03 ATTACHMENTS - Laserfiche WebLink

DRAFT John Pfund, Tri-Valley Martial Arts Academy, stated that he feels like a victim in the Spanish Inquisition. He indicated that he knows the Commission wants to effect change and asked the Commissioners why they are Commission members as opposed to doing anything else. He stated that he has a dream that he is presenting to the Commission and requested the Commission to let common sense prevail and give him a fair shake. Mr. Pfund stated that he would first address the issue of guns. He noted that in his training program for adults, jujitsu instruction is very highly recommended in his community. He added that he always gets a fair number of law enforcement officers who come to him for training, and as part of being a law enforcement, federal, or military officer, it is important that they receive correct defenses in the event that someone points a gun at them. He indicated that he uses rubber guns with no functioning parts and has never used live firearms in training. He noted that these guns are molded plastic rubber and are the same guns used by law enforcement and other martial arts schools for training. He requested that the condition on the use of rubber training guns be permitted in the adult classes of his program. Mr. Pfund noted that the last time he was before the Commission, the Commissioners all agreed that he had a great program, but they were looking for something else because of the hours he had in his exemption. He noted that he has taken all of the steps to get a daycare license and that he has been approved by State Department of Community Care Licensing (CCL) to be a Director. He added that his facility has also been inspected and was found to meet the standards of daycare licensing. He noted, however, that upon completing this process, his building becomes an E-Class building as opposed to a B-Class, and changing it to an E-Class building would be fairly expensive and would drive him out of business because he cannot afford it. Mr. Pfund stated that he listened to the podcast from the October 29, 2008 Planning Commission meeting, and one of the items considered was a tutorial facility. He noted that at that meeting, the Commissioners acknowledged that they did not fully understand the Title 22 CCL standards when they requested staff to have a State Licensing representative come and speak to them to provide a better understanding of the State Licensing requirements. He added that the Commissioners indicated that they were aware that many businesses have exemption letters from Ms. Barbara Bobincheck of State Licensing and that the Commission has approved four of them. He stated that the Tri-Valley YMCA programs, which operate entire after-school programs, are also exempt from licensing and are not daycare or childcare facilities. He noted that the Commission does not realize this because the City does not regulate them. Mr. Pfund noted that at the October 29`" meeting, Commissioner Pearce was very concerned about the 12-15-hour requirements set by the State to get an exception. He stated that he knows that all these rules and regulations are in place because the State does not want people or facilities to be able to run a private school for children during the day instead of the children going to a regular school. urcAr i txc;trtN I s: PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, 11/12/2008 Page 5 of 25