Attachment 2
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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?
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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…
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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
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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.
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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
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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.