I would be asking myself walking out the door. What's worse, for the planning commission to set these caps or for us collectively to set it? Because as a planning commission, we don't know. Well, we know, but we might not set a solution that fits you or you. And so what's worse? That's the walk away question here, I think.”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:15:51
“I'm okay with keeping it as staff recommended I'm just reading through here I mean I look at this like I look at elections within 60 days of the hearing there should be no it should be a gray period where no party can issue anything that influences the other party”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:26:39
“Can I just hear the motion one more time? Did anybody log that?”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:27:35
“And the logic for not stating a period of time that we come back on this. Lucas is what again?”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:43:44
“And right now you need IT. I was going to say, I don't need it.”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:45:56
“as a reminder we have to spend a few hours here um”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 4:15:19
“PL is typically non-tariff revenue generating? Is that correct?”
Planning Commission · Aug 5, 2026