From: Ben Kaun
Sent: Monday, September 28, 2026 7:36 PM
To: City Council <[email protected]>
Subject: A&M BBQ - October 6 agenda item
Dear Mayor McLewis and City Councilmembers Carter, Hinton, Maurer, and Zollman, I am writing to oppose a change of the existing zoning for 495 S Main, the current location of A&M BBQ, and to request immediate enforcement of the existing zoning.
For more than 1 year, residents of my neighborhood have been living with the impacts of an unpermitted, daily, commercial woodsmoking operation from early morning to late evening.
The City and Council are now well aware of this operation and its harmful impacts, as it was first brought to your attention in September 2025.
The City has acknowledged this activity is unpermitted and has received dozens of complaints from the local neighbors. However, the City chose to pause enforcement in early June despite the direct, continued, and repeatedly demonstrated nuisance and health impacts to local residents, which:
• increases toxic health burden of PM2.5 wood smoke to some of Sebastopol's most vulnerable
• impedes full enjoyment of property
• reduces property value of residents
• has added tangible expenses via home upgrades related to smoke filtration, monitoring, and HVAC updates
I speak on behalf of my family with members who are managing life-threatening illness and my neighbors who cannot easily speak for themselves, including the elderly at Serenity Villa and young children at local daycares.
We cannot change the past, but now is the time for the City to act and stop placing the burdens of unpermitted pollution on the local neighborhoods. There was no reasonable expectation of such behavior when we chose to live adjacent to Office Commercial zoned real estate.
We implore you to enforce the existing zoning and end unpermitted pollution immediately to protect and support local Sebastopol residents.
Sincerely,
Ben Kaun
Sebastopol resident