EXHIBIT 1
450 Civic Center Plaza, Richmond, CA 94804-1630
Telephone: (510) 620-6509 Fax: (510) 620-6518 www.ci.richmond.ca.us DocID #28715v1
CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
DAVE ALESHIRE
City Attorney
October 7, 2024
VIA EMAIL ONLY
Nathan Trivers
2 W. Richmond Avenue
Richmond, CA 94801
[email protected]
RE: Follow Up after Hearing on Denial of Encroachment Permit - EN24-00843 Dear Mr. Trivers,
Please accept this letter as follow up to the hearing held on September 24, 2024, regarding your appeal of the denial of application EN24-000843 which sought an encroachment permit to place a BBQ smoker/grill on the street or sidewalk adjacent to Up & Under Pub & Grill, located at 2 W. Richmond Avenue in Richmond, California. As you may recall, at the hearing, the City Council approved a motion to continue the hearing until December 3, 2024, to allow you to bring an agreeable plan to the City of Richmond (“City”) to address all issues that were presented to the City. The issues the City expects to be resolved include: (1) the BBQ grill/smoker, (2) the parklet located on W. Richmond Avenue, (3) the outdoor dining area currently located across Railroad Avenue, near the railroad tracks, and (4) the outdoor dining area immediately adjacent to the building on the sidewalk along Railroad Avenue. I understand that Dave Aleshire, of our office, has been in touch with your attorney, Daniel Butt, on or around October 3, 2024, and based on that conversation, we understand you are serious about finding a solution and have been working with your attorney about a potential plan. Mr. Aleshire’s conversation with Mr. Butt is the only conversation we are aware of as of the date of this letter.
City staff is available and ready to meet with you to evaluate any proposals you may have to address the issues identified above. To assist you, City staff will be sending letter(s) shortly to further outline the issues to be addressed, potential corrective actions, and staff contacts.
In the meantime, should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Aleshire or me. We look forward to working with you.
Very Truly Yours,
Kimberly Y. Chin
Senior Assistant City Attorney
Cc: Daniel Butt (via e-mail only)
Dave Aleshire (via e-mail only)
Daniel Chavarria (via e-mail only)
Robert Armijo (via e-mail only)
EXHIBIT 2
450 Civic Center Plaza, Richmond, CA 94804-1630
Telephone: (510) 620-6509 Fax: (510) 620-6518 www.ci.richmond.ca.us DocID #30157v4
CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
DAVE ALESHIRE
City Attorney
October 29, 2024
VIA EMAIL ONLY
Nathan Trivers
2 W. Richmond Avenue
Richmond, CA 94801
[email protected]
RE: Follow Up after Hearing on Denial of Encroachment Permit - EN24-00843 Dear Mr. Trivers,
Please accept this letter as follow up to the letter sent to you on October 7, 2024, as well as the hearing held on September 24, 2024, regarding your appeal of the denial of application EN24-000843 which sought an encroachment permit to place a BBQ smoker/grill on the street or sidewalk adjacent to Up & Under Pub & Grill, located at 2 W. Richmond Avenue in Richmond, California. We are not aware of any response to our October 7, 2024 letter. City staff has since met to discuss the issues the City Council expects to be resolved.
As you may recall, the compliance items identified for resolution include: (1) the BBQ grill/smoker, (2) the parklet located on W. Richmond Avenue, (3) the outdoor dining area currently located across Railroad Avenue, near the railroad tracks, and (4) the outdoor dining area immediately adjacent to the building on the sidewalk along Railroad Avenue.
For your consideration, please find, below, an outline of potential corrective actions for each of the identified issues as well as City staff contacts. The potential corrective actions are suggestions and are not inclusive or exclusive. The City welcomes your own proposed solutions and the opportunity to evaluate them.
1. BBQ GRILL/SMOKER
Suggested Corrective Action for Your Consideration:
Remove the BBQ Grill/Smoker from the public right-of-way (street and sidewalk) to private property and work with appropriate regulatory entities to ensure placement on private property is compliant with relevant state and local laws and regulations. Appropriate regulatory entities may include agencies other than the City, including but not limited to Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the Contra Costa Environmental Health Division.
City Staff Contacts:
• Eric Munson, Deputy Fire Marshal: [email protected]; (510) 307-8144 • Avery Stark, Acting Planning Manager: [email protected]; (510) 620-6714
2 DocID #30157v4
2. PARKLET LOCATED ON W. RICHMOND AVENUE
Suggested Corrective Action for Your Consideration:
(1) Submit an encroachment agreement application and parklet application consistent with Richmond Municipal Code sections 12.30.180 and 14.46.090 and the City’s prior correspondence(s) with you, including, in particular, the letter dated January 22, 2024.
These applications should reflect a plan to bring the parklet into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
(2) If the parklet is to be used as an additional outdoor dining area, obtain approval of an amendment of the existing Conditional Use Permit (PLN 08-044) to allow for the expansion.
(3) Alternatively, the City remains willing to consider entering into a compliance agreement, which was previously proposed.
City Staff Contacts:
• For the encroachment agreement and permit: Robert Armijo, Deputy Public Works Director/City Engineer: [email protected]; (510) 620-5477 • For the parklet application: LaShonda White, Deputy City Manager – Community Services: [email protected]; 510-620-6512 • For amending the conditional use permit: Avery Stark, Acting Planning Manager; [email protected]; (510) 620-6714
3. OUTDOOR DINING AREA LOCATED ACROSS RAILROAD AVENUE
Suggested Corrective Action for Your Consideration: Confirm in writing that Up and Under Pub & Grill is not using this area as part of its operations, including but not limited to, seating or offering the area to patrons/customers as seating and/or taking orders for and/or serving food and beverages (alcoholic and nonalcoholic) in the area.
City Staff Contacts:
• Robert Armijo, Deputy Public Works Director/City Engineer:
[email protected]; (510) 620-5477
4. OUTDOOR DINING AREA IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT TO THE BUILDING
ALONG RAILROAD AVENUE
Suggested Corrective Action for Your Consideration: Obtain an encroachment permit and renew annually as required by the terms of Conditional Use Permit Amendment (PLN 10-138) which modified Conditional Use Permit (PLN 08-044).
City Staff Contacts:
• For the encroachment permit: Robert Armijo, Deputy Public Works Director/City Engineer: [email protected]; (510) 620-5477 • For the conditional use permit: Avery Stark, Acting Planning Manager:
[email protected]; (510)-620-6714
3 DocID #30157v4
As a reminder, the City Council continued the hearing on the denial of encroachment permit application EN24-000843 to December 3, 2024. We encourage you to bring your plan to City staff soon, so there is sufficient time to evaluate any proposals you may have well before December 3, 2024. We appreciate your cooperation and look forward to working together to resolve these matters.
Very Truly Yours,
Kimberly Y. Chin
Senior Assistant City Attorney
Cc: Daniel Butt (via e-mail only)
Dave Aleshire (via e-mail only)
Daniel Chavarria (via e-mail only)
Robert Armijo (via e-mail only)
Eric Munson (via e-mail only)
Avery Stark (via e-mail only)
LaShonda White (via e-mail only)
EXHIBIT 3
LAW OFFICE OF DANIEL BUTT
REAL ESTATE – BUSINESS - CONSTRUCTION
111 P
ARK PLACE, SUITE 204
RICHMOND, CA 94801
WWW.BUTTLAW.COM
TEL: (510)255-1094
FAX: (510)439-2710
Octo
ber 8, 2024
Kimbe
rly Chin
City of Richmond
450 Civic Center Plaza
Richmond, CA 94801
[email protected]
Re: Up & Under Smoker; EN24-00843
Dear Ms. Chin
I am in receipt of your October 7, 2024 letter to Mr. Trivers, and appreciate you reaching out to me to follow up. Please understand that Mr. Trivers is willing, available, and eager to meet with City staff to carry out the direction given by the City Council on September 24, 2024, to “work in good faith with the applicant” to resolve this matter.
That said
, I was surprised to see two additional, and heretofore unmentioned issues in your letter now being brought into the fold: 1) the “outdoor dining area” near the railroad tracks; and 2) the outdoor dining area immediately adjacent to the building.
Because these are just now being raised by the City for the first time, I want to respond formally:
1. The Rai
lroad “park” (known locally as “Covid Corner”)
The ar
ea you have identified as the “outdoor dining area” along the railroad tracks is on City and railroad property. It was built by individuals during the Covid-19 lockdown. It was not built, maintained, nor is it owned or claimed by the Up & Under. If the City feels this area needs to be abated, it should take appropriate action.
RECEIVED
Date: ___11/19/24_________
BY: _____&$2K<C________
Additionally, please be advised that the City’s ongoing claims – likely parroted from Mr. Rosenthal - that this is part of the Up & Under’s responsibility is false, continues to be false, and publicly repeating that falsehood has caused harm and is causing harm to Up & Under’s reputation and ability to garner community support. I ask that you retract and correct that position forthwith.
2. Up & Under’s Outdoor Dining
The Up & Under’s outdoor dining area was approved as a permanent encroachment in 2011, under encroachment permit 11-00661. The City has never, prior to your October 7, 2024 letter, called that encroachment and outdoor dining area into any doubt. I request that you review and provide to me for my review the record of the permit. The modifications, which were approved by the City, include a raised curb and permanent rails.
You should also be aware that similar abutting encroachments – but without an permit, as the Up & Under has – exist at many restaurants all over Richmond, including several others in the Point. I don’t think it is a problem of any kind, or worth spending City resources on, but it could become a big problem if the City decides to make it one.
The Applicant is eager to meet with City staff to resolve the smoker and parklet issue – is my understanding correct that the ball in currently in Staff’s court to outline the issues, or is the City waiting for the applicant to make a proposal? If not, who is staff contact for this? Please let me know, and I look forward to finding productive resolution of these matters.
Yours,
Daniel Butt
Attorney for Up & Under Pub and Grill Inc.
EXHIBIT 4
LAW OFFICE OF DANIEL BUTT
REAL ESTATE – BUSINESS - CONSTRUCTION
11 1 PARK PLACE, SUITE 204
RICHMOND, CA 94801
WWW.BUTTLAW.COM
TEL: (510)255-1094
FAX: (510)439-2710
No
vember 19, 2024
Kim
berly Chin
City of Richmond
450 Civic Center Plaza
Richmond, CA 94801
[email protected]
Re: Up & Under Smoker; EN24-00843
Dear Ms. Chin
I am foll owing up on my October 8, 2024 response to your October 7, 2024 letter to Mr. Trivers. As set forth in that letter, please understand that Mr. Trivers is willing, available, and eager to meet with City staff to carry out the direction given by the City Council on September 24, 2024, to “work in good faith with the applicant” to resolve this matter.
With
that in mind, and towards resolving these matters, Up & Under would like to make the following proposal for consideration and discussion:
1. Up & Un
der will arrange to move the smoker onto private property, and to a location that can mitigate any concerns of the Fire Department.
2. Up & Un
der will retain a CASp professional to inspect the parklet and provide an accessibility report. Up & Under will carry out the recommendations of the CASp to assure ADA compliance.
3. City
will enter into a compliance agreement with Up & Under, allowing it to maintain the parklet, on terms to be determined.
RECEIVED
Date: ____11/19/24________
BY: __&$2K<C______
The Applicant remains eager to meet with City staff to resolve this issue prior to December 3. Please let me know the next steps, and I look forward to finding productive resolution of these matters.
Yours,
Daniel Butt
Attorney for Up & Under Pub and Grill Inc.