Good evening everyone. I would like to welcome you all to the design review commission meeting for today, Wednesday, August 19th, 2026.
If you wish to address the commission, please fill out a speaker's card.
When invited by the chairperson by me or staff, please bring your card to the commission secretary if you haven't already done so,
state your name and address and who you represent. The purpose of a public
hearing is to supply the Design Review Commission with information it cannot
otherwise obtain. Therefore, please limit your testimony to factual information
that will assist us in the decision-making process for the topic at
hand. In order to facilitate an efficient meeting, please avoid repeating previous
testimony observe any time limits which may be announced. We do want to remind
everyone here tonight that we are design review only and we can only review the
design for the construction for the building and the exterior and
landscaping and those kinds of things. We are not a deciding board for a use
permit and if if you want to speak on this subject as far as the use goes I
recommend that when it proceeds to Planning Commission you do that there
and go ahead and forward any communications you've sent us to
planning when that comes about thank you for now I would like to take we'll take
the roll. Yes, thank you. Commissioner Prose? Present. Commissioner Case? Here. Vice
Chair Riley? Here. And Chair Basting? Here. And for the record, Commissioner Newsom
is absent tonight. He did inform staff in advance of his absence. Thank you. Okay,
do we have any items on the consent calendar? Nothing on the consent calendar.
all right so do we have any public communications on items not on the
agenda so if the item is on the agenda that's coming up does anybody have a
public comment for anything not on the agenda you you can still come up and
speak if you have a comment not on the agenda yes hi my name is Barry Tyrus I'm
I'm a 50 year resident of Walnut Creek.
I taught here in Walnut Acres Elementary
and ran after school program.
And I've been 42 years running two schools
and after school programs in Walnut Creek.
So I've seen it before you guys were born anyway.
Not necessarily.
It's grown.
It's a wonderful place.
I raised my children here.
One of my children are teaching in Walnut Creek, one of my kids.
And what I, my speech is just about right now,
is about the soccer fields that were only paid for
by taxpayers, $7 million to set the fields up
with the turf at Heather Farms,
and they only let the Walnut Creek soccer,
they don't let the old geezers come on,
I can't ruin the turf, I can't hardly run,
but they should allow permitted groups
to come and play on those fields and not just lock them
up for the Walnut Creek soccer club, which I was a coach
over one time, but it's not fair because we paid
for those fields too and they're being a little tight
about it.
That's all I have to say for that.
Okay.
I'll be back with more ammunition later.
Should he perhaps go to the parks committee?
Yes, you could contact the public works department.
Okay.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay, do we have any ex parte communications?
Anybody?
No?
All right.
So now we'll get to the public hearing
on this particular project.
Good evening, can everybody hear me okay?
Good evening, design review commissioners.
My name is Gerardo Victoria,
Associate Planner Community Development Department.
The project before you today is Elite Armory,
a design review for the site improvements.
And they have a conditional use permit
for the indoor shooting range at 2615 North Main Street.
So some site context, the site Elite Armory
is located here where the star is.
The general plan designation and the zoning designation
are service commercial.
The existing site has the Lewis and Lewis carpet building
on the site.
It is surrounded by a mix of commercial uses,
recreation, entertainment uses, and auto sales and service
custom manufacturing uses as outlined here in the aerial picture that you see here.
This is the existing site plan. This is the Lewis and Lewis
carpet building right here. This is the proposed site plan located on the right-hand side.
You can see the site improvements and the construction of approximately 1200 square foot
addition for an indoor gun range on the existing 3000 square foot building. This project will
include new landscaping, new lighting, new parking stalls, new trash enclosure,
and new exterior color and materials. So the proposed project as outlined here in
blue is an indoor gun range. The land use in Walnut Creek classifies this as a
recreation and entertainment within the building land use. The retail sales
component and the selling of firearms is a permitted use by right. So the 1200
square foot addition will be located at the rear of the property. The new trash
enclosure will also be located at the rear of the property. You see it right
there. New parking stalls located south and at the rear of the property. New
landscaping throughout the front and the rear of the property. New building color
and materials. A new trash enclosure as stated. 21 stalls will be provided for
the business where 17 are required. So we're here before you today as a study
session for your recommendation to the Planning Commission. Staff is asking for
advisory input on the site design and layout, the building architecture, the
coloring materials, the landscaping and the lighting. This project will be
scheduled at a Planning Commission at a date yet to be determined for the
conditional use permit and the final design review. Excuse me. The business
This plan calls for the staffing of four to six employees per shift.
Each employee will specialize in safety training and undergoes ongoing background checks.
The 24-7 surveillance cameras will be located inside the building and outside the building
and all activity is located on the interior of the building.
The hours of operation will be Tuesday through Friday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday and Sunday
10 a.m. to 8 p.m. with special hours allocated for law enforcement.
Excuse me. So this is the front elevation drawing of the building facing North
Main Street. I'm just going to go over some design features. New concrete tile
and wood tile awning is located on the elevation drawing at the top. New stucco
with dark gray paint. New bollards and new light fixtures with a new interior
roll-up door here located on the interior of the building. The rear
elevation as you can see here has the same dark gray paint, a new trash
enclosure located here, new security lights, and new doors located on the
right-hand side here. So the side elevations excuse me have the same design
with the dark gray paint, with the tiles. This side right here is facing the
adjacent business, the medical supplies store that's on the right hand side if
you're if you're standing in front of the building. The bottom elevation drawing
is facing the driveway. So the indoor gun range, the addition, will have nine
shooting lanes made out of, not made out of, but the entire addition is made out
of concrete walls with pep and baffle panels for sound abatement. So the project is complying
with the design review standards and guidelines of Walnut Creek. They have a variation of colors
and materials. They have a vertical variation in height. Staff is asking feedback from the
design review commission regarding screening concerns for the existing utilities and equipment.
You can see this picture located here. That's on the existing building. That's going to stay.
So we're asking if you'd like to have that screened.
So this is the landscape plan, a total of 893 square feet of new landscaping located at the front of the property here and here and at the rear of the property with new five-gallon shrubs and ground cover.
So noise.
The project was required to submit a noise study.
The noise study was conducted by the Acoustics Group.
So Walnut Creek measures noise with day night, average sound, and decibel levels.
So this is the noise ordinance in Walnut Creek. The business is expected to
comply with this portion of it, the commercial and professional with the
decibel level that's acceptable at 70 decibel levels. So this is the site plan
that was in the noise study. As you can see here, Elite Armory is located here
with this star. The nearest residential areas are ST1, ST2, ST3, and ST4. And according
to the noise study, the project is complying with the Walnut Creek Noise Ordinance with
all four residential areas. And this is just a graphic of what noise can make, like a normal
conversation records a 60 decibel count, but when you introduce a vacuum cleaner, it's
very tough to listen or to talk on the telephone then that raises it to about 70 decibel levels.
So staff anticipates using the categorical exemption 15.301 for existing facilities
that allows for the operation or minor alteration of the existing facility.
So staff is requesting that the Design Review Commission to review and provide input on
the following site design and layout, building architecture, color and materials, landscaping,
exterior lighting and screening if it's needed for the existing utilities and equipment.
So staff as of 4pm this afternoon received 101 emails. 54% of those emails were in opposition
to this project. 44% were in support of this project. The top three reasons the public
is opposing the project is elite armory is not compatible with the character of the neighborhood
and the sense of safety in the community, the increased traffic and noise, and the selling
of firearms.
The top three reasons folks are in support of this project is it's generating local jobs
and increase in sales tax revenue, large population of gun owners that are provided a safe and
controlled environment, and this business is professionally operated to teach and practice
proper firearms use. So staff is available for questions. The applicants Mr. Gabe, Casillas,
and Ron Hugh are also here. They have their own presentation. They're available for questions
as well as their entire team is here. Okay, thank you. Do we have questions of staff?
I have a quick, well I hope it's a quick question and it may be not easy to answer, but do you mind
explaining like the purpose of the conditional use permit right because the the right to sell
in that place already exists so how does the conditional use permit apply to the project?
Let me go back question to the slide. Did I pass this hold on give me a second
I think it's this one so an indoor gun range in Walnut Creek is classified as a recreation and
entertainment within a building as are these existing businesses the swim
school and the NorCal golf academy the zoning states for a recreation
entertainment and land use in this specific zone you need a conditional use
permit to operate does that answer your question yeah I do some just basic
questions about your report and some of the things you mentioned you'd notice
that the roll-down door would be an interior detail
in the exterior?
OK, great.
And then both the renderings and the presentation in our package,
there are two different front elevations, one
showing one door, or pair doors, and one showing two different doors.
Is there one of which is correct versus the other?
Let me go to it.
So in this drawing, right, in the rendering,
we have really two separate doors.
And in the elevations, we have one door.
So which one's correct?
I'd have to see what's in the project plans.
But the applicant did resubmit new drawings.
I'm wondering if maybe I got them mixed up.
But the applicant answered that question
if they have two front doors and one front door.
Yeah, I think my other question for the applicant, thank you.
I just have a question.
Just regarding, in general, the sale of firearms,
Is it considered retail like any other type of retail
or does it have a different classification?
It's classified as retail sales in Walnut Creek.
Okay, and is that the same for any municipality
or is that governed by the municipality or by the state?
It's governed by the Army Unicode in Walnut Creek.
Other cities can classify it differently.
Okay, thank you.
I have a question about the noise evaluation,
study and the noise study evaluates the operations hours between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. but their
operating plan requests that they allow law enforcement and other training uses as early
as 7 a.m. and as late as 9 p.m. and as we all know there's residential adjacent behind
this. So does the noise study incorporate those extra hours? Was that considered and would it
apply in those extra hours? I don't believe so. I think the noise study was specific to certain
hours but the applicant can answer that question. Okay thank you. No further questions? Okay does
the applicant have a presentation themselves? Good evening my name is Gabriel. Good evening
My name is Gabriel one of the owners of the lead armory
Thank you for the opportunity to speak today and allowing us to give some further insight on and background on our business as a whole
We're definitely excited to bring this to the city of Walnut Creek and equally as nervous today, so
Please bear with me
All right, so some
Some background on our company, so we started as a two-person operation selling at trade shows in 2009.
We have thoughtfully and consistently expanded our business to new locations and
complementary businesses every
approximately three to five years. So we now employ approximately 25 people and have three locations which include our
location in Castro Valley that we opened in 2012.
Our range facility in Tracy that we opened to the public in 2018
We shortly thereafter started manufacturing and incorporated that business in 2023
We now have the Walnut Creek location as of this year
so this gives us 15 years of
Experience in operating a brick-and-mortar as well as nine years of safely and successfully operating in their shooting facility
As far as public safety and calls for service, so all known calls for service have been initiated by elite armory staff
Calls have been infrequent and primarily involved situations where our staff deemed it appropriate to appropriate to involve law enforcement
So as far as we know we have not received any phone calls
From neighboring businesses or the general public regarding our specific operation
We have established safety policies employee training and operating procedures at each of our locations
We've trained thousands of people at our facility in Tracy and we've also allowed third-party trainers to use our facility
So that they can do the same. Well, so they've trained countless other people safely
Why we've chosen Walnut Creek. So Walnut Creek really has established itself as a destination for retail
dining entertainment and recreation and we really feel that our business model fits naturally into this business by
By establishing
So naturally the specialty retail and unique recreation and entertainment so
So we're looking to bring a state-of-the-art indoor shooting facility to the area with the high-end customer fill
there are currently limited options for
local residents
for responsible and
firearm ownership and safety education and hands-on shooting experience
let's see and then
Walnut Creek also has a significant gap in the market for an indoor shooting range if you travel north of Walnut Creek
you have to go over 75 miles before you get to another indoor shooting range and if you go east
it's approximately 47 miles before you come to our facility in Tracy and if you head south or southwest
You have to go 25 miles to get to the range in San Leandro
So we did look at several locations within the city based off of the zoning
And we did pick the one on North Main Street for three specific reasons
one
There are predominantly commercial businesses
in the surrounding the building there.
It provides onsite parking for our customers
and our employees.
And then it's also a prominent location
with excellent visibility and on main thoroughfare.
So what we feel like we bring to Walnut Creek,
so we've partnered with Action Target who's here today.
And Action Target is one of the nation's
most prominent shooting range designers and builders.
we're contracting them to develop a state-of-the-art shooting facility setting a new standard for
technology, entertainment, and bringing it to Northern California.
This will attract new visitors to Walnut Creek, so since we are a destination business,
customers may come in that may not otherwise visit the area,
and then this will support other local businesses, but because we are a destination, customers that
come to us may also dine, shop, and patronize other nearby businesses generating economic
activity beyond our own business. It also creates jobs and so we'll be hiring individuals to
obviously staff the positions there and those needs will grow as our business grows.
Let's see. It expands Walnut Creek's recreational offerings, provides long-term investment into the
community, so this project will activate and improve an existing commercial property and
bring to an established East Bay business to the community with a track record of steady sustainable
growth. We have a commitment to the community as well, so we actively support law enforcement,
first responders and a variety of recreational and community organizations in the communities
we currently serve, and we look forward to bringing that to the city of Walnut Creek.
And here are a list of some of the community partners we have served.
I'd like to open it up to any questions. Thank you for listening.
Do we have any questions?
I'll go back to my first question. Just some of the door presence on the streets.
I think the one most recently that you showed there were two double doors on the street.
Is that a code-driven, egress issue, or what was behind that?
No, that is purpose-driven.
So the goal is the door on the left, when you're facing the building, the double doors
will be the main entrance for customers to use.
And then in the presentation, they showed that in case law enforcement did want to come
in and use the range, that one door could provide access to law enforcement to use the
the range without having access to the retail area.
So does a law enforcement officer
have a unique passability to get into the building?
They would need some,
they wouldn't need a means of getting in,
but it does allow for less people to need to be present
to make it all work.
Okay.
And then there's a lot of compact parking in your plan.
I guess is that a lot or is that excessive?
I'm just thinking in terms of the number of vehicles,
especially the one I drive,
to the larger and compact spotted site
and such you have, you're required to have 17,
you providing 21, just wondering if the balance
can't be modified a little bit.
It could, so in our Tracy facility,
we have a similar number of parking
and we do have some of the compact spots
and we do notice that even in those compact spots,
so it doesn't meet the requirement of a full-size spot,
so it is considered compact,
however trucks are able to fit there now,
so I feel like it would adequately work.
Okay, and then last question I have
in terms of the storefront glazing system,
have you decided on a glazing material
or a glazing system for that glass?
So we've been told that it needs to stay transparent,
so we haven't decided on that yet, no.
Okay, that's all the questions I have, thank you.
Okay, thank you.
I have a couple questions.
So the plans that we received are not exactly
what the plans that we saw in the presentation.
So looking specifically at the landscape plan
as well as the render.
So the render that we have for the front,
can you go forward?
So there's two renders we're seeing for the front.
We're seeing this one and then we're seeing a separate one
where the plants are different,
the light fixtures are different, there's no sign on it.
I'm just curious which one is it that we are looking at?
So the one that we're looking at now
that has our logo in it was one of the initial ones
that was submitted.
We did have to make some modifications to it
because the logo is actually going out on a separate permit.
So we pulled the logo off as well as the final one,
I believe has the walkway that's going up to the door.
That door is situated towards the left of the building.
So the other version with the updated plan.
So this is the actual updated-
Correct.
Rendered plan.
Correct.
So, I just would like to understand the light fixtures a little bit better and whether or
not this landscape plan is the landscape plan that you're going for and not the one that
we saw that has blue fescue, dwarf fountain grass, and dwarf boxwood.
Okay.
I think Tracy might be able to better answer this question in our designer, so.
Okay.
So, my questions are about the light fixtures
and the plant selection,
as well as the number of bollards that are represented.
Okay, any other questions for me?
Those are my questions, yeah, thank you.
Thank you, any other questions?
So, I'm going to go back to the question I asked staff
about the sound, the acoustic study
whether or not that applies to your 7 a.m. and to 9 p.m. possible hours? The
sound study was specific to our business operating hours, so that's the
measurements that they took, which is the 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the week day and
10 a.m. to 8 p.m. So are you limiting your operation hours to those hours? That
is that is the plan for our customers, but we would like the opportunity to be
able to have law enforcement do a training there as well outside of those
hours. Okay so do we need another sound study? Those uh the sound study that was submitted
and actually um Chris from Action Cart Target can probably give you more insight on the sound
as well the sound abatements that that happens um uh but the particular sound study was they
used a model that is highly unlikely that that would actually be represented in the real world
shooting scenario um they had us shoot um I think we shot 10 10 firearms simultaneously and that
that doesn't typically happen in natural course of business,
right?
People are gonna be shooting at their own cadence,
so, and even with that,
we were able to keep the sound well under
what needed to be done.
So I don't think it would be an issue.
Well, I, may I interject?
Yes, of course.
I believe it's more not about the maximum volume,
but the duration during the day, right?
So what, and I believe,
Early hours and late hours,
and then with backing up to a resonance.
So that doesn't have anything to do
with nine guns versus five guns.
It has to do with guns from seven to 11,
as opposed to guns from 10 to five,
or whatever that might be.
And I think Chris from Action Target
might be able to shed some more light on that.
Okay.
I have a couple more questions.
Of course.
We note in the renderings
that you have lights on your security bollards out front.
Is there a reason for that?
Just for aesthetic purposes and to illuminate the area.
Okay.
Thank you.
Let's see what other questions we had here.
I think the rest of my comments are for staff.
Thank you.
Okay, thank you for your time.
Can we pull up the team
to answer some of those other questions?
So it's noise, landscape,
and then whoever's addressing the lights.
Which would you like to address first?
Which one?
So, I can do anything, shooting range design, sound, equipment, so let's talk sound first.
Just by way of background, I'm with Action Target, I'm a shooting range consultant.
I did build their first indoor range many years ago in Tracy, and have built many throughout
Northern California.
I've completed over 500 range projects in 21 years.
So I've taken a lot of sound measurements at ranges, in fact, I took some sound measurements
at this range on Monday.
And on North Main, the passing traffic peaks
at about 85 decibels, passing traffic there.
The ambient with passing traffic is about 75.
And you'll notice in their sound study,
most of those day-night averages
that were listed in the sound study were in the 60s.
And what that means is the passing traffic on North Main
is louder than the shots would be from the building.
So indistinguishable when there's passing traffic.
So that's something to note.
I'm probably talking at a 60 decibel level right now.
So just by comparison.
This is a sample of the acoustical treatment
that's lining the indoor part of the range.
And this absorbs sound in the range from reverberating.
It also stops sound transmission.
So they've gone above and beyond
in building basically a concrete bunker with concrete walls.
And then we're putting in full acoustical treatments
and ballistic walls on all of those surfaces,
which is above and beyond what most ranges require.
Thank you.
I was like, wow, we're going?
I thought we were going for a mood change.
So happy to answer any questions related to sound
if you have further questions about the design.
I don't.
Go ahead.
I just want to clarify.
So I appreciate the comparison to traffic.
So you're saying that the noise disruption that cannot
disruption, the ambient noise that can happen in that area
can get up to 65.
also even in the early hours that aren't necessarily
in the operating hours that could eventually have training.
And so you feel as though the report shows
that the disruption that could happen,
even if it were outside of those hours
would be minimally impactful to the neighbors.
That's correct.
My point is that the passing traffic
will be louder than the shots from the range.
And so if you're okay with the noise already
of the passing traffic,
you should be okay with the noise from the shooting range
because it is quieter.
Is the noise so, I just don't know this well.
The sound that you would hear
beyond the bunker and all the soundproofing,
is it like a pop?
Is it like, what does it sound like?
It's a very muted pop.
And I might suggest a field trip
if you wanted to at some point,
either this group or zoning,
we just built a new indoor range
for San Pablo Police Department.
That's a 20 lane range.
And it's located literally 40 feet from occupied condos.
And they've done sound testing there
and the residents cannot hear anything from the range.
When they did the sound test, they said,
hey, did you shoot?
Yeah, we shot.
Well, we didn't measure anything.
So with proper design and concrete and mass,
you can't stop a lot of that sound transmission.
But I also just clarified my own thoughts.
So the sound study clarifies that it meets the requirements
during those operating hours.
So our concern is the ones beyond that.
That's correct.
Correct, okay.
And that because if there is everything at seven o'clock in the morning,
you're not expecting to hear as much traffic that could potentially be more disruptive to the neighbors.
It could also be quieter depending on how many officers are using the range, right?
We're gonna have a max occupancy of three shooters per lane, one shooting at a time, so nine shooters at any one time.
I'm guessing some of these law enforcement classes may be a little bit smaller, maybe just a few people training, maybe as many as nine.
So, it's more likely that you'll have less guns firing during that time than you would
during the general public hours.
Do you have any previous projects with similar conditions where they did begin trainings
at your regular hours and you guys could speak to whether or not it was ever an issue or
if there was any kind of operating plan that helped it?
Because I'm just trying to bridge the gap between the concern and what's already been
documented.
And it is typical for commercial ranges to operate,
say, nine to eight, 10 to seven in that normal time period.
But it is also quite common for law enforcement
to come in before peak hours and after peak hours,
which is early and late, to use ranges.
We could probably give you some examples.
So in Northern California, there's a couple other ranges
that are located very near residential,
and they've been operating for over a decade.
One is Sacramento Gun Club,
right off 50 in Sacramento.
So it's called the Gun Range Sacramento
is the new name of that.
They have a 50-yard rifle range.
They have a bunch of 25-yard ranges, 38 lanes total.
And there's an apartment complex next door to the range
and also a school across the street.
And that has operated for more than 12 years
in that location successfully.
Couple other ranges we built recently.
We built one in Stockton called KW Defense.
That's been operating for about four, five years now.
another one on Main Street in Riverbank,
small little city near Ione,
and that's a five-lane range
that's right on the Main Street,
right next to a bunch of restaurants
and entertainment businesses,
and that's been operating for about four years.
Is there any way to design it
to have even more soundproof,
or is it like the peak of everything it can be right now?
It's well-built above and beyond what most people do,
so I feel like they've already gone above and beyond
to make this as quiet as possible,
adding the extra steel and baffles and acoustical treatments
that really are not required,
but they're trying to be great business owners
and also provide a better shooting experience
for law enforcement and for their customers.
So no, there is not anything else they could do
based on the footprint that they have.
With the available square footage they have,
I feel like they've done as much as possible with this.
Thank you.
Can you address the lighting at Ballard's or is that?
That would be Tracy, I believe.
Any other sound questions?
Any other sound questions?
Okay.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Hello, everyone.
Thank you for letting me speak today.
I am Tracy Kionni.
I am the architectural designer for this project.
A little bit of background about myself.
I've been doing architectural design for close to 20 years now, ranging from mainly commercial
and, of course, residential.
So for this project here, I believe some of the older and new designs got put into the
renderings.
So this is the rendering of the exterior if we were just to do the retail only.
So we were doing a project for design review and also another rendering for when we move
forward for the gun range.
So to answer your question, yes, I think some of them got a little skewed in that design
presentation.
So this is not what we're talking about?
So the other one with the two doors,
that will be the one for the range.
Okay, so in looking at that one?
Yes.
So my question is regarding the choices
of the light fixtures on the building themselves
and whether those are dark sky compliant.
So we have, in our guidelines there is,
we specify that there needs to be shielding.
And so just those look to me to not be shielded.
Additionally, the number of ballards
and the fact that they're lighted,
there also seem to be a change in where they were placed.
So in the other rendering, they were in the front
and this rendering, they're behind.
Correct.
Which one is it gonna be?
It will be this rendering.
Okay.
So this is the correct rendering.
For the wall sconces, those are mainly just decorative.
They'll be very soft-lit.
Okay.
We'll have downlights underneath the awning itself
that will highlight the entry points.
For the bollards itself, we did want to highlight
the pathway for safety and for visibility.
Those lights would also be pointed downwards.
The number of bollards, we wanted to do five feet max.
One is also for safety concerns.
if a vehicle were to want to potentially enter
into the space that those bouillards will stop in.
So they're not just lit bouillards,
they're also concrete bouillards in the ground.
So this is a five foot spread?
Yes.
It looks tighter.
I know, renderings kind of may probably look skewed,
but in the plans we show five foot
and there'll be 10 bouillards.
Okay, and then this is the general planting plan here.
Correct, okay.
We are trying to use as much native plants as possible.
In the design package that we were handed,
the actual bollards and notes are rated
only for 20 miles an hour for impact.
So that's a relatively slow moving vehicle.
So I think the street there is like 35 miles an hour.
So you may have a car coming a little more quicker,
a little faster.
So the purpose of safety,
perhaps a higher rated bollard, thank you.
And I would like to go back to what Commissioner Riley said,
which is we have a light requirement
that you don't have light shining upwards, as you know,
and these all look like they would not meet that.
So when you go to Planning Commission,
you'll need to provide something else that will make sense.
Yeah, so the specs are provided.
I believe the only lights that are shining upward
are those two sconces that we can modify
to make sure that they only shine downward.
The bollards aren't really shielded though either.
They're not pointing up, but they're not.
They do have a protective top on it to shield downward.
Thank you.
And can we go back to the plant list?
So I see the rendering, but the actual plant list
we don't have in our packet?
We did provide that, I don't know, Gerardo.
just didn't make it into our packet no sorry yeah I mean it's fine I just want
to note that none of these plants are native plants so just just saying that
yeah okay yeah so the renderings that was my mistake I got some new renderings
around the time where the Packard was being completed.
We just not for the plant type it will be the same renderings that he showed.
So this is the rendering there.
Yeah, and those are the pictures.
Okay.
I have one last question on how might you conceal or hide the utilities that are in
the front right corner of the building?
that one might be easier to conceal because it is on the right side and it won't interfere
with path of travel. So we could definitely, you know, something that I'm envisioning something
maybe that's wood or a box that we can safely enclose that's operable so you can still have
access to it.
Well, if that was the case, I would appreciate it being looking a little more purposeful.
Okay.
Not like it's just a band aid or something.
Right.
Okay, thank you.
Yes.
any further questions? I have one question of staff. Thank you. The sound mitigation
measures that they have proposed will those be made conditions of approval for this project?
They can be, yes. Okay. Thank you. And now we will open it up to public comment. Please
approach the microphone and hand your speaker card in if you haven't. Otherwise, I have
four speaker cards, so I can read off in order that I have. Gail Contreras. Is there Gail
Contreras? Okay, the next one, Chris Hart. You'll have to hear from me again. I live
out of state, but I was a resident of Contra Costa County for 20 years, an avid shooter
who are here and I've only seen ranges close
in the last few years.
We've lost Vacaville, Dublin,
and a few others in recent years.
So as you know, there's no indoor ranges in this county.
Highly recommend that we move forward with this project.
And I know that they've done everything they can
to meet the design requirements of the city
and also present a very nice quality business
for the community.
So those are my comments.
Thank you.
Barry Tieras.
I have a question.
I have a question.
you know who I am now. What are safety measures in the front of the store that
you put in or have for if there's a robbery or if there's some kind of thing?
Do you have an automatic walk? Can you address the commission? Oh, I'm sorry, okay.
They could have that. Anyway, that's the question. Maybe they can answer it after
I'm done. How some of the supporters of this project are not living in Walnut
Creek. There's a lot of outside supporters who maybe want to you know
get in on it, make some money out of it. Are rifles louder? Do you are gonna allow
rifles also? That's a question I don't know. And you said it naturally. This
This place is naturally going to fit into this community.
This isn't Texas.
This isn't a gun community.
Restaurants, you said, entertainment.
That's our community.
50 years I've lived here.
I don't want, I strongly oppose this place
and you know what it stands for basically.
There's eight gun stores within a five, six mile radius.
City Arms, Hip Hop Gun Shop, Canyon Sports,
Big Five sells guns.
They don't have ranges, I understand.
Sportsmen, Dicks used to sell guns, United Sportsmen.
There's one on Bancroft and Treat,
less than a mile from here.
There's a gun shop, so saturation in this area.
And I know it's not going to the design,
but I just want to get this out.
I don't want Walnut Creek to be promoting guns,
and they're also going to start open containers
to drinking on the street in Clocust.
Certain times they just did it,
and that's not, I think, what Walnut Creek
wants to represent.
Anyway, thank you.
I'm done.
Thank you.
Tracy Cannon?
Tracy?
Kidoni, sorry.
Oh, actually, so if you're not a public speaker,
are you a part of the applicant's team?
Oh, okay.
Are there any other public speakers?
Please come up with your speaker card.
No?
Please, yeah.
Or you could speak and then fill it out after.
You could come on.
Hi, I'm Jason.
Live here in Pleasant Hill.
Work about 50 yards from the proposed gun range.
I think saying Walnut Creek
is not a gun-friendly community is highly wrong.
I'd say 50% of the people probably in Walnut Creek
own firearms, there's a lot of hundreds,
a lot of law enforcement.
There's thousands of concealed carry
permit holders in Conchicosta County.
If you look on the emails that were sent in,
it's kind of the vocal minority, I think, doing it.
If you look at social media, the past two days,
all of the posts, there's probably 100 positive
to four negative.
I think that this is a safe place for people to shoot.
These are top notch guys that are gonna
build the best facility.
I just think you'd keep an open mind.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Hi, my name is Cynthia Schneider
and I was going to comment,
but I'm gonna be respectful of what you said
at the beginning, you're here about design.
So I just wanna know how do we keep in the loop
of when this moves to the Planning Commission?
Gerardo, do we need to provide you with our names
so that we can address the issues before the Planning Commission.
So that's the only question I have.
So my recommendation would be to, however you found out about today, keep an eye out
for it, and then any communication that you sent via email that's been received, please
resend that.
That's correct.
And filling out a speaker card is helpful because then we have your email and phone
number and we can keep you informed as this project moves forward. Hello my
name is Joshua Mathis I'm a Contra Costa resident. I myself I visited a Tracy wing
for elite armory. On three occasions I found that it is very educational
especially for the young population to be able to properly learn firearm
handling. I work as an armed security guard and I have found that the younger
population really does have an urge to want to be within the bounds of the law
when they're handling situations with firearms and it'll also help my community
especially in the African American community. I would like to personally
thank Tracy the Tracy Wing and Elite Armory for what they have done for us
when it comes down to education and if you care about your younger generation
and you want them to be able to conduct themselves
in a way that shows the best parts of your city,
I feel like this would be a great thing to have for that.
Thank you.
Good evening, guys.
My name's Daniel Steis.
I have been a Contra Costa resident,
a Contra Costa resident for 51 years now,
also a resident of Walnut Creek.
I do want to second that if you guys look
the safety aspect of it and the service that this something like this will
provide our community. The increase in CCW's if you guys haven't looked, is
growing very fast. Not only Concord and all the other cities in Contra Costa
County that have opened up their concealed weapons permits, it's a lot.
And the worst thing we could do is not have a facility like this to give the
safety and instruction and the practice to be a responsible gun owner number one
and to have the skills to do the right thing if the time comes and hopefully
it never does but that's that's my personal feeling on this I am a NRA
safety range officer and I work at a local range so would it be
counterproductive me to say this no it's not it's all about safety and giving the
our community somewhere to go to practice that skill which is a very necessary skill, especially if you have a CCW
to have and also the education for the up-and-coming
generation to responsibly be a gun owner to exercise our second amendment right in this country. That's all. Thank you. Thank you
Do we have any further public comments?
Can you come up to the mic, please?
Yes, please
You're welcome
There was a shooting in Walla Creek about two or three years ago
Right across the street from the carpet store, which is going to be their store. I'm sure some of you remember it
There's bars there. There's a couple of bars. You know, there's a or
Indian restaurant, but there's a couple of bars there downstairs and
What's the other one, you know the one with it then but anyway
There has been research that shows when such gun stores are approved violence has increased in these neighborhoods
Not to mention a couple of years ago about the shooting. Okay, so
There's been studies and you can look it up in the Google it that violence has increased in the neighborhoods
Which is where I live on Second Avenue
I
Work with children my whole life. We all know about what can happen
Responsible owners great. I love it. It's fine, but I'm scared
Thank you
Any further public comment?
Okay, then we will close public comment
Quickly, we're going to the commissioner comments
We did read some of the the emails that were submitted so we thought that that would come up
We understand that some of the public comments site research regarding firearms dealers and gun gun violence
we looked carefully at that research and it doesn't and
It doesn't establish that firearms inherently cause increased crime or violence in the surrounding neighborhoods
the findings are actually mixed and
Very substantially based on neighborhood conditions the type of dealers. So things like if there are pawn dealers
If there are dealers that were also pawn pawn dealers or not
whether or not they were disenfranchised neighborhoods.
So, I mean, we don't think that those generalized studies
provide a basis to conclude that this particular facility
will create a public safety impact here.
We think the appropriate consideration is this facility,
this location, our operating history,
and the extensive security and safety measures
incorporated into this project.
And if you read a lot of those studies,
they even admit in their studies
that they're not conclusive.
There's way too many variables.
There's been studies after that,
I think the latest one is in 2026,
where they actually went backwards on it
and studied whether or not gun violence
or violence in general decreased after a store disappeared.
And they found that it stayed the same.
So there's really no conclusive evidence
any of those studies that show that. Okay. Thank you. So now we're officially
closing public comments. You have a question? Yes, it's retail sale, so they
will be selling firearms. Okay, done. Commissioner, comments? Do you guys want to
start? Thank you. I'd like to say I appreciate the approach to the respect
to the scale of the streets and the overall efforts
to address the potential noise coming from the building,
as well as some of the issues of making the storefront
really transparent that allows us to feel
as if it's much more like a typical retail location
and some of the efforts to not fortify the building,
no screen in the front or no roll down door in the front
and you know, efforts to just come make the space blend
and to the rest of the surface along the street.
All right, I like the idea of screening the equipment.
I think that would help improve
the general appearance of the arrival.
I think the planting design needs to consider the slope
from the actual pedestrian sidewalk nearby.
There is a change in grade,
so I think something that covers that slope a little better
might be more effective.
I feel like I'd like to suggest
it's a study session that there's a little more information available for the uncaptured
hours that seem to create a little confusion for us in terms of the sound.
And I appreciate that my fellow commissioner pointed out that the baller that's proposed
may need a higher rating if we're designing for potential car impact.
And that is it, my input for those following items.
So I agree with the screening of the utilities in a way that looks purposeful and not like
it was just slapped on to screen the utility.
So if that could really be part of the architecture of the building, I think that would be important.
When I looked at the two renderings, one looked way more like a fortress.
The older rendering looked way more like a fortress with the way that things were presented,
as the second one looked less so and I think that if as the design continues to progress,
which I assume it will, that it really goes in the direction of looking less fortress-like,
having planting soften it, choosing colors that are soft or not, there's not a lot of
contrast, it is a normal retail strip with all different types of buildings and it's important
that if you the desire is to be considered just another part of retail that that's what you express
in your architecture. So if you want to be thought of as like everyone else it shouldn't look like
an armory. I know that's the name of the the company but really that it should be presenting
as something else, so those are my comments.
I think however the sound in those off hours can be explored, I support that exploration.
Thank you guys.
I echo everything they said.
I do want to go back to the question that I asked staff earlier and make that a formal
comment which is that the sound mitigation measures identified in the acoustic report
And as currently proposed, as a bare minimum should be a condition of approval.
I also believe that the safety measures that you have in place for instance, you know,
the rubber padding and all of the things that you do to absorb the bullets, considering
the fact that behind it is residential primarily, I would like to make those kinds of requirements
a condition of approval. And what else? I think you answered all those questions. And
yes, I agree we need to screen the utilities with an architectural solution that is consistent
with the rest of the building. Okay. This is where I try to recap everybody's
comments, but I did want to say for the record that Commissioner Newsom, though not in attendance
He did provide written comments as well and very similar to I think what's been brought up today regarding sound mitigation measures and
Incorporating those as conditions of approval as this project moves forward
And discrepancy with the hours the noise study evaluates based on the hours like making that more clear
the operating hours and enforcement training use hours and
A design comment was the building can be a little more welcoming and a little less unwelcoming
and the roll down security doors should remain inside the storefront which is already represented
in the plan set by the applicant and maybe consider less bollards across the front of
the building or incorporate some sort of design emphasis through landscaping or something
so they're just not an ISOR.
That was Commissioner Newsom's comments.
And from what I've gathered from the commissioners before me,
just tell me if you agree and then we'll keep it.
Otherwise we'll, we're eliminated.
So it was the planting design needs to consider the slope
from the pedestrian side.
All on, want that, okay.
More information for the uncaptured hours
related to the sound.
bollard should consider the higher rating. Screening of utilities and make it more part
of the building architecture using similar screening materials. And the second rendering
that was presented that does not have that sign on top is the one that you believe is
going in the better direction and continue to progress it and make sure it doesn't look
so fortress-like right and and fits better within that area with the other
other use commercial uses. Which I think speaks to Phil's comments about it being
welcoming right yeah welcoming yeah a different way of saying that same thing
okay great and then I believe you said use a contrast to colors or something to
soften up the building architecture. I think again it's in that same idea of
being welcoming it just so that it isn't this heavy dark mass looking at
that. Okay sound mitigation again that's identified in the report and all the
safety measures such as you gave an example but there's many more the rubber
pad requirements you want all of those as conditions of approval of this
project when it goes before the Planning Commission okay did I miss anything all
All right. Thank you. So we'll make sure it's all captured and the applicant will consider
as they revise the plans to move forward to Planning Commission. Thank you.
Thank you. So this study session for this project is now closed. Are there any Commissioner
considerations? Okay. Do any of you have any announcements?
Staff? No announcements this week. Okay. All right then we are adjourned.