Good evening and welcome to the November 14th, 2024 meeting of the Walla Creek Planning Commission.
Will the Secretary please take the roll?
Commissioner Kwok?
Here.
Commissioner Ward?
Here.
Commissioner Klopp?
Here.
Commissioner Reiser?
Here.
Commissioner Naiting?
Here.
Vice Chair Anderson?
Here.
Chair Strongman?
Here.
And moving on to item number two, which is the consent calendar.
do have one item on the consent calendar which is the minutes of the October 24th, 2024 meeting.
Would somebody like to make a motion or pull the item for more discussion?
Motion to accept the minutes into the record.
Second.
And will the secretary please call the roll.
Commissioner Kwok.
Yes.
Commissioner Ward.
Yes.
Commissioner Klop.
Yes.
Commissioner Reiser.
Yes.
Commissioner Nating.
Yes.
Vice Chair Anderson.
Yes.
Chair Strongman?
Yes.
Motion passes.
Thank you.
And item number three is our public communications.
This is the opportunity for anybody in the audience
who would like to make a comment on any subject
that is not on the agenda to come forward
and please give us your comments.
That is actually on the,
and it actually will be continued.
We'll get to that later.
But if you want to make a comment on it now, you can.
Please come forward.
But it's being continued right now, isn't it?
Excuse us one second, yeah.
We'll take your comments for the record,
but we're not actually gonna be talking
about the AT&T wireless at this point in time.
It'll be continued to the 12th.
But we'll take your comments
and put them on the record for next time.
Okay, how much time do I have?
Two minutes.
Okay, so I am very much-
Would you state your name, please?
Hello, my name's Carolyn Alekna, I live directly across the street from North Gate High School
at Castle Rock and my child will be exposed to this cell phone tower 24-7 pretty much
as she goes to school there and then later on my son will be exposed to it as well.
My brother was three years old when he got leukemia so my parents had our house tested
for EMF, we found it was very high right by his bedroom.
eventually moved, because we felt like there was enough to make us worry that
we didn't want any other kids getting cancer. And so, you know, I lived on Park
Boulevard when they were thinking about putting up a cell phone tower on the
church seeple, and so I did my research. This was maybe in to the... I don't know
what year. It was quite some time ago and my children were very little. And did my
research, you can't get away from EMF.
It goes through concrete, so you can maybe block RF.
I haven't done the research on that,
but I know there's measures they take
to try to shield schools from stuff.
But that I know of, you can't block the magnetic field
that it creates.
And the way you are safer from it
is by going further away from it.
So there's a lot of studies that show childhood leukemia
and magnetic fields in Japan, a case-controlled study
of childhood leukemia and residential power
frequency magnetic fields in Japan.
I have a really great article from the Environmental Health
Trust.
Extensive public published scientific evidence
indicates that radio frequency radiation at levels
compliant with federal government limits
can cause cancer, increase oxidative stress,
genetic damage, structural and functional changes
of the reproductive system, memory deficits,
behavioral problems, and neurological impacts.
We consider radio frequency to be a human carcinogen
based on the current body of evidence.
Many of these effects could be irreversible
with grave consequences for our children's future.
Two minutes. Thank you very much.
You're welcome to come back on.
I would love to present you with these articles.
You could send that to the planning commission,
Our secretary there, he'll make sure that we get that
for our next meeting on the 12th.
So thank you very much.
Welcome to come back on the 12th.
And anyone else for public comments?
Seeing none, we'll close public comments
and bring it back to the commission
where I have to ask everybody
if we have any ex parte communications
with anything else on the agenda.
Commissioner Ward.
Yeah, I need to just close
that I had a telephone conversation with Brian Hirahara
regarding item four F.
Okay, thank you.
And anyone else?
Same.
Okay.
I did also.
Okay.
Thank you.
And moving on to our public hearings
and the first item is the AT&T
and it is being continued to December 12th, 2024.
Moving on to project B, which is the square guy's pizza.
Okay I'm being told I need to do a motion to continue to continue the
matter to December 12th. Correct. Second. Thank you. Will you please take the roll?
Yes. Commissioner Kwok? Yes. Commissioner Ward? Yes. Commissioner Klop? Yes.
Commissioner Reiser? Yes. Commissioner Nating? Yes. Vice Chair Anderson? Yes.
Chair Strongman? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. And moving on to the square
Okay, you are serving pizza, I believe that's a point.
We have staff presentation now.
Okay, good evening, Chair Strongman and commissioners.
My name is Steven Cook.
I'm an assistant planner here with the city.
Before you this evening is an administrative use permit and design review application for
the new restaurant Square Pie Guys, located at 191 Pringle Avenue.
Before we begin, there are a couple of housekeeping items I'd like to address.
First, there is a typo in the AUP draft resolution included as Attachment 1.
In Section 2, Finding 2 Paragraph 2, it should reference conditions of Approval number 13.
Additionally, the Paragraph 3 should reference conditions of Approval number 14.
These revisions are illustrated on the slide for your reference.
In section 3, condition number 5 of the AUP draft resolution, the language should be amended
to allow alcohol service both inside the tenant space and in the private outdoor dining area.
This site is not located within the outdoor dining overlay district, so this revision
is necessary.
Again, the change is illustrated on the slide for your reference.
The site is located at the intersection of Pringle Avenue and North California Boulevard.
It is surrounded by a variety of uses, including office developments to the north, mixed use
developments to the east, the BART transit station to the south, and the I-680 to the
west.
The Zoning District is planned development 2113, and the site is not located within the
outdoor dining overlay district.
Aerial images are provided for your reference.
The proposals for a new pizzeria-style restaurant with daily hours of operations from 1130 a.m.
to 11, I mean 1030 p.m., Monday through Sunday, the restaurant is requesting an outdoor dining
area located entirely on private property, this area will measure 425 square feet and
includes 14 tables, 28 chairs, and a perimeter enclosure with retractable belts.
All outdoor furniture will be non-permanent, and samples of the proposed outdoor furniture
are shown on the slide for your reference.
The restaurant is also requesting alcohol service, including beer and wine, to be available
both inside the tenant space and in the proposed outdoor dining area.
Additionally, decal signage is proposed,
which complies with the standards outlined
in the Waymark's Master Sign Program.
Rendering of that window signage is included
on the slide for your reference as well.
To summarize the entitlements requested,
the project is seeking an administrative use permit
to allow the alcohol service until 10.30 p.m.
and design review for the proposed outdoor dining area
and window signage.
Typically, these requests are reviewed at staff level,
however, due to the site's plan development
zoning designation, the AUP must be reviewed
by the Planning Commission, which also grants
the Planning Commission authority over the design review.
Listed are the required AUP findings.
Staff has drafted a response to each finding
contained in Attachment 1,
Administrative Use Permit draft resolution.
Enlisted are the required design review findings.
Staff has drafted a response to each finding
contained in Attachment 2, Design Review draft resolution.
The project is exempt from CEQA
per section 15.301 of the CEQA guidelines.
The project will be located within an existing commercial tenant space.
And staff is recommending to the planning commission to make two separate motions to
determine that the project is exempt from CEQA under section 5301 existing facilities
and adopt the resolution approving the administrative use permit and adopt a resolution approving
the design review for Square Pi Guys located at 191 Pringle Avenue, subject to the conditions
of approval as amended.
And that concludes staff's presentation.
Staff's available for any questions you may have.
Thank you for your concise presentation.
Any questions for staff?
Commissioner Reiser.
Good presentation.
Thank you.
Is there any kind of like gate or fence around the outside area where there's alcohol is
going to be served?
Or is it just tables on the sidewalk?
There's going to be a retractable belt.
Let me see if I could go back to that slide.
So an example next to that blue chair, those standard belts, it's going to sort of enclose
that whole section separating that dining space from the public right away.
Other questions? Seeing none. Thank you. Do we have the applicant? The applicant is
here today and available to answer any questions you may have. We'll open the
public hearing and start out with the applicant if he has any presentation.
I was more here to answer any questions though. I didn't have a
presentation available but I am representing Mark who is on his honeymoon
right now. Lucky done. Any questions for seeing none? We'll also open up the public
hearing continue to anyone else have make any other comments about this
project. Seeing none moving forward quickly we will now close the public
hearing and bring it back to the Commission for comments or emotions. I
I just want to thank you for the inclusion of the business plan information in the application,
which clearly answered a number of questions that we regularly have about security cameras
and staffing and training and trash and all that kind of stuff.
We have an amazing design team who does a tremendous job on all those things.
That was very good.
Thank you.
That was very helpful.
Absolutely.
Other comments?
Discussion?
Or motions?
Yes.
I'll move to adopt the resolution, administrative use permit application number Y24061, Square
Pi Guys, at Pringle Avenue in Walnut Creek.
As amended.
Thank you.
I'll second.
Would the secretary please call the roll?
Commissioner Kwok?
Yes.
Commissioner Ward?
Yes.
Commissioner Klopp?
Yes.
Yes. Commissioner Nating. Yes. Vice Chair Anderson. Yes. Chair Strongman. Yes. Motion
passes. And moving on to the second potential resolution. Land the plane Ollie. Land the plane. Oh gosh, I have to open it up. No, I got it.
The design review, move to pass the resolution design review application
number Y 24-061 square pie guys on Pringle Avenue in Walnut Creek as amended
that one's amended too I think so right are they both or just the one I believe
it's just the AUP that was not amended not amended and I'll still second it
will the secretary please call the roll commissioner quack yes commissioner
Yes. Commissioner Klopp? Yes. Commissioner Reiser? Yes. Commissioner Nating? Yes. Vice Chair Anderson? Yes.
Chair Strongman? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. And moving on to item C, the
lie short term rental I believe has been withdrawn by the applicant. Is that
correct? That is correct. So we'll move on to the item D, which is the zoning
updates for family day day care homes zoning amendments.
We'll start out with a staff report.
Good evening planning commissioners.
I'm Aaron Sage, principal planner and here to present to you zoning updates for family
daycare homes, the latest in a series of amendments to catch up with every evolving state law.
Start off with some background.
For many years, the state health and safety code has regulated what state law refers to
as family daycare homes, and in state law that use is defined as a facility that regularly
provides care, protection and supervision for 14 or fewer children in the provider's
own home for periods of less than 24 hours per day.
And basically this is an area of state law that's been on the books for quite some time
in recognition of the ongoing shortage of child care
that we have throughout the state.
So to define two different types of family daycare homes,
we have small ones, which are eight or fewer children.
And those are currently allowed by right in our code
and have been for many years.
And then we have large family daycare homes, which
are seven to 14 children.
And our code currently requires a large family daycare home
permit, which is approved by the zoniant administrator with the option for a
public hearing if requested by an interested party who receives the notice
of the permit. Now under a recent state law from 2019, SB 234, the city and no
local jurisdiction can no longer require any business license, fee, or tax for any
any family daycare home. Both small and large family daycare homes must be allowed by right.
And no special restrictions can be applied to small or large family daycare homes. And
by special restrictions, that means you can't apply any restriction to this type of use
that is not also applied generally to other residential uses. Now the city has complied
with SB 34 since it took effect at the beginning of 2020, and this is really just a matter
of updating our code to reflect state law and what our current practice already is.
We always follow state law, and sometimes it takes a while to get our code to catch
up with the actual practice.
So these are the main amendments in the proposed ordinance.
First off, to remove the requirement for a large family daycare home permit, so there
would no longer be any notification to neighbors
or any option for a hearing for this use.
To list this use as a by-right use in all zones,
just like for small family daycare homes, all zones that
allow residential uses.
To amend the use classifications for both small and large family
daycare homes to make the number of children
consistent with state law.
And finally, to amend the definition
of a home-based business that sits within our business
license code such that family daycare homes would not be considered a home
based business and therefore would be exempt from obtaining a business license.
So our staff recommendation is to adopt the resolution making findings and
recommending that the City Council adopt the proposed ordinance to amend title 10
and title 8 to be consistent with state law for family daycare homes. I'm
available for any questions you might have and also I want to note that we
have Assistant City Attorney Kimia Malahadi here to support with any
legal questions you might have on this. Thank you for a good presentation and
any questions for staff? Seeing none we will now open up for public hearing on
this. Anyone in the public the audience would like to come up and make a comment
on this. I was welcome to do so now. Seeing no women approaching right now we
will close the public hearing and bring it back to the commission for comments
or motions actually I have a question of staff I'm sorry no different matter
okay I just wanted to acknowledge how difficult it is to update all these
statutes to the current laws that change all the time and I know that we make it
look like we're not appreciating or thinking about this but it takes a lot
of effort and I know that so I want to thank you for that thank you appreciate
that other comments or a motion I'll make the resolution to adopt prints
really small and far away from me the resolution number no number municipal
code amendment ordinance updating the municipal code provisions relating to
family daycare homes to conform with California health and safety code
sections 1 5 9 7 point 4 1 Wow my eye doctor would be proud of me so I move
it's adopted as a recommendation to City Council correct recommendation to City
Council second will the secretary please call the roll
Commissioner Kwok. Yes. Commissioner Ward. Yes. Commissioner Klopp. Yes. Commissioner
Reiser. Yes. Commissioner Nating. Yes. Vice Chair Anderson. Yes. Chair Strongman. Yes.
Motion passes. Thank you. And moving on to project E, the Diablo Subaru
Zumbrew Temporary Vehicle Storage Special Use Permit application Y21-020.
I'll start out with staff report.
Good evening commissioners.
My name is Simmer Gill, senior planner with the city.
We are here tonight to consider the special use permit for Diablo Zumbrew Temporary Vehicle
Storage and the site that will be utilized for that storage is located at 2211 North
Main Street.
The applicant representing the project, Bobby Kirk, is here tonight, as am I, to answer
any questions that you may have after this presentation.
And just to quickly orient you with the area, this vacant site is located at the intersection
of North Maine and North California.
These surrounding uses consist primarily of commercial uses such as auto retail uses in
office.
There is residential uses located directly behind this parking lot.
And the site is striped for 56 parking stalls.
And the site is zoned mixed use plan development, which does prohibit vehicle related uses such
as vehicle storage.
However, certain land uses such as temporary inventory vehicle storage, which does not
specifically fit into the existing zoning classification due to its unique
nature and temporary nature. The zoning ordinance does provide a mechanism through a special use
permit allowing the commission tonight to approve such uses if the planning commission does determine
that this use serves a necessary function for the community. The site has remained vacant for years
except for occasional parking of vehicles and food trucks that were also approved through
previous special use permits and so Diablo Subaru is requesting the special use permits
for the overflow vehicles to be temporarily stored at this location 2211 North Main
as there are space constraints at their primary dealership that's located at 2646 North Main
Street which is less than a mile away from this location. They will be parking
a maximum of 56 vehicles on site as indicated in their business operating
plan that's included as exhibit A tonight and if the planning commission
does approve the use then the temporary storage would be allowed for a maximum
of 24 months and all of the vehicles will be parked in the striped parking
stalls that you see on this exhibit. And again in the business operating plan the
applicant has stated that the daily deliveries between the dealership
and this site will be limited to a maximum of ten visits per day. And when
space does become available at the dealership the vehicles will then be
returned for a detailing and display. And as part of the attachment one draft
resolution tonight we did incorporate some conditions so the temporary
storage again limited to 24 months the drop of drop off and pickup of these
vehicles will occur on site therefore making sure it doesn't impede the
traffic flow when transporting these vehicles and they will be stored in a
very orderly appearance to reduce the look of a storage yard and no sales
officials' advertisement information will be allowed to be affixed on the vehicles.
And the site will be maintained free of any trash or debris.
And then the other condition is that no use of car alarms would be allowed to locate vehicles
on this site.
And in order to approve a special use permit, the Planning Commission must make the standard
conditional use permit findings before you to the left of the slide.
And there is one special use permit finding that does indicate that if the use provides
the necessary service to the community, staff does believe that this project meets all of
these findings given the site's proximity to the main dealership and several other auto-oriented
businesses.
The temporary presence of the stored vehicles would not negatively impact the character
of the surrounding area.
And the storage will generate minimal traffic and will not impose adverse impacts on adjacent
properties.
Also the sales, transactions and services will continue to occur at the primary dealership
site and not on this location.
And the youth will provide a service as the proposal allows for temporary use of a site
for a business to store overflow vehicles without imposing any negative impacts on adjoining
properties.
also contribute to the economic vitality of the area,
providing a beneficial use of an existing,
otherwise vacant site.
And with that, staff does recommend
the Planning Commission move to adopt
the draft resolution approving the special use permit
for a temporary offsite vehicle storage
for a period of 24 months at 2211 North Main Street.
did want to mention that we received one correspondence and that should be a part
of your agenda packet and I did reply back to the applicant. He basically had
questions about what is a more viable use that could go on the site and if
apartment buildings would be allowed so I responded accordingly but if you have
any follow-up questions to that I'm happy to respond and that is all I have
but I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Any questions for staff? One
question. Commissioner Anderson. Following up on that possibility, do you know how
long the property has been vacant? The property has, I think since, since it
was, there was a restaurant that used to operate on site and then because of a
fire it was destroyed and since then there's been no actual development on
site. I believe I have that information in my staff report so let me just get
that date for you. I thought I included it. Yes since 2012 so there's really been no
actual use on site and as I mentioned to the applicant to the sorry that the
member of the public that sent in the letter is there was in 2016 there was a
developer that came forward for a residential development. The entitlements
were approved, but the project was never built.
And I think it's because of just the constraints of that parcel.
I think the depth of the parcel is very, it's very narrow.
So it didn't pencil out.
That was the last actual application
we got other than special use permits.
And that answers my next question.
I have one more, though.
Do you know how far it is actually from North Main Street
and what the access would be if that were to be developed
and some significant events.
How far it would be from where?
From North Main Street from the entrance to that parcel.
We have the city engineer here.
He may have a response to that.
Good evening.
An approximate number would be fine.
Ryan Cook, senior engineer with the city.
So to clarify a little bit in terms of distance
to North Main Street,
because the property is right along North Main Street,
right where it splits off from North Main in California.
So access to that site is challenging
because it is a right turn in and out only.
There's no access to North Main Street.
So in order to get going North,
you'd have to travel on to California
and then left on to Pringle, left on to Main.
I'm familiar with that detour.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Other questions to staff?
I do have one as I vaguely remember that sometime in the recent past, we made an adjustment
to the setback of that parcel to actually restrict the width of North Main, California
at the time.
So it was a continued item because I believe the planning commissioners believed more information
or more study needed to be done.
So the applicant never came back with any changes or the direction that was given to
them.
We didn't see any revisions to that.
So it's like not an active application, but yes, that did come before, but it never moved
forward.
Okay.
So we have not made a decision on restricting or giving a different setback on that?
Correct.
Thank you.
No action was taken.
Okay.
Any other questions?
Okay.
we have um open the public hearing on this matter and we'll start out with the applicant
if you'd like to make a presentation or make any comments uh thank you for hearing us i'm
bobby kirk i'm property manager for lithium motors we own diablo subaru so no uh again we
are happy to be here today answer any questions that you have as far as how we operate the site
so if any questions for the board i'd be happy to answer them any questions for him
No, I guess not. Thank you. Any other member of the public would like to make a comment on this
project? Seeing none, we will close public hearing and bring it back to the Commission.
These comments are motion time, people. Yeah, go ahead. So I will say that, you know, I was
kind of interested to see that. I was a, you know, although the proposed use is going to be a parking
lot for storing the vehicles temporarily. I did have the same
observation though oh yeah it is right by one of the tallest buildings in the
city you know wouldn't it make more sense to have it be developed but it
seems like due to the constraints maybe the markets not working out the way it
should be or maybe the whatever proposals have come forward haven't really worked
out. It is nice to see that the parcel of land is being put to some sort of use
rather than remaining vacant.
Thank you, other comments?
Commissioner Anders.
Just to that point, I think this particular
special use permit doesn't really affect
the future development since anybody who wanted
to develop, you know, starting tomorrow
probably wouldn't have anything, you know,
ready to go before this special unit permit was done.
So I think, you know, this might give an opportunity
for someone with a longer view to do the background
to get something built here if they want to.
Other comments or a motion?
I'd like to move that we adopt the resolution
regarding Diablo Subaru temporary vehicle storage
special use permit application number Y21-0202211
North Main Street.
Second.
Oh, will the secretary please call the roll?
Commissioner Kwok?
Yes.
Commissioner Ward?
Yes.
Commissioner Klopp?
Yes.
Commissioner Vicer?
Yes.
Commissioner Nating?
Yes.
Vice Chair Anderson?
Yes.
Chair Strongman?
Yes.
Motion passes.
Thank you.
Moving on to Dai Inote Restaurant Project.
And we'll start out with staff report.
Good evening, everyone.
My name is Kimiya Mahalati.
I am an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Walnut Creek,
and I'm here tonight to present on behalf of staff
this item to review the administrative use permit
for the restaurant and bar establishment,
Dia Inoche, at 1411 Locust Street.
So I will be presenting this case on behalf of staff,
and after the presentation,
there will, of course, be an opportunity for questions,
and this evening I have with me tonight
from the Community Development Department,
Simmer-Gill, right here,
and Captain Ryan Hibbs from the Police Department,
and they'll be available to answer any follow-up questions
as well that might come up.
So tonight, staff's request is
to have the Planning Commission review the operation
of Dia Inoche for conformance with the conditions
of approval that are set forth in their AUP,
to take public testimony and make written findings
that Dia Inoche is operating in violation
of the conditions of approval of its AUP
and respectfully requesting that the Planning Commission
decide to revoke Dia Inoche's AUP,
which would require them to cease the sales service
and consumption of alcoholic beverages at this location.
And if they would like to resume sales service
and consumption, they would have to apply
for an administrative use permit.
So just to orient us with the site,
the establishment is located at 1411 Locust Street
in Walnut Creek.
It's along the west side of Locust Street.
It's between a three-story mixed use building to the north
and a vacant corner lot to the south.
The establishment includes 2,565 square feet
interior dining with 661 square feet for outdoor dining so a total of 3,226
square feet. The total occupancy is allows for 161 persons with 147 indoor
occupancy and 14 outdoor occupancy. And Diainoche currently
operates under a Type 47 license which is for on-sale beer, wine and distilled
spirits issued by the State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control for on-site
sales and consumption of alcoholic beverages. And the current hours of
operation are from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. The general plan designates this
site as a pedestrian retail and it's similarly zoned as pedestrian retail and in this area
an AUP is required to serve alcohol at eating and drinking establishments until 11 p.m.
So prior to the operation of the restaurant Dia Inoche at this location, the business
Redux Lounge had actually been operating under a deemed approved status I think from
approximately 1988 to 2016.
In 2012, Redux Lounge operated under a deemed approved status
at this location, which it was given pursuant to ordinance
2109 that was adopted in 2012.
In 2016, the Planning Commission found Redux Lounge
to be operating as a public nuisance, which
was in violation of the deemed approved performance standards.
And so they thereby revoked the deemed approved status of Redux Lounge,
which immediately stopped their ability to sell alcoholic beverages at this location.
After that, any operator of an establishment at this address that wished to reestablish the ability
to sell and serve alcoholic beverages would need to apply for an administrative use permit
if alcoholic beverage service were to end on or before 11 p.m., or a conditional use permit
service were to end after 11 p.m. I set forth in the municipal code. So in July
of 2017 the city granted AUP number Y 17056 to Urban Alley slash 310 eatery to
serve alcoholic beverages to its patrons which is included in your packet as
attachment 3 and the hours of operation set forth in their business plan were
as follows up here. So Tuesday through Thursday it was 1130 to 9 p.m., Friday
through Saturday 1130 a.m. to 1130 p.m., with alcohol service to stop at 11 p.m.,
Sunday 12 to 8 p.m., and Monday they were closed. It's not clear exactly when
Urban Alley ceased operations at this location but we do know that it was at
some point between July 2017 and January 2020 because in January 2020
Dia Inoche submitted an application for an AUP.
And the municipal code requires that any substantial change
to the mode or character of operation
of an existing alcoholic beverage establishment
must first modify any existing AUP.
And a substantial change in mode or character of operation
is defined to include any extension of the hours
of sales, service, or consumption
by 30 minutes or more.
So, accordingly, on January 7th, 2020,
this is why Dia Inoche submitted an application
to amend the AUP.
And this was because they were proposing to change
the hours of operation to Monday through Sunday
from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.
And their proposal also included live entertainment
from Thursdays through Saturdays from seven to 10 p.m.
And so, the city approved this application in March of 2020
under AUP Y20010, which is also included in your packet,
as attachment 4.
And since the 2020 AUP is still inclusive
of the prior hours of operation that were granted under the 2017
AUP, and it, in fact, provides broader hours of operation,
as well as adding an additional ability
to allow for live entertainment on certain days and times,
the 2020 AUP effectively supersedes the prior 2017 AUP,
thereby rendering the 2017 one ineffective.
All this to say, for purposes of tonight's hearing,
the 2020 AUP is the operative AUP and is the AUP
that is the subject of this hearing.
And just to provide with a visual reference,
this is the floor plan that Dia y Noce
submitted as part of their business plan
for their 2020 AUP application.
So as we all know, granting of an AUP
does not come without conditions.
So the AUP for this site
consists of a total of 21 conditions.
We're not gonna go through all 21 of them, don't worry.
The ones we are going to be focusing on tonight
are set forth because these are the ones
that triggered the need for this hearing this evening.
And that is the third condition in their AUP
which restricts the ability to sell, serve, or consume alcohol on the premises after 11 p.m. daily,
as well as their seventh condition of approval, which requires that the use shall not create
objectionable conditions that constitute a nuisance, which is defined to mean disturbance
of the peace, public drunkenness, drinking in public, etc., etc. So since December of 2023,
walnut creek police department has had to respond a number of times to this location
and have observed a total of 23 aup violations and these arise from 16 different
incidents or nights that required the generation of a police report and the reason why there's
there's more AUP violations than police reports
is because certain evenings, more than one type of AUP
violation was observed.
So of those 23 AUP violations, 14 of them
have been alcohol-related, which is
to mean that the sale, service, or consumption of alcohol
was observed past 11 PM.
Three of these alcohol-related violations
were past 2 AM, which is actually
in violation of California state law.
Five were for excessive noise violations
and violation of the seventh condition
that we just went over, and four involved public intoxication,
three of which were observations of intoxication of the owner
and did include, in fact, one arrest of the owner
for public intoxication.
So I know this is really horrible to look at,
but bear with me, I will guide us through.
So again, the total AUP violations are 23,
but what you see up here is a list of 16 different events
that generated reports by PD.
So I want to highlight a number of these.
So number three, which was December 17th, 2023,
where staff was serving and patrons were consuming
alcoholic beverages after two a.m.,
which is in violation of California state law,
and the business was observed to still be open
at 2.17 in the morning.
May 4th of 2024, there was a loud noise complaint
that required PD's response,
and staff was warned by officers
and they had to come back multiple times.
I won't bore you with reading through
all of the details of it,
but they had to come back multiple times
and they still had to come back at 2.27 a.m.
An officer noted that the lights were still on
and patrons could be seeing drinking
from what appeared to be beer bottles.
So again, another violation of California state law.
The very next night, May 5th, 2024,
staff was observed to be serving patrons alcohol
and allowing consumption at three in the morning,
which, again, in violation of California state law.
Skipping ahead to August 25th, 2024, at 12.30 a.m.,
officers were dispatched to a loud music complaint,
staff was warned for that violation,
and the officers also discovered patrons
were still consuming alcohol,
and the owner, Jose Ruffridge,
displayed signs of alcohol intoxication.
He claimed he was not working at the time.
Skipping ahead to September 6, 2024, again,
Jose Ruffridge, the owner, was observed to be intoxicated
and was, in fact, on this evening
arrested for public intoxication.
On September 20, 2024, a few weeks later, again,
the owner, Jose Ruffridge, displayed signs
of alcohol intoxication.
He claimed he was not working, but officers
did observe that he was wearing his work apron
and was giving direction to his employees,
which is a violation of business and professions code
24200 subsection A, which disallows bar and restaurant
staff to be intoxicated while working on the premises.
And I also want to highlight, and we'll
get to this in a moment, but the city
sent a first notice of violation letter on June 26.
And after that, you'll notice that from August 25th
until October 26 of this year, after issuing the first notice
of violation letter, there were 10 additional AUP violations
noted.
And also, if you'll look at the proximity
between the dates of the violations,
they are pretty much every weekend since August 25th,
and sometimes multiple times in one weekend.
So I'm highlighting this because scaling back their hours
wouldn't, staff doesn't believe that would necessarily work
because you can see there are a number of violations
that are past state law closing times
and there are many past 11 PM closing times.
And it simply shows a pattern of bad management and bad business
practices.
And there are also a number of violations
that do not have to do with serving alcohol past 11 p.m.
There are enough instances of operating in violation
of the seventh condition of approval
to indicate this is not just an hours of operations issue.
There's been excessive noise complaints,
there's been public intoxication complaints,
and there's just a lot of evidence here to indicate
that this is more of a bad management practice
rather than simply scaling back their hours
allow them to come into conformance with the AUP's conditions. So as I just
mentioned June 26th the city issued the first notice of violation letter
notifying them that they were operating in violation of their AUP. Specifically
we pointed out that it was in violation of condition number three serving past
11 p.m. We also notified them that additional violations could result in a
public hearing and potential modification or revocation of their
AUP. As I stated before from August 25th to October 26th, PD documented 10
additional instances of AUP violations which amounted to 16 total AUP
violations. Again, some nights multiple violations were observed in one
evening. And so subsequently on October 30th, the city issued the second notice
violation letter and the notice of public hearing. To date, DIA Inoché has
only contacted city staff. It was once, as of today, it's now been
twice, where staff provided factual information about tonight's
proceedings, but I want to emphasize that staff has not had any productive
communications with DIA Inoché regarding any proactive steps that the
business can take to address their AUP violations.
There was radio silence after issuance of the first notice of violation letter.
And after the second one as well, it was nothing to indicate any intent to try to correct any
of these behaviors or practices.
And so the municipal code provides that the Planning Commission may modify or revoke the
permit or entitlement upon making one or more of the following findings.
And we've listed the two pertinent ones here.
So the first one would be the use or user is in violation of a condition of approval
of the permit.
So here it would be the AUP or other laws or regulations.
So as I've mentioned before, in the past 11 months, there have been a total of 23 AUP
violations.
And there have also been three in violation of California state law for those violations
that occurred after 2 a.m.
And many of these violations have – I'm sorry – the evidence presented here indicates
that this condition, number three, for consumption of alcohol past 11 p.m. has been violated
on at least 14 different occasions.
In addition, condition number seven requires that the use of the establishment shall not
cause any objectionable conditions that constitute a nuisance.
And the evidence here also indicates this condition has been violated on at least eight
different occasions, with five consisting of excessive noise and three consisting of
intoxication of staff.
The second consideration for the Commission is that the use is being conducted contrary
to the public health, safety, and welfare due to changes in the conduct of the use,
changes in the uses of the vicinity or otherwise.
And so again, condition number seven here would be applicable because it involves five
incidents of excessive noise, some of which necessitated repeated responses by PD in one
evening, despite prior warnings given during that same night.
And there have been at least three documented instances in which the owner appeared to be
intoxicated while on the premises, including that one evening which led to his arrest.
And moreover, these violations have occurred, as I said, within a short span of time despite
repeated responses and warnings by PD.
As I said, after the first issuance of the Notice of Violation letter in June, there
were 16 additional AUP violations that were documented by PD.
And so given the repeated responses by PD and the fact that they continue to occur despite
issuance of a formal notice of violation letter and given the fact that the
business has shown that it the lack of productive communications with staff to
attempt to maintain compliance with the AUP the business has shown that it's
unable to abide by the conditions set forth in the AUP and these violations
exhibit safety issues for patrons and the general public as well as the
welfare of the surrounding area. And so both the nature of Dia Inoche's AUP
violations and the closeness in proximity of the violations indicate
that the use and operation of Dia Inoche is being conducted in a manner that's
contrary to the public health, peace, safety, and welfare of the persons
residing in in our city. And so staff simply recommends that the Planning
Commission revoke Dia Inoche's AUP. This action would cease the sale of
alcoholic beverages at this address until another AUP or CUP for the sale
and service and consumption of alcoholic beverages is granted. Despite the
recorded efforts by staff and the police department to address the violations of
Dia Inoche's AUP, Dia Inoche has shown that it's unable to operate in compliance with
the conditions of its approval. So if the Planning Commission were to revoke Dia
you know she's a P do you know Jay would have to immediately stop the sale of
alcoholic beverages and they would have to apply for a new a up effective 10
days after any recommendation to do so and so with that I will open up the
floor to questions or comments and I've got Simmergill and Captain Hibbs here as
well thank you for a very detailed presentation we'll start out with
questions for staff. Thank you for the presentation Camille. I just wanted to
clarify on the slide with the WCPD summary of suppose their citation events.
So I did notice that some of these events had asterisks by them so number
five, number seven, and number 12 and I wanted to know what the significance of
those were? I will defer to Captain Hibbs on that. Good evening, commissioners.
Ryan Hibbs, Operations Captain Police Department. That, the Asterix, they all
denote a violation of state law, so it's not just an AUP violation. In all of
those cases, it's either something very egregious, such as the staff displaying
signs of intoxication, or it's something that violates ABC law, such as opening
past and serving past 2 a.m. Thank you. Other questions of staff? Seeing none we
will open up to a public hearing. Is there anyone here representing Dia Noche?
Would you like to make a presentation? Please go on down and state your name
please. You're right there, yeah. Jose Ramirez, the manager of Dia Noche and thank you guys
for the time, first time being here. It's awesome to be here in front of me the
council and first of all with all your respect, ladies and gentlemen and
sergeant ladies, I would love to say sorry for this misunderstanding and
sorry for all this, I just don't know how to say what to say but I'm really
terribly sorry for this miscommunication as well too because I am at
the end that I feel like I'm trapped but all these stories and fairy tales you
You know, when I meet with my neighbors every day,
I go to the establishments every day.
It's every day, it's okay.
We're doing something wrong.
I'll be hurting you guys.
I'll say, you guys are doing good.
Thank you for being there.
I just don't understand with all your respect,
ladies and gentlemen.
I don't understand.
I caught the ABC.
What are we doing wrong?
I said, there's nothing in our records here.
I cost Martinez for the IRS.
But do your respect, ladies and gentlemen,
the chucky cheese arrest that I got.
I wasn't even intoxicated.
I called the ABC, I said, you okay?
He said, okay, for me to sit on the patio,
drinking a beer after I'm done.
It's okay.
He said, okay, for my staff after we run
and sweat like crazy, after we close to have a beer.
Yes, we can, but he cannot sell.
Thank you, California ABC.
I've been doing my homework too, sir.
What are you, what do you respect, guys?
You know, but I don't have like a, I didn't came prepared.
It's my first time I didn't know what to expect.
I didn't know nothing, you know, what was going on tonight.
And I mean, if we gonna talk about like,
they talk about these violations, 26, 25,
I can go on and on and on in front of my door.
All those violations that my neighbors are doing,
but hey, I don't say anything.
I just keep myself right there in front of my door,
protected my customers, protected my family,
protected my employees.
Because other establishments like here,
they go running, when something goes wrong,
they go running to my place.
Because I know they know I'm gonna protect them.
They're not gonna shut that down.
Now I don't care, now I must come on in.
All these, when it happens,
they drive by a couple years ago,
they're going, K-49 right here, what did they do?
They went running to Jose.
Close the door, now I must come in, now I must come in.
Hey, let me in!
No, sorry, I'm gonna put nobody in danger.
Even my wife and kids that we were there,
that we built that place on our knees, sir.
Just like you asked, you know me as well, Jose,
you have to change the floor.
You gotta introduce yourself.
We did it.
You know, but whether you respect, ladies and gentlemen,
as a father and as a citizen of Warner Creek,
we've been living here for 14 years.
I just, I don't know what to do.
You know, I do not know how to deal with them.
You know, I already called.
Everything that I can call, even in France, Jose,
I want to be there.
the good customers, law enforcement, federal agents,
that they come to my place, and they love being there.
And they don't just come for a drink, two drinks.
They come there and save for hours.
They love the energy.
They love the energy when you come in.
You feel like you're in Mexico.
That didn't want to kick anymore.
They love the food because it's authentic Mexican food.
They love the drinks.
Yes, and we only do one ounce.
We only do like everybody else.
Can I get a shot and give you what?
Two ounces, three ounces?
I was like, man, and when I go there, man,
if I was the owner of this place,
I will fire her right away, boom, like that.
But again, ladies and gentlemen,
if I have all my notes and all my,
which I can't have my proof,
would be this much compared to 26 violations
that my neighbors tried doing wrong.
But I'm not a whistleblower.
I'm not, I just keep to myself
because I'm afraid for my family.
I've been there to their operations,
They don't even know who I am,
and then when they find out who I am, they call me.
It's okay, no more friends, it's okay.
I don't need friends like that.
You know, I've been,
my son doesn't come to work with me anymore
because my neighbors, and it hurts me
because he's a great cook, he's talented man,
decorating that place and everything,
but hey, sorry, you know, I love you buddy,
but you have to go home.
He only works now a day, two days, a week
instead of having a good, you know, full-time job.
So I hurt him, but I'm protecting him as well.
You know these violations against Allah, what was that?
What were the cops?
When they went in there and they stole my chairs and tables.
And I called you guys, we're gonna send somebody.
My wife stayed for hours.
Then we showed up, say, you know what, let's go.
Then they're gonna come, and then we came.
What were the cops?
When you guys remember, when they had the umbrellas of different colors?
We had the outside on the street,
and there was all different colors,
and they burned him.
I caught the cops.
Where were the cops?
Never showed up.
I told my wife, don't worry about it.
She said, smile.
That's how we're gonna beat them.
Smile back, say hi.
When they come by, say hi.
Say hi, wherever them.
We're gonna beat them like that,
but being nice, being ourselves.
Popping, lay down.
They burned my tree down.
I caught the cops.
Where were the trees?
Where were the cops?
I told my wife, his smile, do not worry about it.
Yes, it took us a long time, sir, because we saw my kids and my wife,
we saw them four hours in the living room to make, to create the tree.
You guys remember that?
How many people we brought into the community, tourists were all over the place?
Cathy, Hemawea, Jose, thank you for being here.
There's people who never come here because of the ain't no shit to wanna creek.
You know, after we open, after we do that, and then it was a couple months ago.
they went and broke our chairs and destroyed our chairs.
I said, what should I do?
Just like employees say, don't worry about it.
My son, dad, just throw him away.
It's okay, don't worry about it.
Just, you know, let it go, man.
Just let it go.
Let him, whatever he's doing, let him enjoy himself.
It's okay, just kind of keep smile,
be strong and stay strong.
So guys, I'm sorry I don't have a presentation
for you guys to see, to show.
But it's hard, you know.
When we, as citizens and residents of one or two,
and they're pointing at you for something
that you're doing wrong,
but they don't see what we're doing right,
supposedly we're doing wrong.
Well, leave me, guys.
I know you don't know me now, I know you,
and I know it's hard to believe,
but I got my homework, man.
There's nothing on the books in California State
We're doing something wrong.
There's people out there that are doing so wrong,
but I don't say nothing because of we're afraid
for my kids and family.
You know, back in a few months ago,
before the summer was over, you know,
our youngest daughter, she's 19, in Mexico, right?
She's like a teenager, 19 years old, having a good time, right?
What happened?
She got brutally beat up.
Got raped, left on the streets.
What were the cops over there in Mexico?
We looked at that, we got a phone call from my mother-in-law,
which is my wife's mom.
Hey, we're going to find Natalia.
It's been two days, and we call, we call.
Hey, go.
My wife took out one of my other two kids
and they go to bankrupt.
She flew right away and said, no, she's go.
I'll take care of the rest and go, right?
So if I took her to the hospital,
hey, she was right beat up.
You know, I got pictures to prove it,
but I didn't need to make myself better.
Forgive the person.
I meditate every morning at five a.m.
To love, to continue going, right?
And then all this time, all these violations,
I was like, oh my God.
So we found out who it was.
We looked it up and in there, we searched it up,
it was like, oh my God.
It's one of the toughest narcos in the city,
where she was.
I went to the cops, we not gonna do nothing.
Why?
Because we are afraid for my families too,
that if we're gonna arrest them there in the camp,
we gonna chew them who arrest them.
You know how they are over there, the knocks.
They're really, really scary, man.
So I had to go with it and I didn't know what to do.
I just told my wife, stay strong,
just keep her away, hide her,
so she cannot go and testify or say whatever, whatever.
But it was really, really, really tough
that I wish and no parent go through that what we went through.
And then all this stuff happened, man, so, I mean,
I'm still, we're still going through that, you know,
what happened back before the summer.
And now it's just, I don't know, man, honestly, sir, guys,
ladies and gentlemen, it's just, it's a lot, man,
to digest for me and so many things that we did
and we have done right in this community.
You know, all our kids went through Bancroft.
went to Foothill, Norway, and happened a couple of years ago, if you guys remember, when my
kids went to Norway. The number one high school in the nation,
Norway, drugs, sending drugs to the high schools,
Norway was the number one in the nation, CNN, NBC, number one New York Times,
Norway, and I was like, oh my God. And I asked my son, yeah, that is right.
They show pills in the bathrooms. Where are the teachers?
Where the cops are there, on site, right?
Ah, guys, I mean, as a humble father,
as a humble person that I am, and you guys here,
I know I'm one second everybody here.
And I don't have a presentation to show you.
All I have is my word and me and my honesty.
And that's all I have to offer, man.
You know, they say I was in toxic getting.
I don't think so.
That calf, surgeon Martinez, laughed at my face.
Why are you here?
How many of you told me?
I even myself turn around when he arrest me.
Stop resisting.
I did it myself.
I turned myself around.
Stop resisting the charges.
Come on, man.
I'm not resisting.
I'm just giving you myself.
Here you go.
Take me.
Do you have a lot of tests on me?
No.
Am I the last of the tests?
No.
But it's okay.
I was like, it's okay.
And the whole team,
that was just shaking down his head, their head at him.
And what happened when he took me in,
that guy just run into his car.
When an assign run into his car
and get in, and poom, took off.
Maybe because he fell back.
Maybe because he did something wrong.
I don't know, but it's okay.
I took his fall.
I took it.
What happened over the A?
Shoot him.
Why would I shoot that city where I live in?
Why would I shoot that city where my kids went to school,
grew up, born here?
Why would I do that?
Stupid, right?
to me as a citizen of Warner Creek.
You know, some other stuff, man.
I mean, I don't know what to tell you guys.
When I bought the place,
they told me, yes, you're able to,
you can open the door,
I am this and that and then this happened.
And I asked my neighbors,
the people that have been here for a long time,
you know, Jose, they did you wrong.
You know, I was like, well, too bad.
And I did more research, you know Jose,
those shady people that they used to own
When they sold it to you, they were very shady,
very shady people.
But again, I mean, I took it, right?
I bought the place, you know, and I make the best of it.
And I'm still trying to.
We've been close for two weeks.
It's just too, have you given pleasure?
Or hopefully that, you know, by my side.
You see gold, it's close right now.
It's just hurting us, yes.
It's hurting my family.
It's hurting my landlords.
It's just ladies and gentlemen's console,
in your eyes, in your ears,
maybe on the black sheep or on a creek.
But I don't believe so.
And I feel that the crucifix find me upside down
for nothing, man.
You know, when we are able to have a beer after work,
it's okay Jose.
When I can go in my patio and say that I have a beer,
oh no, and the cops say, no, you're working.
I'm off work.
I'm already off work, man.
I'm just waiting.
What's wrong with this?
You weren't done.
So why?
What's wrong with that?
This is not against the law.
We're in the neighboring.
What about when all the employees,
from neighbors,
they come to DA in Ocean,
get drunk,
they go back to work.
Nobody talks about that.
No one says nothing about that.
What about when I go on my break,
go support my neighbors?
There's the line cook.
Turn over here.
Doing cocaine in front of your eyes.
Where is that there?
True story.
I was there, it's a black sheep, I want a creek, right?
Let's crucify him upside down.
Over there, the other, that's a joke to my kid.
That's why he's not working with it anymore.
Our neighbor, I hate him now, I don't hate him.
It's also my son's fault, too.
He made that decision.
So that's why every day, we used to go home
and I don't want you here.
Thank you.
Thank you for talking to us.
and is there anyone else in the public
that would like to come make a comment?
A question.
A question?
Commissioner.
The staff report does discuss number of violations.
I looked at the broader question of just police calls.
It's a larger number of those.
So it did a little bit better analysis on that.
One of the things that we look at in cases like this
is when presented with evidence that there's been problems.
You know, what's the response?
You know, have things improved?
Have, you know, is there a process underway
that's gonna make things better?
But if you look at the six months
between late December and late June,
there was a violation, a police call, excuse me,
a police call about every six days and that's a lot but then at the end of June you've got to
notice a violation that's that's kind of your you know you know early warning system you know
there's a problem here it's got to be fixed but in the next four months the frequency of the
by of the police calls increased by about 50%. So I just want to give you a
chance if you have an explanation for why you had you had a documented problem
and the police were there frequently they told you about that said you know
here's your notice you know you got to you got to fix things up and things got
worse. What's the explanation for that? You know, one of the 26 violations
is a violation when someone called 8 30, 8 15, it was a Tuesday or Monday or
Tuesday, that there was a woman beating beat inside one, inside the a notion. You
sit down there. The cops went crazy. Boom! There were couples, okay. Our age average
is on 30 and up. Nah, I don't really admit young kids like the other guys know this is
trouble. So, sir, so there were the cops one day was about four or five. They went
inside. Hey, what happened? Oh, we got a phone call that it was a woman getting
beat up, hit inside the notion. Where? Nothing. And they stood there for 30 minutes and
that people got scared and they left. The customers got scared, they left. So back
to your question, sir. Great question, you know. So, sir, I don't know why about
people calling at me. People coming as business owners,
I say to the employees, we're gonna sue you because you stealing like customers.
I'm not stealing nobody's customers. I'm just outside greeting people, people
coming in. I'm not greeting, no, I'm not stealing nobody, sir. I got, we got, we
We believe who's been calling cops, you know, some got fired for, you know, a couple reasons.
Number one, stealing, you know.
So we kind of know, believe, sir, without your respect, like all these, let me ask you
this.
Yes, sir.
Since you got the notice of violation in June, have you put any, have many changes in the
way you operate the business, changes in the way that you deal with people after 11, let's
say, changes in security arrangements. What kind of changes did you make at that point?
We do that.
To at least try to improve the situation.
Yes, exactly. Thank you, sir. Well, again, we started doing the last call, 10-30 now,
So as soon as I started, 1030, the cops go there,
go walk by there, I mean, that's just below your respect.
I do not understand.
And this is the first time I heard this about the CPU
and everything.
I know this time.
My first time, honestly, with all your respect.
And the rest of the times, I don't know.
Everything just changes here.
I have no idea, really.
But we are doing that now.
We focus and put it in just a buffet menu.
And that's it, keep it simple and easy, you know.
Also, maybe next month, if we all ready,
just simple buffet, get in and get out and buy,
you know, because how does this, sir?
This kills you.
I'm not really getting answers to the question I asked, but.
Yeah, so, I mean, I really didn't say,
I don't know why this is happening.
I mean, all I'm hearing is there weren't any violations,
everything was fine, I don't know why people are calling.
I don't.
You got the notice of violation.
So, so you did know about this isn't the first time you heard about the notice violation that was in June. Yes, sir. And things have gotten worse.
I so that's what they said right again. I'm just being, you know, I think I have the answers that I'm going to get. Thanks. So, thank you. Any other questions, Commissioner Ward.
So, first of all, we really do appreciate your coming
and talking to us personally.
That does mean a lot to us and I do appreciate that
and I'm also very sorry for what appears
to have been a very difficult summer for you and your family.
So, I understand how hard that could be for you.
I'm wondering though, typically in situations
where people get a very serious notice of violation
and there's repeated communication with both city staff
in the police department that we see the business owner
working with the city or the police department
to try and figure out exactly what's going on
and come up with some sort of mitigation plan
or correction of the situation.
And it sounds like you didn't really contact
or communicate with the police department
or city staff during the,
at least since June or before with regard to this.
Is there a reason you didn't or you didn't know?
Exactly, no.
I did find out when you put the yellow poster on the window.
And all this week and last week, I've been calling a captain.
We're going to leave the voicemail to find out
the reason what's going on, to work and meet face-to-face.
What am I doing wrong, really?
Because all these phone calls, there's this killing us.
It really is.
So if we close, I'm going to let my employees,
why are they going to go to work?
You know how many people come to us to ask for work
from Danville, San Ramon, every day.
So I care about them too, you know?
It's about them too, not just me and my family.
No, I understand and appreciate that,
but my question is you got a very serious notice
of violation in June.
Yes, ma'am.
And apparently really didn't do much in response to that.
And then you got another one, you know?
And you know, I appreciate that for the last week
you've been calling to try and figure out
what we're doing here tonight,
but these were not minor citations.
This is like a major thing,
and it seemed like it was kind of ignored.
And so that's of concern to us.
I also understand that there is a monthly group
of bar owners in Walnut Creek that meets on a regular basis
to discuss these kind of issues,
to share ideas and safety and security plans
to coordinate with the police department
and generally try to make sure
that the entire downtown is operated in a way
that's both beneficial to your business
and to the community and doesn't cause
a disproportionate amount of activity
by the police department.
And I am told, and I don't know,
that's why I'm gonna ask you
whether you have attended those meetings
and whether you participate in that.
Because I think that kind of peer support
can be very helpful with regard to figuring out
the complicated statutes and other requirements.
I guess I have, but if I'm hiding a little bit,
it's different when you're there
and outside in the field.
Definitely, yeah.
You know, it's different when we meet,
you know, and sometimes they send the managers and I say,
hey, where are the owners really?
Would they need to be here?
I would say anything that on top,
because if I talk, ah, then they go against me.
So I just keep my mouth shut again.
When you do that, I just keep my mouth shut, stay there,
right?
But when you go to the meetings,
no one really tells the truth, no one tells the truth.
Okay, well, all right,
I've never been to one of the meetings, so I don't know.
I'm interested in some of your comments that you made
where you were discussing the hours of operation
that you were supposed to have.
And it seems like the AUP is pretty clear
that there were, you know, the latest you would be allowed
to serve alcohol would be 11 o'clock.
And yet you were talking about, you know,
other state laws that would allow you to serve
at least it was my impression that you thought you weren't doing anything wrong serving that late.
Was there some confusion on your part with regard to what the AUP actually said in terms of those hours of operation?
I never heard about what was a CPA or a CPU. Sorry about that.
I never heard about it. I never knew about it until the day that I was talking about it.
So that's why I was so confused going through the year, going through everything. I was all over it.
Who's wrong? Who's right? Am I right? They're wrong. They're hating on me.
My mind was going crazy. I couldn't even sleep.
So you're saying you had no idea what the city permit was with regard to your hours of operation?
Exactly. Yeah. When before, now like with this stuff, I was like I never seen this stuff before.
Like I was sitting there listening, oh my god, it's all this stuff, it's new to me.
And I'm being honest with you, I'm being real, and not telling you a Chuckie Cheese story is for real, you know.
And I mean, we work with them, we close at 11, 10, 30, last call.
We sat down because we sweat, man.
We work our butt off and we have the right to sit down, have to work, we're close.
Have a beer, sit there, talk about it.
How was a night?
What did we run?
What did we run?
How can we do better?
Make tomorrow.
What can we do better tomorrow?
You know, it's important to us, so campus can survive, you know?
I understand, but it is a little hard to believe that, you know, operating for so many years,
you were unaware of the permit that you were issued and the hours that were, you know,
specifically stated in that? Well, I mean, we came here before. It was in 2 o'clock, 2 a.m. before.
That's why I was confused, man. What's going on, you know, really? And never had a problem, never.
Not a phone call. Officer Prada, Prada, hey, Jose, good job. You guys are being quiet. Thank you.
1.30, 12 a.m., 1 a.m., you guys are being quiet. Officer Garcia, Jose, you guys are doing good.
officer Ross says yes of you go say yeah we're good thank you guys checking up
announce doing the 12 12 31 yes or good yeah and they always knew we close it 2
a.m. so I'm sorry man you know if that's your question right or wrong I'm
confused myself all right well I appreciate your you're coming here and
answering our questions so thank you for that any other questions okay thank you
you may sit down. And anyone else with the public would like to make a comment on this.
Are you interested in making a comment? Okay, thank you. Seeing none, we will close the public
hearing and bring it back to the Commission for comments and deliberations or a motion.
Okay, I'd like to move that we adopt Walnut Creek Planning Commission
revocation of administrative use permit Y two zero dash zero one zero dia a noche restaurant and bar
14 11 locust street will the secretary please call the roll
commissioner quak yes commissioner ward yes commissioner clop yes commissioner riser yes
commissioner nathan yes vice chair anderson yes chair strongman yes motion passes thank you
And moving on to commission considerations. Do we have any considerations?
None by staff. Okay, thank you. And onto item six, commission members or staff reports or
announcements. Seeing none, we will now be adjourned.