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Attachment 2 LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 3/8/2017 Item #5, 91 & 101 W. Main Street 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A P P E A R A N C E S: Los Gatos Planning Commissioners: Tom O'Donnell, Chair D. Michael Kane, Vice Chair Mary Badame Kendra Burch Melanie Hanssen Matthew Hudes Kathryn Janoff Town Manager: Laurel Prevetti Community Development Director: Joel Paulson Town Attorney: Robert Schultz Transcribed by: Vicki L. Blandin (510) 337-1558 LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 3/8/2017 Item #5, 91 & 101 W. Main Street 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 P R O C E E D I N G S: CHAIR O'DONNELL: This is Item 5, 91 and 101 West Main Street, Conditional Use Application U-16-008. I’ll ask for a Staff Report. LEVI HILL: Thank you. Good evening, Chair and Commissioners. The project in front of you tonight is the proposal from the applicant, Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company, requesting approval of a modification to their Conditional Use Permit, 91 through 101 West Main Street. Specifically, the Applicant is requesting to modify the existing Conditions of Approval to allow onsite beer and wine service as well as offsite beer and wine sales in compliance with the Town’s Alcoholic Beverage Policy. The Applicant is also requesting to modify existing Conditions of Approval to allow live entertainment before 10:00pm, and to allow hours of operation from 6:00am to 11:00pm seven days a week. The Planning Commission is considering the project this evening, as any request for alcohol service requires your review and recommendation to the Town Council. Additionally, the Planning Commission shall LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 3/8/2017 Item #5, 91 & 101 W. Main Street 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 approve any modifications to an existing CUP, including Conditions of Approval. As described in the Staff Report, the plan proposes no additional square footage or seating, and as such, there would be no increases in required parking. Written comments regarding their request were submitted to Staff and have been included in Exhibit 10. The proposed use is in conformance with the Town Code and is consistent with the General Plan; therefore Staff recommends that the Planning Commission review the findings in Exhibit 2 and consider making a recommendation to Town Council for approval of the project, with Conditions of Approval as shown in Exhibit 3. This completes Staff’s presentation, however I’ll be happy to answer any questions. CHAIR O’DONNELL: Thank you, Mr. Hill, there are questions. I’m going to start at the far end with Commissioner Hudes. COMMISSIONER HUDES: I had a question about Condition 7 on Exhibit 3; it’s about the securable barrier. There’s a condition that the Applicant must maintain a securable barrier between 101 and 109 West Main Street, and it seems that in the original conditions that was related to special events. Is there a reason to require a securable LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 3/8/2017 Item #5, 91 & 101 W. Main Street 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 barrier if there is not the same requirement on special events? LEVI HILL: That condition was produced as a result of the previous Conditional Use Permit that was approved at the space; that was for the Sympatico Pizza at 109 West Main Street. During that time they were authorized to have alcohol sales with their Conditional Use Permit, and as a result of that the Commission and Town Council felt it appropriate that a barrier separate those suites at all times, at which point a permanent barrier has been constructed and still remains. CHAIR O’DONNELL: Yes, go ahead. COMMISSIONER HUDES: So why is there the need to have a securable barrier? LEVI HILL: At this point it would be to just maintain the separation of the two suites, as well as the two Conditional Use Permits. JOEL PAULSON: From Staff’s perspective, if down the line someone opened it up without the Town’s approval, we would go back to the CUP and require that they have some kind of barrier between the two suites to separate them unless they decided to come in and modify one or both of the Conditions of Approval for the CUPs. COMMISSIONER HUDES: Okay, thank you. LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 3/8/2017 Item #5, 91 & 101 W. Main Street 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 CHAIR O’DONNELL: Yes, Commissioner Hanssen. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: I had several questions; I think they’re all pretty short. Offsite beer and wine service, there was a specific condition mentioned about they weren’t going to be serving beer and wine outside, so can you just help me understand what offsite beer and wine sales are then? LEVI HILL: Yes, the Applicant is proposing both onsite beer and wine service, and that would be for onsite consumption served with a meal. They’re also proposing offsite beer and wine sales that are proposed for offsite consumption, so it would be like buying a bottle of beer or a bottle of wine to take home. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: All right. Because they have a retail shop now where you can buy coffee, so they would have beer and wine that you could buy and take home with you. Okay, that clears it up. Second question: Are there other restaurants with a CUP that have operating ability until 11:00pm? I just did my own quick sanity check of every place I knew in the area, and I was finding lots of 8:00 and 9:00 and 9:30, and maybe one 10:00 o'clock, but I didn’t find any 11:00 o'clock. Are you aware of other restaurants in the area that are allowed to stay open until 11:00? LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 3/8/2017 Item #5, 91 & 101 W. Main Street 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 LEVI HILL: I don’t have the specific operating hours for the other businesses, so unfortunately I can’t answer that at this time. JOEL PAULSON: Just to add to that, there are a number of businesses that have Conditional Use Permits that do permit hours that late and even later, however, many businesses choose not to exercise the full use of those. I could try to pull up existing Conditional Use Permits while you’re going through the public hearing and see if I can get a few of them that have that. For instance, I’m very sure that Hult’s has that opportunity to go to at least 11:00, if not later, and that is a restaurant. Gardino also goes past that, so there are other businesses that do have hours that late, many of them just don’t exercise that option. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: Okay, so it’s a question of what they’re permitted to do versus the choice that they make in actually operating their business? JOEL PAULSON: Correct. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: I’ll just make my last question for now. This is related to comparing to other restaurants, and the thing that came up in my mind is is this a trend where coffee places want to do beer and wine? When I did some research it seemed like Starbucks had LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 3/8/2017 Item #5, 91 & 101 W. Main Street 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 started going down that path, and then they were kind of pulling back on it to a certain extent. The thing I worried about was are we going to get a bunch of other requests now to do beer and wine in addition to coffee for every other coffee place in Los Gatos? But I thought maybe, I just don’t know, are there other similar coffee places that are thinking about doing beer and wine or are doing it already? LEVI HILL: Like you said, Starbucks had originally started that process, but for whatever reason decided not to follow through. I’m not familiar with the other coffee establishments that serve beer and wine, although the existing CUP for this space is actually for a restaurant. It is specifically a coffee shop, but it is for a restaurant. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: Okay, thank you. CHAIR O’DONNELL: Commissioner Badame. COMMISSIONER BADAME: I just wanted to add Grill 57 onto the list when we were trying to remember restaurants or bars that have been approved for late night service, and that was something that came before the Planning Commission a couple of years ago that we did approve. It’s right by my house, so I know for a fact to Grill 57 along with Hult’s for Commissioner Hanssen. LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 3/8/2017 Item #5, 91 & 101 W. Main Street 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 CHAIR O'DONNELL: Before I call on Vice Chair Kane, he pointed to me that I had not asked if all of us had visited. It seemed to me unlikely that anybody hasn’t visited, but may I see a show of hands for all who have visited the site? Thank you. All right, Vice Chair Kane. VICE CHAIR KANE: I get promoted and fired five times a night. I had the same concern as Commissioner Hanssen when I read the Staff Report, and I was curious about the use of the words offsite for consumption of beer and wine, how that could be misunderstood. I visited the site and saw the benches outside the facility. Now, these are used all day long by folks who buy coffee and go outside and sit and drink their coffee, and I said to the Applicant, “Would these benches be used for consumption of beer and wine?” and the answer was, “Hell, no.” But the Staff Report was not solid on that point of what does offsite mean. CHAIR O'DONNELL: Is this a liquor license issue? Because the offsite I believe is the ABC requirement; that answers itself. Offsite sales are like a liquor store, if I recall correctly. ROBERT SCHULTZ: They wouldn’t be able to, because there wouldn’t be that separation barrier from the LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 3/8/2017 Item #5, 91 & 101 W. Main Street 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 public to where they were and they couldn’t get a barrier where their little benches are, so there’s no possibility ABC would allow it. But if that is a concern, you could put that as a condition that it was (inaudible). VICE CHAIR KANE: I don’t know anywhere in Town where they sit outside on a bench and… ROBERT SCHULTZ: The new German restaurant, Nasch, they have an area, but as you can see there’s a barrier around them. ABC requires that any time there are alcohol sales that allow it for outside, so even if you buy it there for not even the offsite consumption, even if you buy it there and you’re drinking inside and you want to go outside in that little area, it’s not going to be allowed under ABC, because you have to have some separation barrier, a patio area, and there’s not enough room for that. VICE CHAIR KANE: Thank you. LEVI HILL: It is listed in Condition 6 that no beer and wines sales or service shall take place in the outdoor seating area. CHAIR O'DONNELL: All right, are there other questions? If not, I will call on the Applicant, Teri Hope. TERI HOPE: Good evening, and thank you for hearing me tonight. I really appreciate that fact that the LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 3/8/2017 Item #5, 91 & 101 W. Main Street 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Town has found the wisdom to allow entertainment in the evenings in businesses, and so I was excited about that as well as other ways I could augment my business. First of all, I’m Teri Hope; I live at 212 Bella Vista Avenue, born and raised in Los Gatos, and I’ve had my business here on West Main Street for 35 years and counting. Tonight I’m asking for CUP modification to eliminate the conditions that are currently imposed that restricts entertainment specifically. I’m also asking to amend my hours of operation and add the service of beer and wine to by Conditional Use Permit. My plan is to offer a traditional coffeehouse style entertainment, such as jazz, acoustic music, folk music, bluegrass, and poetry reading, as well as open mike nights. The music and poetry performances will allow the business to provide an additional attraction for clientele, and allow my business to be on par with other establishments that are offering a venue for light entertainment under the Town’s new Entertainment Ordinance. In conjunction with this application I am also requesting the addition of Type 20 and Type 41 beer and wine licenses with the intention of serving locally produced boutique wines and craft beers with meals inside LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 3/8/2017 Item #5, 91 & 101 W. Main Street 11 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 my café, and for retail sales for beer and wine to take home. I’m also requesting the addition of a tasting area to allow for measured pours, wine tasting, and wine appreciation activities in a limited area of my operation. I am requesting these changes so my business can remain competitive in an evolving marketplace by adding complementary products and services that meet the expectations of today’s sophisticated clientele. Expanding the beverage options to include beer and wine will allow a more desirable evening dining experience for my customers, complement the entertainment, and add new revenue to support the ever-growing overhead of my business. I believe my café’s bistro style menu and casual coffeehouse environment will add a unique and affordable blend of services, which will enhance the variety of the offerings in our downtown and is in keeping with the Town’s General Plan, so I ask for your recommendation to go to Council for approval. Thank you. CHAIR O'DONNELL: Thank you. We’ll see if there are any questions. Are there questions? Commissioner Hanssen. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: Thank you for your presentation. Could you answer the question that I was LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 3/8/2017 Item #5, 91 & 101 W. Main Street 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 asking Staff about why you want to be open to 11:00? Here’s what I was thinking: All these other places are closed down and it’s really quiet around there, then you can’t have entertainment past 10:00, so why would you stay open till 11:00? TERI HOPE: Currently my CUP allows me to be open until 10:00pm. I’m assuming if I’m doing entertainment and service until 10:00pm, as we would complete entertainment and service of beer and wine at 10:00pm we’d still need some time to wrap up the evening, have people leave the premises, and for us to clean up the facility, so I’m asking for the one hour addition there. I would assume also that I would probably not be using it on a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday night, but rather on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday evenings when it’s normal for pedestrians to be out in the evening, walking around and enjoying entertainment or a glass or wine. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: Then a follow up question. The beer and wine sales would be limited to inside versus outside? TERI HOPE: Absolutely. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: But what about the entertainment? There’s nothing in the terms and conditions LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 3/8/2017 Item #5, 91 & 101 W. Main Street 13 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 that I saw. Is there any chance that you would be doing poetry reading or acoustic music outside? TERI HOPE: My building fronts on the sidewalk, so we don’t do any service out the front door, and it’s all lockable/closable and partitioned essentially, and in accordance with ABC laws we would not be serving outdoors on public sidewalks; that simply wouldn’t happen. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: So there would be no point in having entertainment out there either? TERI HOPE: We would not have entertainment outdoors, and we would not serve outdoors, or allow clientele to leave the front door with any wine, aside from a bottle that was not opened that they were taking home, that they had purchased for retail and for take-home consumption. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: Then one last question. The Alcohol Policy requires there to be food served with beer and wine, but there is an exception made for tastings, and I just remembered like, for instance, going to Testarossa for tasting, and food was kind of a big part of that, and you could actually end up consuming a fair amount of wine, and so you’d probably want… Is it an option for people to have food? I mean do you encourage them to have… LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 3/8/2017 Item #5, 91 & 101 W. Main Street 14 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 TERI HOPE: Absolutely. More then 50% of my sales today are food related products, not beverage. We do savory crepes, dessert crepes, we have a variety of cheese platters and meat platters, and things like that that we will be making available, and expanding our menu indeed to meet the evening desires of people who are having a light evening meal, and that would be included… We always like to have a food item to complement wine. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: And you would offer that for tastings as well as… TERI HOPE: For tastings it would be included in the service as a complementary item, and then it would be for purchase with a glass of wine if you were seated in the café. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: Okay, thank you so much. TERI HOPE: You’re welcome. CHAIR O'DONNELL: Other questions? Yes, Commissioner Janoff. COMMISSIONER JANOFF: Just a clarification, because I was confused. In Exhibit 5, your application, our written description of the project, your hours of operation state that you propose expanding your hours of operation Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday until 10:00pm, but in the CUP you’re asking for it to be extended until LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 3/8/2017 Item #5, 91 & 101 W. Main Street 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 11:00pm, and in your comments you’re asking for it to extend to 11:00pm, so if this document is going to follow a favorable recommendation I would suggest that it be corrected so that it reflects what you’ve told us and is consistent with the CUP. TERI HOPE: My original submittal included the earlier hours and more limited hours, and when I met with Staff they encouraged me to be consistent, and so my updated information that I submitted had the more expanded hours. TERI HOPE: That’s not what I see, but it’s minor. But I was confused about the 11:00 or 10:00, or 10:00 or 11:00. JOEL PAULSON: Staff can address that either now… I’ll address that now. Ms. Hope is correct. Things evolve over time, so it doesn’t make sense to… If the Commission decides to make recommendation of approval to the Council and that it’s appropriate all seven days a week to limit that, otherwise what happens is there’s a large expense in time incurred to come back and in two or five or eight years to modify to add Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday should things change, and so the hours are requested to 11:00pm. She already has approval to go to 10:00pm, and then the days of the week, that was Staff’s recommendation. LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 3/8/2017 Item #5, 91 & 101 W. Main Street 16 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 COMMISSIONER JANOFF: Okay, thank you. My issue wasn’t with the CUP, it was with the written description of the project which they’re only operating until 10:00pm, so I think you might want to just change that to reflect 11:00pm on those days that there may be a desire to be open later. JOEL PAULSON: Sure, and we typically go with the CUP conditions. We don’t go back to the Letter of Justification unless there’s an issue that comes up that we need to further research. CHAIR O'DONNELL: Other questions? Thank you, Ms. Hope. There are no other cards, so assume you’re through, but you now arguably have more time. TERI HOPE: Thank you very much. I think I’m finished with my presentation. Thank you for your consideration and your time. CHAIR O'DONNELL: Thank you. I’ll close the public comment and now ask if there are any questions, comments, or a motion? Vice Chair Kane. VICE CHAIR KANE: I’m prepared to make a motion. CHAIR O'DONNELL: Please do. VICE CHAIR KANE: In covering the preamble, as Staff said, the proposed use is desirable to the public convenience and welfare and that it will provide a dining LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 3/8/2017 Item #5, 91 & 101 W. Main Street 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 entertainment option for residents and visitors downtown. The business has been there, it is in its 36th year, it is part of the Town brand, and there has been extraordinary involvement on the part of the owner and the employees in Town affairs, so I think that covers the essential, desirable public welfare. So I say I can make the finding that the proposed project is categorically exempt, subject to Section 15301 of CEQA, as adopted by the Town. I make the required finding as required by Section 29.21.90 of the Town Code for granting approval of a CUP. I suggest we recommend to Town Council approval of CUP application U-16-008 with the conditions contained in Exhibit 3. CHAIR O'DONNELL: Commissioner Badame. COMMISSIONER BADAME: I second the motion. CHAIR O'DONNELL: Any comments? I’ll call the question, then. All in favor? It passes unanimously. Thank you. Appeal rights? JOEL PAULSON: Since this is a recommendation, there are no appeal rights. It will be forwarded to the Town Council for consideration. CHAIR O'DONNELL: Thank you.