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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPC Min 1983-04-20 . MINUTES OF THE SEAL BEACH PLANNING COMMISSION OF APRIL 20, 1983 The Planning Commission met in regular session on Wednesday, April 20, 1983 in the City Council Chambers of the City Adminis- tration Building. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Covington at 7:40 p.m., and the pledge to the flag was led by Commissioner Goldenberg. PRESENT: ABSENT: STAFF: Perrin, Jessner, Smith, Covington, and Goldenberg None Antos The minutes of the April 6, 1983 meeting were considered and approved by t~e following vote: AYES: NOES: Perrin, Smith, Covington, Jessner, and Goldenberg None, PUBLIC HEARINGS B. Walt's Wharf, 201 Main Street, CUP-7-81 e Staff report presented by Mr. Antos. This application was submitted for renewal of conditional use permit for a general liquor license at the restaurant. The City Manager proposed supplemental conditions regarding live entertainment. The City Manager pointed out the section of the City code that leaves the live entertainment to the purview of the City Manager. Those supplemental conditions, in addition to the original conditions for the CUP, were as follows: . 1) That the sound attenuation measures recommended by P. A. Penardi in his letter of 2/28/83 be installed. 2) That the decibel level not exceed 90 dBA in the room where the band is located. 3) That the agreement to provide a parking attendant for the John's Food King parking lot be in full force and effect. 4) That the areas surrounding Walt's Wharf - the aforementioned parking lot, the Bank of America parking lot, the alley, etc. - be policed daily. Staff recommendation is to renew the CUP for a full liquor license subject to conditions as previously placed, and with the addition of those conditions reque~ted by the City Manager. - P.C. Minutes of 4/20/83 Page 2 c.. ~ ; Additional letters of protest were noted from Andrew Brown, Ross McGuire, Dorothy Nescher, RobertL. Rose. Mr: Covington asked if all the conditions granted in the original CUP are presently be satisfied. Staff replied they were. Mr. Covington asked what time the entertainment ends. Staff replied that the entertainment permit-is within the purview of the City Manager. He can grant permit, impos~ conditions and terminate permit at his discretion. If the Planning Commission imposes the entertainmeritending time at 11 p.m., that would limit the City Manager's ability ~o have entertainment end earlier or later. The City Manager has the right to suspend or revoke the entertain- ment permit if the business operations are not in compliance with those conditions set or if any other law is violated. Also, additional conditions can be issued in the future to abate unforseen problems that may arise. Regarding closing hours, it was previously determined that the restaurant would not take in any more customers after 12 p.m., but that the remaining clientele may remain there. Public Hearing Opened e 1. Philip A. La Casto, 12421 Oakway Drive, Los A1amitos, part owner of Walt's Wharf, was there to. answer any question~ Commission might have. Chairman Covington asked what time the entertainment presently ceases. Mr. Lacasto replied it stops at 1:30 a.m. He also mentioned that in order for him to be competitive with other live entertainment places, the music would have to continue until 1:30 p.m. Commissioner Jessner asked if Mr; La Casto was personally aware of complaints from residents. Mr. LaCasto replied that he has personally received only one. Mr. La Casto has personally checked the noise in the alley and has found it be low. This is most probably due to the fact that there is so much machinery from businesses in the .a11ey. He now realizes that the music can be heard from the second levels of homes in adjacent lots. He further indicated that he .has discussed sound proofing with his acoustical engineer, who recommended double-paning glass windows in the back. Mr. La Casto will do all 8 windows rather than those recommended. He will ~se 3/4" ~lywood. instead of gl~ss in the windows on the al1eyo . . Commissioner Goldenberg asked if any liquor is being served to si~ting customers outside the restaurant. . Mr. La Casto stated absolutely no. That is the responsibility of doormen to oversee. Mr. Covington asked if Mr. La Casto was in concurrence with City Manager's memo conferring its conditions. Mr. La Casto stated he was in agreement . .' P.C. Minutes of 4/20/83 Page 3 and has informed City Manager that he will begin sound-proofing immediately. Mr. Jessner asked how the restaurant would police keeping the decibel level below 90.' Staff replied that he would recommend the purchase of a sound decibel meter available from Radio Shack for approximately $35- 40 so that readings could be taken. at random. Staff would be spot-checking at random intervals. As point of information to the Commission, by dropping the sound level almost 10 decibels, you will be dropping the energy level by ten times that amount. e John Euh1berg, 208 8th Street, stated that he has a business located at 207! Main Street. He stated, "I am not really here to speak against the CUP, but I would like to point out a few things. I am both a businessman located across from Walt's Wharf and I am also a resident living in very close proximity (directly behind Walt's Wharf). I believe you are setting a precedent for future applicants here tonight. I think you should proceed carefully. Some of the restrictions in the past have hurt the business community. I don't want to see Walt's Wharf lose their liquor license and I am not opposed to anything that doesn't infringe on another person's right to quiet and privacy. There has been an increased exposure to vanda- lism and I am not entirely sure that it was an isolated incident or that it will continue to present a problem in the future. I don't want to see Walt's Wharf or any other business in town presenting a negative impact to the community. I ~hink it is self-defeating. I don't. think the type of entertainment that they are having there does anything for the community. As a resident, the noise is unacceptable.. Some people say there is increased amount of undesirable element. I don't know if that is directly attribu- table to Walt '.s Wharf. There is a potential for a problem here. The La Castos are trying to work along with the decision of the City Manager and I believe they are willing to effectively police the areas. I believe it is in their best interests to do that. If the sound proofing and volume levels are followed according to City Manager's recommendations, that would help. We have to see what happens during the summer. The 'on1y request I would make to this Commission, assuming that the La Castos do all the things that they are going to do, is that possibly there be a sooner evaluation of the CUP, say within 120 days so that we have some time to assess what the impact is during the summer months. At least we won't have created a situation at this point that cannot be remedied until a year from now." . Jay Covington reminded Mr. Euh1berg that the City Manager can make the determination of immediate revocation of live entertainment, should it be necessary. e Mr. Robert Chavez, 220 8th Street, stated that the only thing he would like to add is the added traffic and noise that has been brought to the area since the entertainment was added. Since the wintertime, we have kept most of the windows shut. Now that it is getting warmer, we cannot keep the windows open due to noise from traffic up and down the alley . e - P.C. Minutes of 4/20/83 Page 4 Staff replied that City Manager has requested that the alley be policed regularly. Chairman Covington stated that the need for additional policing does not necessarily have a negative impact. Whenever you have increased business, with increased traffic, the need for additional policing is felt. Brent Mathews, 218 8th Street stated that he had a noise problem in the evening associated with the live entertainment from Walt's Wharf. He was concerned about the summer months, when windows would be open. He was also concerned that the atmosphere of Walt's Wharf was changing from a family restaurant to a late nite entertaiment spot. The need for speed bumps in the alleyway was mentioned. Mr. John Hibinsky, 210 6th Street, spoke of the need for a restaurant such as Walt's Wharf that offers entertainment within walking distance of residents, therefore no need for driving. Mr. Richard Epergraft, 222 Main Street, stated that he frequented Walt's Wharf and had never seen any problems occurring there. Mr. Jim Shavez of Bridgeport, stated that businesses in order to support the City. Walt's should be denied a license because with other entertainment spots. he tried to frequent Seal Beach Therefore, he did not see why they were trying to be competitve Mr. Greg Corral spoke as the manager of bands booked at Walt's Wharf. He stated that he tried to get only the best bands for the restaurant, ones that would have a class act with a following. He stated that Walt's has qu~lity entertainment~ if the bands don't have quality; they are gone. Patricia Hibinsky spoke in favor of Walt's Wharf. She stated that there is a need for good restaurants that can accommodate business people who bring clients in. Pat Leo, another resident of Seal Beach, stated that there is generally no problem parking on Main Street any evening. He felt there was a need for an establishment such as Walt's Wharf. Public Hearing Closed. Commissioner Goldenberg stated that we are dealing with a liquor license application only. The entertainment license is under the jurisdiction of the City Manager. He also felt that some of the problems mentioned at the meeting should be brought to the attention of the Police Department so they they will have a record of complaints. He stated that so far regarding the extension of the liquor license, the Police Department gave the applicant a clean bill of health. There will be another public hearing with the City Council and any additional comments can be made there. . e -- P.C. Minutes of 4/20/83 Page 5 Chairman Co~ington stated that he wanted to thank the audience for participating in the public hearing. Commissioner Perrin asked if there could be an update of the situation in six months time. Staff replied that a report would be forthcoming from staff and from the City Manager in 6 mos. Commissioner Jessner stated that he would like to see a 1-year time limit on this conditional use pe~mi~_exterision. Mr. La Casto protested that he. had already fulfilled the one year requirement for his conditional use permit. Chairman Covington stated that some concerns have been raised that the Commission would like to have addressed in a year's time. He further stated that when . .-....- - ---~.. _...A_ the initial CUP was requested, there was 'no entertainment factor. J .... ----::-~ Minute Order Commissioner Perrin moved to approye by minute order the 1 year time limit, with the deletion of conditions and with the City Manager's conditions . regarding live entertainment to remain in effect. Commissioner Perrin seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. . . AYES: Perrin, S~ith, Covington, Goldenberg, and Je~sner NOES:. None . Planning Commission adiourned for a recess - reconvened at 9:20 p.m. ZTA-2-83 Staff report was presented by Mr. Antos. This was a zoning text amendment. to permi~ 8 foot high fences in certain areas of the City; It was noted that the fences when constructed must be up to City code. Public Hearing Opened. Mr. George Smythe, 326 16th Street, stated that he lived directly behind the Rum Runner's Restaurant. ~ehad had problems with employees looking over his fence into his backyard and this was a perfect opportunity to afford him some privacy. Public Hearing Closed. Res. 1280 Commissioner Jessner moved to adopt ZTA-2-83 as amended, with Commissioner Smith seconding. Motion was carried by the following vote: AYES: NOES: Goldenberg, Smith, Jessner', Covington, Perrin None P.C. Minutes of 4/20/83 Page 6 tit. PLANNING COMMISSION ITEMS Resolution Denying V-3-83 This was the Lund/Sutter application before the Commission on April 6,1983. The denial was upheld by the following vote: Res. 1281 AYES: Covington, Goldenberg, Jessner, Smith NOES: None ABSTAIN: Perrin General Telephone, V-1-82 Minute Order General Telephone requested a one year extension of the variance due to timing needs for the addition. That extension was unanimously granted by minute order with the notation that no additional extensions be granted. AYES: NOES: Covington, Goldenberg, Jessner, Smith None . 103 Welcome Lane Minute Order e The staff report regarding architectural review of 103 Welcome Lane was presented to Commission. The Commission unanimously agreed that the submittal was approved and that this met the initial idea that the Planning Commission desired for 2-story cabanas. -~---- - AYES:' Covington, Goldenberg:, - J~~sn~r; 'Smith) '., NOES: None- - .!": '" --". -'~ ----- ;: REPORT FROM. SECRETARY'-'~,; - ,'=: The secretary reported that the City<Attorney indicated that the only time the Commission could retire for a executive legal session is when the City attQEney ;i.~.- P~~~~J1.t...-~ ,-:'_ _ _______--,. ._.~!<:--.'--, /. ..:.-.-, ----~--~.__.-- .- ...._--- M~eting adjourned at 10:0Q. ~.~. ~ ,e. ~ -'-" Recording Secretary . IJ, ~