06 ATTACHMENT 5 - Laserfiche WebLink

Mr. Mark Dennis et al. 6/15/2016 Page 4 6. THE CITY MAY NOT ALLOW ILLEGAL COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES IN THE RM ZONE UNDER THE GUISE OF "ANCILLARY USES." The City has claimed that these commercial activities are allowed in the RM zone as "ancillary activities" under the Masonic Lodge's use permit. This stretches ancillary activities far beyond what is contemplated in the zoning ordinance. While holding Masonic functions, including parties, may be allowable under the use permit, they would still have to abide by the requirement that such functions focus towards the southern portion of the subject property and that they respect the buffer zone between the parcel and surrounding residential properties. Likewise, the Lodge may be allowed to engage in on -site food preparation and service for its own functions, while again respecting the general requirement that uses not result in noise, illumination, odors, dirt, smoke, glare, or other objectionable influences on neighboring residential properties. However, the Lodge has very clearly stepped over the line into nonpermissible uses by renting out its facilities for purely commercial ventures 7. CALIFORNIA COURTS HAVE MADE CLEAR THAT A FRATERNAL ORGANIZATION MAY NOT STRETCH THE LAW TO ALLOW COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES IN A RESIDENTIAL AREA The Pleasanton Masonic Lodge is not the first fraternal organization to try to skirt zoning laws to establish a commercial venue in a residentially -zoned area. In a published California appellate decision, Scottish Rite Cathedral Assn. of Los Angeles v. City of Los Angeles (2007) 156 Cal.App.4th 108, a masonic group established its fratemal facilities next to a sensitive residential area. There, like here, a strictly commercial venture would have violated the zoning. However, there, like here, the Masonic facility began conducting parties, concerts, and other moneymaking events. They justified this by claiming the profits would go to fund their Masonic functions. The court rejected that argument. It held that commercial activities violated the zoning regardless of how the profits would be used. Similarly here, a commercial enterprise may not hide, like a wolf in sheep's clothing, under the auspices of a fraternal group. 8. THE CITY'S PAST MISTAKES DO NOT JUSTIFY ITS ALLOWING THE LODGE TO CONTINUE TO VIOLATE ITS USE PERMIT AND THE ZONING. The blame for some of the current problems lies as much with the City's negligence as it does with the Lodge's overreaching. In 2004, when the City approved the Lodge's remodeling, including installation of the glass doors on the building's northern frontage, the building department acted without requesting Planning Department review and without considering the Use Permit's conditions. It may be too late to undo the approvals given to the building changes, but the use permit conditions still need to be respected, which means that while the glass doors may be able to stay, they should be redesignated for emergency exit only, and the southern entrance should return to being the only way one normally enters or exits the building. Similarly, while the City may have improperly allowed Masonic and other functions to use the "backyard" area on the northern side of the property, future outdoor activities, especially those generating any significant amount of noise, should be restricted to the southern property frontage. The City has also refused to enforce the City's noise ordinance (PMC Chapter 9.04) against the Lodge, claiming that the ordinance does not cover noise from human