Is it time to go?
Good evening.
Thanks for attending this March 20th
Design Review Commission meeting.
Just as a heads up, if you'd like to address the commission,
please fill out a speaker's card now.
When invited by myself, bring the card
to the commission secretary and state clearly your name,
address, and who you would like to represent,
or who you represent.
The purpose of the public hearing
to supply a design review commission with information that they cannot otherwise obtain.
Therefore, limit your testimony with factual information that will assist in decision-making
process for the topic at hand.
In order to facilitate an efficient meeting, please avoid repeating testimony and observe
any time limits which may be announced.
No new items will be introduced after 11 p.m. unless the commission so votes.
Thank you.
Okay, so with that
Mr. Secretary, can we do a roll call please?
Yes
Commissioner Weingarten
president commissioner via here chair Newsom. I am here
commissioners
Killian and case phoned in with an absent tonight. So they'll be gone. We have three we have a quorum and I like to I'd like to
Welcome our new commissioner Peter Weingarten to the Design Review Commission and welcome to Walnut Creek. Thank you
Welcome. Okay, so first let's talk about items on the consent calendar. And it looks like we
have the adoption of the meeting minutes. Move the election. Oh, right. Okay. Chip.
Okay, so I would recommend that we that we move the election of the chair and the vice chair to
the end of the meeting. That would take a motion and a second if everybody agrees. I so motion.
second show of hands or eyes aye nay no no motion passes we'll move that item to the end of the
agenda thanks let's not forget um consent calendar so do we have any items on the consent calendar
tonight we do we have the adoption of minutes from february 21st i move to approve those minutes
Second. We'll do a roll call vote. Commissioner Valia? Yes. Commissioner Weingarten? Yes.
Jaron Newsom? Yes. Motion passes. Three no. Okay, so item three, public communications. This portion
of the meeting is reserved for comment items on the agenda. Under the Brown Act, the commission
cannot act on items raised during public communications, but may respond briefly
to statements made or questions posed. Request clarification or refer an item to staff.
Do we have any such public communications tonight?
Seeing none, let's move on to item four,
which is the public hearing.
Before we begin that,
has anybody had any ex parte communications
regarding this project?
Not me.
No.
Nor have I.
So let's go ahead and move to the first item on the agenda,
which is the stereo 41 restaurant.
Does staff have a presentation?
Good evening, commissioners.
Brittany Lenore, Associate Planner
with the Community Development Department.
And I'm here tonight to present
a Design Review Application for stereo 41.
And one second, this doesn't work.
Okay, there we go.
So stereo 41 is proposing to occupy
a vacant building at 1535 Bonanza Street
that was previously occupied by a PG&E
as a customer center office.
The work that will be needed to convert this building
to be usable as a restaurant includes a 412 square foot
addition towards the back of the building for the kitchen.
An existing covered patio fronting Bonanza Street
will be converted to an outdoor dining area,
a new covered patio area to be used
as outdoor dining of 435 square feet.
And due to the increased capacity needs
and a new trash enclosure is proposed along commercial lane.
Like I said, this site is on the corner of Bonanza Street and Commercial Lane, the existing
pedestrian zoning district and general plan land use designation is pedestrian retail,
which is intended to provide for a wide range of retail uses that will create a lively and
walkable environment.
The immediate context consists of similarly sized retail and restaurant uses along Bonanza
Street and Locust Street.
The front facade of the building, which is facing Bonanza Street, you'll see on the
top is the proposed, the bottom is an existing view.
The proposed brick is going to be painted white and the existing beige stucco areas
will also be painted white. The existing roof fascia is proposed to be painted black and the
existing window system will remain but the trim will be painted a brass color to match other brass
elements on the storefront. The new outdoor dining area under the existing patio roof will be
designated and separate from the entry by a combination of planter boxes that will be finished
with smooth stucco and off-white beige breeze blocks to create a sense of space for the
outdoor dining area.
Okay, so Chip is just getting some samples that he will be passing around while I talk
about the facade.
So the facade facing commercial lane will be remodeled in the same way as the front
facade so those red brick areas will be painted white and the addition at the back for the new
kitchen will be finished with a white stucco to match the rest of the building. At the areas of
the existing patio roof there will be pink glass blocks that are proposed to provide some contrast
in color and the roof fascia existing is brown that will be painted black so the extended
portion of the outdoor dining off commercial lane was previously previously utilized as
two tandem parking spaces but in December 2023 the city council approved the applicant
to pay a fee in lieu of providing onsite parking
at that area because of the limited usability
and space off of commercial lane.
The outdoor area will have the same combination
of planter boxes and breeze blocks
that's seen on the Bonanza elevation
and this outdoor dining area will be roofed
with a roof that's finished with metal panel.
And as previously mentioned, the change of use
will require additional and expanded trash facilities.
And so the proposed trash enclosure
is sited towards the back of the building
and will be finished with the same white brick
and black roof as seen throughout the building.
The rooftop equipment will be sited towards the back
of the building to reduce its visibility
and will also be shielded by a black metal louver screen.
So this combination of colors and materials
stereo 41 is proposing will create a cohesive and interesting design that will add to the
traditional downtown. The simple black and white color scheme with the addition of brass
elements in the signage, front door, and window trim and the pink through the glass blocks
and the flowers will add a pop of color throughout the facade. So speaking of the flowers, there
there will be some bougainvillea flowers,
you can see a color sample under me.
The flowers in the planter box will be real flowers
and they will be in the planter boxes,
fronting bonanza and fronting commercial lane.
And so three signs are proposed.
One is a 15.42 square foot sign on the roof fascia.
Another is a 3.15 square foot sign
on the right side of the facade.
and there's one six square foot menu board.
So the signs will be a brass finish and backlit.
There is also a fourth sign,
but it's behind the area at the outdoor dining area
and not visible from the street.
So it's not going to be counted in the overall sign area.
And so this project is exempt from CEQA
as an existing facility,
as it will involve alteration
in addition of less than 50% of the existing floor area
and less than 2,500 square feet.
So staff recommends the Design Review Commission move
to determine that the project is exempt from CEQA
and adopt the draft resolution
approving the proposed remodel
in addition for the stereo 41 restaurant
as conditioned in the draft resolution
included as attachment one.
So thank you for your time
and I'm available for any questions you may have
And the applicant is here as well with a presentation.
Any questions for staff?
No, thank you.
The most simple one, what is stereo 41?
So the applicant can explain it a little better,
but as it was described in the business plan,
stereo 41 pays homage to mid-century modern
and there's some other things
that the applicant can expand on.
And I'm good, so.
We will load up the applicant.
Load up the applicant presentation, then.
And when you come up, please introduce yourself.
Say who you are, what do you represent.
Again, any members of the public who want to speak,
please put your card in.
Thank you, commissioners, for taking the time
to listen to us today.
My name is Helmi Sahibit.
I'm one of the management team.
Also of the management team, we have Victor Gabin.
We have Sofia Gebin as well.
Also not present with us are Natalie Alcair and Burt Gibbs,
who couldn't be with us today.
On behalf of the management team,
I would like to say we're very happy
and we're very happy and determined
to make this successful project for Walnut Creek.
We run through the plans of the pedestrian retail zone
and look at the goals,
and I think that is very much in line with that.
More so than that,
we are deeply committed
and invested in this community.
This is not our first restaurant.
We already have a few businesses,
namely World Famous Hot Boys through Victor Gaby and Burke,
Lita through my wife, Sophia.
And this will be our third business investment
just in a few years.
And we love this town.
We are deeply committed to its growth.
And so it's not just a business element for us,
it's also our home.
Our kids were born here, Sophia was born here,
so we are deeply and heavily rooted in making this
a success and a success story for Walnut Creek.
Moving on to the building itself.
When we first saw that this was available,
we sat together and we automatically thought
that this is a really, really good opportunity
for a restaurant.
The allure of its location, it's very central
pedestrian retail zone. It works well with Broadway Plaza and all the way
through Loca Street. The design of the building as well, mid-century, very
appealing to us. Not just that, there's an element of nostalgia there as well.
Some of us grew up running on the side of that street while our parents were
working in La Ultima, which was now Havana. So it also adds a touch of
nostalgia to us.
And Stereo 41, I'll touch that because you asked the question,
why stereo 41?
The 41 pays homage to the architecture of the building.
This is where mid-century modernists kicked in.
And stereo is a play on what we want
to introduce in our concept.
So that stereo will make more sense later on.
Our concept is New American cuisine,
representative of the diversity and vibrance
of the Walnut Creek community and Greater Bay Area.
That's pretty much what I have to say.
Before I pass on to Brandon
to walk us through his vision of the design,
Brandon is a production set designer,
an award-winning production set designer
from LA.
He's worked with the likes of Beyonce, Duleepa, Rada Ray.
He's also an interior designer, but that's not
the best thing about Brandon.
The best thing about Brandon, which he'll
touch upon himself, is he's also invested in this community.
And he'll tell you how.
And, yeah, that's pretty much it.
And I'd like to again thank you for this time
to hear us for this project.
We hope it's going to be a great success.
Also like to thank the planning team for partnering with us.
throughout this and we hope this partnership continues
to grow.
Thank you.
Hello everyone.
My name is Brandon Mendez.
I'm an interior designer for the stereo 41 project.
A little bit about myself as Helmi touched on.
I grew up in Walnut Creek.
I lived off Second Avenue.
I frequent this area.
Often I bring my daughter here.
I actually had brought her up with me for this trip.
We did a little walk downtown.
So again, it's just kind of paying tribute
to this community, extremely important to me.
When I was given an opportunity to pitch on this
and to take this project on, it kind of had flashbacks.
I remember running around this area as well as a child.
And now being able to give back to a community
that I thought really developed and honed in my skills
as I became an adult and moved to LA,
it was kind of a dream come true.
So full circle moment for me to be able to present to you
and to also explain what this meant to myself.
We could start by jumping into
the first slide of the building.
So I think what really was drawn all of us to this building
was the architectural elements of it.
It's a staple, it's something that I feel
really ties in locusts and North Main,
as well as Bonanza Street.
I think it's just an eye line,
and what I wanna do is help bring this to life,
help that visual past between those two areas come to life.
While it was a very angular, straight kind of set,
we wanted to bring in some femininity to it,
which is why we chose to add these colors.
It's a reason why we chose to add the pink injected blocks.
It's a reason why we wanted to add some of the shapes,
the curvature of the door, the flush lighting
that you see above the door, as well as the inlaid brass,
as well as the brass cladding
that will take place on the windows.
a facade in the landscaping of it,
was really just to give it life.
It was something that we felt
between there and commercial lane,
we wanted to make it something that wasn't an eyesore.
And I think we're doing it in the right direction.
Feel free to take us to the next slide, please.
So I think something for the entryway.
Yeah, so something about the entryway,
we wanted it to feel inviting.
As you see, I think it kind of does that for itself.
There is some terrazzo accent flooring
that will lead us to the door.
The reason for the terrazzo flooring
is because while we were looking at the space
in the interior, there was terrazzo laid
throughout the interior.
So we wanted to pay tribute to the original aesthetic
and we thought it would be a great idea
to bring some of that outward
and let that run through the flow of the restaurant.
The mirroring inserts as well as the flush lighting,
we thought it was a nice aesthetic.
And as you can see, visually it just kind of lends itself
to an inviting environment.
We can move to the, yeah, thank you.
So again, we were talking about commercial lane
and how we feel at the moment.
It can be an eyesore, especially coming down North Main.
And if you're looking towards Bonanza Street,
we thought we could do it justice.
We thought we could do the city justice.
We thought live planters are something
that are always a pretty aesthetic.
I know personally when I'm walking by trees,
I think of tree lined streets.
I think of tree lined anything.
I think of foliage and greenery
and how it livens up a space
and really brings life to everything.
So we wanted to do that.
We also wanted to have it crawl subtly onto that white wall
and over time, as you know,
Bolgan Villa will tend to grow and spread.
And I think over time with this restaurant
we'll start to warm up to everybody
and also show what we can do.
So moving on from here, I wanted to take us to our signage,
brass backlit, I think at night,
Bonanza Street, we'll have a nice ambience.
I think that we're gonna give it a nice aesthetic.
There will be this ambient glow coming from stereo,
not only from the signage,
but from the glow of the restaurant being on itself,
where at the moment it's a dead space.
These are our signage.
Obviously we are in regulation with everything required here.
Just wanted to touch on that.
And finishing up here, I wanted to show,
just give a sneak peek to what we have planned
for the interior.
So this is me if you're entering left of the door.
Here's our patio.
Continue to work through.
Here's another visual looking towards Bonanza Street.
And as we flip, we will be looking to our extended patio.
Pink glass blocks, all that stuff.
I think it really pays tribute as well as
kind of lending itself to a good environment.
Moving to the architectural elevations,
I'll let Ignacio speak about the additions there.
But for me, that's what I have.
Good afternoon, commissioners.
My name is Ignacio Gonzalez.
I'm the architect on the project.
And I just want to touch on some things
that haven't been addressed yet.
It's a continuation, yes.
What we're trying to do is take an existing building
which actually was very attractive with its bones
and make it work for our purpose.
And with the expansion and extension,
It's a continuation of the aesthetic that went backwards.
And this elevation you're seeing is a long commercial.
So we have the existing patio on the right side,
and then we have the newer patio, which is open
and has the same textures as you find
on the front of the building.
And as you go further back where we're going to expand
the kitchen, which was a necessity for operational purposes,
you can see that it has the same kinds of feel
as the rest of it, and again, continuous and continuing.
What you see in front of this
actually gives a little more importance
to the trash enclosure, which not only is a requirement,
but also aesthetically needs to meet the rest of it.
So we think we were pretty successful
in getting that accomplished.
In this elevation, you can also see atop the building
is some metal louvers which are used to cover all rooftop
elements that exist.
And so anyway, this is what we have.
As Brittany mentioned, the stone, the soldier blocks
are painted white, and the rest of the building
painted similar whites with the black horizontal elements.
And then of course the block,
which is the texture in the building.
So that's what I have to say.
If you have any questions, we'd be glad to take them.
Does that conclude the presentation?
Any questions of the applicant?
May we see the existing condition slide?
Does this one work?
Yeah.
So may I ask a question?
Yeah.
So the intent is to keep the existing storefront glazing
as is, but just change the mullion color?
To respond to the question, could you please stand up and speak in the microphone, please?
Can you please step up and speak in the microphone?
Sorry about that.
Yeah, the idea is to keep the existing mullions, but clad those with brass.
And was there any consideration to changing the glass?
We've discussed that at the moment we want to preserve the glass and possibly run a tint
we have seen here. Thank you. So my question probably for the architect so
you're keeping all the holes in the in the patio areas they're open to the
elements I mean if it rains you get wet if it's really sunny it goes in I'm just
curious. Would you please repeat that I couldn't hear you. The holes that you
have in the patio areas yes from the roof you're keeping them that's correct
and for the new extension you're opening holes as well just to replicate what you
having the front patio, right? That is correct. And there's no cover there. I
mean, if it's bright and sunny and whatever. Right, it's an outdoor patio and
yes, of course, there's limitations. Yes? But they're not covered, right? They're
open. They're open, correct. The extended patio does not have any skylights to
replicate that. The extended patio has a solid awning over the seating. Oh, solid.
That's gonna be solid.
Yeah, the extended patio that is running a long commercial
will have a solid awning over the top of it.
To answer your question as well about the elements,
the materials that we're choosing for the booth seating
that is in place is gonna be weather resistant,
it'll be water wicking,
and then we're accounting for the potential
of any flooding with additional drainage as well.
And I have another question,
And I guess it's for Brandon.
The color palette, the pinks, I didn't get the pink idea.
Why are we using pinks here?
Could you introduce yourself for the record?
Yeah, my name is Victor Gabin, by the way.
Sorry.
Thank you.
Yeah, no worries.
The reason for the pink one, I think
it's very common in mid-century, as well as Art Deco,
which we also had a splash of.
So I thought it was nice, and I thought the bougainvillea was
really nice as well.
I think it's a good seasonal flower.
I think that it tends to hold up in good environments,
tends to be pretty frost resistant.
And being on Bonanza, it's a direct hit from the sun.
Bonanza Street, running parallel to the sun.
Bogan V is gonna thrive there,
and I thought it was a good choice of Bogan V.
I thought it was a good choice because of that,
and I wanted to tie it in visually,
and I thought the pink with the brass
is something that plays well together.
I see and then the green on the door is to contrast
with the pink or what's the story with the colors?
Well there was a color story that we had created.
We wanted to go with the neutral aesthetic
of the building which we did.
There were pops of color and I think for a big part of it
was to tone down the masculinity of the building.
I think we wanted to add some femininity there.
We wanted it to feel a little more inviting.
I think sometimes with anchored lines like this
mid-century, you know, having color and having a little bit of curvature to
everything and organicness with the florals lends itself to more of a
feminine aesthetic. Thank you. Yeah, of course. John? I got one more, so, the
bougainvillea. So, appreciate what you said. Do you really think it's gonna live
on the, it actually is labeled as the north side of the building? It says here
where the front of the building is actually north it says.
Yeah, the sun sets and runs along that building.
We've done tests, we've gone and done sun tests
and seen where they come and light tests.
Yeah.
And I think it'll live well.
I think it'll do well.
I live a mile away from here.
Can't get it to live.
Oh, okay, yeah.
All right.
That's all I, and why paint the brick?
I mean mid century, the color of the brick as it is.
For sure, I think that's the modern kind of approach
that we wanted to take with the building.
All right, thanks.
Any other questions?
All right, so then how about moving on
to commissioner comments?
Close up public hearing.
We're gonna close up public hearing.
And move on to commissioner comments.
So let's go ahead.
Well, so thank you for coming in and sharing your project
with us and for your commitment to Walnut Creek.
It's great to take an asset like this and give it a new life.
And I personally really appreciate
what you're trying to do and to make
it more bright and more exciting and interesting.
And I don't mind the whitewash of the brick, personally.
My comment was about the storefront,
because I just worry about that dark glass.
And it looks like in the existing photo,
it's not quite plum or something.
But I assume you're going to rectify that
in a way that makes it look as clean
as the proposed rendering with the new brass mullion finish,
which seems to be consistent with your ideas.
But I just wanted to thank you again for coming in.
And like I said, it's great to see
something made very positive out of, you know,
what isn't very happy right now.
Go ahead, Carlos.
So I'm very thankful as well for the interest
in Walnut Creek and all the commitment, like Peter said.
So my only thing here is that for me, I mean,
that's for me, in mid 40s, modernism,
still a little bit of Gropius and Mies and all these guys who like less is more black
and white. Probably Ritfeld was a little bit to the color side, but this is a little bit
too colorful for my taste, but I mean, it's my taste and it's, it's, I mean, it's irrelevant.
I like what you did. I like the extension. I like the patios. I think that the front
patio could very well take some shades or anything if it's too bright, too sunny, whatever,
you can make it more comfortable to sit there. We have like two or four months a year that
are boiling hot here. So, but I think it's a great addition to Walnut Creek, and I appreciate
that.
I mean, I'm just going to echo what the other commissioners had to say. I think my only
comment is the bougainvillea I just know my own struggles with it at my house
which which is it's actually south facing that we can't get it to live and
I think it's too bad our two landscape architects are not here tonight to
comment on this I kind of have to channel them so so I mean I think that's
really all I have other than the comments of my associates here that's
that's about it I mean I think next up would be a motion right it can make a
motion or you know you can also consider allowing the applicant to if the
bougainvillea does fail to try other plantings in the same you know to try to
achieve the same outcome I don't want to I don't want to have that issue come up
to where you know it was it was discussed at the Design Review Commission
And therefore any changes would have to go to the Design Review Commission unless you feel they need to
So I would you might want to consider saying some kind of statement like that in in in a motion
I'd like to say something like that
So maybe what's what's the right kind of wording for something like that you think then
It'd be tantamount to
Replacement planting if the bogan if the bogan veal you shall fail the apple gun hack may try other plantings to achieve the same purpose
Something like that. Okay. Let's write that down. I
Like working with each up
Okay
Do we want to try for a motion? I mean I think
Let me just say that I I would motion to approve it with that one caveat and I second that
Carlos second Carlos second
Should we do a roll call vote?
Yeah, can we add can we add the SQL language to the oh, of course because we need actually need to act on that
Yeah first. Okay. Okay to the motion to the motion. So we're we're gonna move then to
to
Find this project CEQA exempt
per 15 301 existing facilities
That's part of the same motion
Yes
Correct. Okay. So those two things I
So move can I have a second?
You'll get my second again. Okay
All right. So then roll call vote
Mr. Langarten
Yes
Commissioner Valio. Yes, chair nism. Yes motion carries three. Oh
All right. Thank you very much folks
and thanks for
continuing your your support for Walnut Creek thank you okay so let's move on
to Commissioner considerations commission considerations this this
portion of the agenda is items not required to be publicly noticed or formal
staff presentation and the question answer period in public input discussion
or among commissioners helpful so anything on the the agenda there is a
selection of a signed subcommittee but I think it might be a more appropriate if
the entire Design Review Commission was present to do that. I say that before I
before we say anything there are two signed sub items on the next on the net
for the next meeting on was it April 3rd. So the current signed sub would be would
be dealing with that matter. You'd have to show up a little early. And who is who
I believe it is Casey Case, myself, and Brian Killian, Commissioner Killian.
Well it sounds like they can do that, right?
They're not here, so they can't say no.
So with that, we could probably go ahead and do the selection of chair and vice chair.
So we're moving that down, okay.
So let's do the selection of the chair and vice chair.
So nominations?
So I will I guess I will nominate we have to nominate chair and vice chair here.
I will nominate Casey for being the chair and and of course our great chair to be the
vice chair right now.
Second.
Okay.
So let's do a roll call vote and who was the nomination for vice?
Mr. Newsom.
Mr. Newsom.
Yeah.
That's Philip Newsom, actually.
Not to be confused with gavel or whatever.
Okay.
And the motion was by…
All right.
So then we're going to do roll call vote.
Yeah.
Let me just get my notes here.
Okay.
Commissioner Valia?
Yes.
Commissioner Weingarten?
Yes.
Chair Newsom?
Yes.
I believe that motion was for both seats?
Yes.
Correct.
Good.
So, that's done.
So let's talk about commission member
and staff reports or announcements.
Does anybody have any announcements?
Commission members.
I don't hear anything.
I just wanna welcome our emeritus member.
Thanks for coming, Charles.
It's good to see you.
Okay, so I think we're done, so adjourn.