06 ATTACHMENT 7 - Laserfiche WebLink

Hap's Issues: After the wall was constructed, Mr. Madden and Mr. Connors contacted City staff stating their opposition to the wall, mainly because their access to the trash area was now blocked. A series of meetings took place in the summer of 2006 between City staff and the two parties in an attempt to work out a solution. A number of issues were addressed, including the following points expressed by Mr. Madden in his letter dated July 10, 2007 (attached): "The wall seriously compromises the ability of restaurant patrons to exit Hap's Restaurant in the event of an emergency and also restricts emergency workers free access to our property." There is an emergency access door located at the southeast side of the Hap's building. As part of the 1967 approval for the Hap's addition, Judge Gale, former owner of the adjacent property at 62 W. Neal St., provided a revocable permit to the owners of Hap's to allow use of an 8-foot wide strip of land on his property between his building and Hap's Restaurant for emergency ingress and egress. Although the City has no records to indicate the status of this revocable permit, the strip of land cannot function as an emergency access since it is fenced off where it would connect to the Neal Street sidewalk. Furthermore, the strip of land is unpaved and would not provide a clear path in the event of an emergency in Hap's. Finally, since it's a revocable permit, there is no certainty that it would be maintained for emergency access (as apparently it was not). In order to meet Code emergency egress requirements as part of Hap's 1999 remodeling, the Building Department required that an emergency egress gate be provided from the rear of Hap's to the Vaughn property parking lot located at 400-420 Main Street to the west of the Hap's site. That gate does not currently meet Code requirements for emergency egress since it swings inward rather than outward, but that could be easily corrected. Even if the gate were to be modified to conform to the Building Code, Mr. Madden believes that the overall safety of Hap's customers has been compromised as a result of the wall obstructing what had previously been an open area for emergency access. However, there is no easement of record on the Pleasanton Station or Railroad Square properties for such emergency access, and Mr. Pereira feels that he should not be responsible for providing this access to Hap's customers on his property, especially since there are other means to achieve such access. Staff is aware that Hap's representatives may believe that they have a legal right such as a prescriptive easement to cross the property line onto the Pleasanton Station or Railroad Square properties for emergency egress; however, this is a civil matter not within the City's jurisdiction to determine. Staff notes, moreover, that the situation at the rear/side of Hap`s before construction of the wall did not provide a totally unobstructed path of exit due to the presence of Hap's trash dumpster and grease containers, the presence of parked cars on the Pleasanton Station side of the property line, and the presence of the chain link fence and the Gale Building (62 W. Neal St.) along a portion of the same property line. PUD-81-28-05M January 9, 2008 Page 5 of 11