14 ATTACHMENT 06 - Laserfiche WebLink

Brad Hirst stated that two points he would like to make initially is that Mr. Roesbery is not only the dealer and has been for 15 years, but he also owns the real property, so he is doubly vested; and the other point is that he has the right to operate 24 hours today as there are no restrictions on the existing zoning or use permit with respect to operating hours, as there are for the adjoining shopping centers in terms of operating and delivery hours. He added that the Conditions of Approval that staff has put forward contain a number of restrictions on delivery hours, and Mr. Roesbery is in agreement with those. Mr. Hirst indicated that customers matter, and when 275 to 300 existing customers support the project versus 30 people, most of whom may not be customers, are opposed, the decision would be to take care of the customers, and that is exactly what Mr. Roesbery is doing. With respect to traffic on West Las Positas Boulevard, all the issues raised exist today, and there is not one problem about access or traffic that does not already exist; therefore, the project is not making the traffic issues more difficult. He indicated that Mr. Roesbery is as concerned about the opening on West Las Positas Boulevard and the fire station turn as everybody else, and that is the reason his manager came up with the idea of the caution signs along the sidewalk. He added that the City Traffic Engineer came out and took a look at this matter at the request of one of the neighborhood residents and the City immediately put up a second "No U-Turn" sign at the fire station left-turn. He also pointed out that the opening does not line up with the driveway from West Las Positas Boulevard into the fire station; and turning left into the fire station from westbound Santa Rita Road is at a diagonal angle, which is both dangerous and illegal. As far as the inadequate presentation is concerned, Mr. Hirst stated that they have been out to a lot of people. He noted that probably 15 percent or 20 percent of the information in the staff report is from the applicant, and there were four or five levels of traffic studies that were done. He added that all this documentation is public information as anything an applicant turns in to the City is public information, so there is nothing the applicant is trying to hide. Mr. Hirst stated that there is something distinct about what Mr. Roesbery is proposing: a food store with fresh delivery. He admitted that their petition did not say they were going to sell beer and wine, but it also did not say they were going to have yogurt, bananas, grapes, or sandwiches either. He indicated that each of the 2,300 products available would not be listed on a short petition. In conclusion, Mr. Hirst stated that the City Traffic Engineer has pointed out no problems; so that is adequately cared for. He added that the Police Department has also reported adequately, and City staff is in support of the project. He asked the Planning Commission to approve the proposal. Commissioner Allen addressed Mr. Hirst regarding his comment about the petition, stating that he knew that the residents at the Planning Commission Work Session and the neighborhood meeting, as well as through letters, had serious questions about the PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, August 27, 2014 Page 20 of 44