Attachment 06Ballard Schools, Inc. dba Cucina Bambini
1041 Lincoln Avenue • San Jose, CA 95125 • ph: 408-564-7773 • fa x: 408-521 -3666
May 26, 2016
Attn: Jocelyn Puga
Town of Los Gatos
Community Development Department
110 East Main Street
Los Gatos, CA 95030
RE : Planning Commission Conditions of Approval
Conditional Use Permit Application U-16-001
22 South Santa Cruz Avenue, Suite B (APN-510-45-014}
Dear Ms. Puga:
Thank you for the guidance you have provided throughout the Conditional Use Permit process, and
in particular for presenting our application to the Planning Commission on May 11, 2016. As we
approach the Town Council meeting scheduled for June 7, we thought it m ight be helpful to
provide some clarification of our position regarding the additional conditions of approval
recommended by the Planning Commission .
The conditions, as they have been presented to us by staff following the Planning Commission
meeting, are listed below, along with our responses to each.
1. The applicant shall inform customers of alternate parking options in the Town.
We already plan to do this as a courtesy to our customers, however we are unclear
as to why this should be a condition for Cucina Bambini if it is not a condition for all other
businesses in the Town.
2. A Cucina Bambini employee shall be present when non-employees teach a class (i.e. guest chef).
Cucina Bambini staff is always present, even in rare instances where we have a guest
instructor.
3 . The language of the condition for the maximum numbers shall state instructors and/or staff and
students and/or customers.
This appears to be more of a suggestion for drafting condition #6, rather than a
condition .
4. No alcohol shall be served when minors are present.
We do not agree with this condition. Some of our private or scheduled events
involve both adults and children (e .g., private cooking parties or family gatherings, family
,ATTACHMENT 6
pizza or pasta night, or parent/child classes), and we know of no restaurant or other
business with a Class 41 On-sale Beer and Wine license that is required to not serve beer or
wine when children are present . We have never been in violation of our California Alcohol
and Beverage Control license requirements, nor have we ever had a single complaint at our
current Cucina Bambini location in Willow Glen. We feel that imposing such a restriction on
Cucina Bambini in Los Gatos would be arbitrary and unreasonable.
5 . There shall be a review of the CUP by the Planning Commission at the three month, six month,
nine month, and one year period from when the business commences operation.
This condition is unclear. What is the intended purpose of such reviews, and what
would they consist of? Do any other businesses in Los Gatos have quarterly or even annual
reviews by the Planning Commission? We look forward to being a member of the Los Gatos
business community and would gladly submit to whatever periodic reviews or compliance
audits are imposed on all other downtown businesses as a matter of Town policy; however
we strongly disagree with any such condition to the extent it is mandated or applied
unequally or unfairly to our business.
6. Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. the maximum number of students shall be
16 and the maximum number of instructors shall be two. After 5:30 p.m. Monday through
Friday and from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday the maximum number of students
shall be 31 and the maximum number of instructors shall be three.
In our application, we proposed a condition that would allow us to increase the
number of staff members on-site, such that for each additional staff member the maximum
number of customers would decrease by 3 (in accordance with the Town parking formula,
which requires one parking space for each staff member and one parking space for every 3
customers). This unfortunately led to confusion and lengthy discussion at the Commission
meeting. It is still unclear to us why the maximum number of staff should be fixed if the
Town Code allows otherwise. However, if the Council agrees with the Planning
Commission's recommendation then we can agree to accept this condition.
We hope the Council Members will consider this letter when reviewing our CUP application and the
recommendations from the Planning Commission, and we look forward to the prospect of opening
a new Cucina Bambini location in the Town of Los Gatos.
Shelley Ballard
President
email: shelley@cucinabambini.com
Phone :408-564-7773
Rick Ballard
Vice President
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