Dear Mayor and Councilmembers:
I am writing regarding Agenda Item 11 concerning outdoor commercial barbecues and A&M BBQ.
The staff report makesan important fact clear:A&M’s outdoor commercial barbecue operation is prohibited in the Office Commercial (CO) district under the City’s current zoning code. It cannot be permitted at this location under the existing code, even with a Use Permit.
For that reason, I ask the Council tochoose Option 3: do not change the zoning rules to accommodate the existing operation, and resume enforcement of the City’s current zoning code.
The City has already stayed enforcement for months while A&Mexplored possible solutions. Staff nowestimates that changing the zoningcode would take another120–150 days. Neighboring residents should not be asked to bearthe impacts of an admittedly prohibited operation for another four or five months while the City considers changing its law.
The staff report says that theCity’s original enforcement action was based on thezoning violation ratherthan directly on smoke or air-quality conditions. That should not be understood to mean that the smoke impacts have been resolved or found acceptable. Thesamestaffreportacknowledgesidentified air-qualityand odor impacts and proposessmoke-control, operating-hour,complaint-response,monitoringand enforcement requirements to address them.
Thereisalsoan importantgap in theproposedenforcementstay.Staffproposesallowing the stay tocontinue while A&M pursues a Use Permit and ultimately demonstrates compliancewithnew performancestandards.But those standards do not exist yet.If the zoning process takes 120–150days,whatprotectsneighboringresidentsduringthat period?
There is a reasonable solution. IfCouncilwantstocontinuestudyingazoningchange, A&M should move itscommercial smoking off-site during that process. This would allow the restaurant tocontinue operating while it pursues relocation,an engineered smoke-control system,or a future Use Permit if the zoninglaw is ultimately changed. If Council ultimately decides to change the zoning code, any future approval should require strongand enforceableprotections, including effective smoke and odor control, all required permits, objective testing before operation, ongoing maintenance and recurring performancetesting,monitoring,reasonableoperatinghours,and promptcessation of outdoor smoking whenever required performance is not maintained. Considering a future change to the zoning law is one question. Allowing an existing prohibited operation to continue while the City considers changing that law is another. Pleasechoose Option 3 and resume enforcement. At a minimum, please require commercial smoking to move off-site while any zoning change and permitting process is considered.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
PattyHolden
Sebastopol resident