CITY OFVENTURA PLANNING COMMISSION STAFF REPORT Project No: 11369 Case No: UP-2-17-39303 Applicant: Grocery Outlet Inc., Katy Schardt Planner: Barbara Burkhart, Contract Planner (805) 644-4455 Jeffrey Lambert, AICP, Community Development Dir Location: 9372 Telephone Road (Attachment A) APN: 134-0-040-315 Recommendation: Approve Use Permit, subject to conditions Zoning: Intermediate Commercial (C-1A) zone Land Use: Commerce (C) Regulatory Review: SBMC Chapters 24.460 and 24.520 Environmental CEQA Guidelines Section 15301, Class 1 - Existing Facilities Review: PROJECT DESCRIPTION The proposed project is a request for an Alcohol Use Permit allowing a Type 21 license (Off-sale General) that would allow the sale of beer, wine and spirits for a new Grocery Outlet Inc. Market. The operational and alcohol sales hours would be from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM daily. The customer service area for alcohol sales would consist of alcohol displays (two cold storage coolers and two gondolas with beer and wine) and would be approximately 983 square feet within an existing 21,491-square feet, one-story building (site of a former Ralph's Grocery store) with allocated 86 parking spaces at located 9372 Telephone Road. PROJ-11369 PC/08/09/17/BB Page 1 PC-1 The tenant space, which is one of a series of inline stores within the Central Shopping Center, is the site of a former Ralph's Grocery store. The Central Shopping Center is a 63,280 square foot center with 230 total parking spaces on 5.69 acres (247,856 square feet), located at 9276-9434 Telephone Road & 1129-1187 Petit Avenue, within the C-1A (Intermediate Commercial) zone, with a land use designation of Commerce. The tenant space is 21,491-square feet within an existing one-story building located at 9372 Telephone Road. The customer service area for alcohol sales would be approximately 983 square feet, which is 4.5% of the Grocery Outlet Inc. Market, and would consist of alcohol displays (two cold storage coolers and two gondolas with beer and wine). This tenant space is allocated 86 parking spaces located directly north of the building. The shopping center can currently be accessed from two curb cuts along Telephone Road (east bound), and one curb cut along Petit Avenue (south bound). BACKGROUND On September 28, 1976, the shopping center was approved via a retroactive conditional use permit (CUP 499; Resolution No. 4262) which was approved by the Planning Commission. The shopping center was constructed in 1965. Ralph's Grocery (formerly Alpha Beta) occupied the tenant space at 9372 Telephone Road in 1965, and their Alcohol License (Type 20) was considered deemed approved upon the adoption of SBMC Chapter 24.460 ("Alcoholic Beverage Establishments - Use Permits"). On February 16 2016, staff approved a Minor Change/Minor Design Review (Project- 9502: MDRC-9-15-30322/MC-9-15-30323) to construct a 4,880-square foot addition to the rear of the shopping center, add 20 parking spaces, relocate 6 parking spaces, re­ stripe 8 parking spaces at the rear of the shopping center, and construct a new trash enclosure at the rear of the lot. The improvements were never implemented, and the permit expired. On November 4, 2016, Ralph's Grocery store closed. A new business needed to be operational by May 5, 2017 to continue operating under Ralph's Grocery store's Alcohol Use Permit. No new business has come in to continue under Ralph's license. On March 16, 2017, staff approved a Minor Design Review (Project-11323: MDRC-2- 17-39125) for a partial fac;ade modification, consisting of relocated/added doors, added ramp, and revised paint colors to the storefront. This meeting is the first and only time this Alcohol Use Permit has been scheduled to receive formal review from the Planning Commission. PROJ-11369 PC/08/09/17 /BB Page 2 PC-2 STAFF ANALYSIS Project analysis is based upon staff's review of the project case file on record with Community Development and consistency review with applicable General Plan and zoning requirements. General Plan Consistency The project site is located within the Serra community, which is described as including the Telephone/Petit Neighborhood Center. The community contains a mix of housing types built mostly between 1960 and 1980, with some newer development in the 1990's and early 2000's. Additionally, this community is home to the Community Park, Chumash Park, Junipero Serra Park, North Bank Linear Park, and Bristol Bay Linear Park. This community also contains a significant amount of agricultural land. Additionally, the project site (Central Shopping Center) is located within the Telephone/Petit Neighborhood Center. Neighborhood Centers are established around parks, community gathering places, or civic buildings, and contain or are near services they share with surrounding areas, such as schools, libraries, post offices, and specialty shopping. The project site has a land use designation of Commerce, which encourages a wide range of building types of anywhere from two to six stories (depending on neighborhood characteristics) that house a mix of functions, including commercial, entertainment, office and housing. The surrounding area of the project site is commercial and office, with residential to the north and south of Telephone Road and east and west of Petit Avenue. The proposed project would be consistent with the General Plan as it would consist of a commercial building/use in a portion of the Serra Community designated for commercial use. Economic Development The proposed project is also complimentary to the entrepreneurship and economic gardening Focus Area of the 2013-18, Economic Development Strategy, which directs the City to nurture businesses to keep them in Ventura and decrease the commercial vacancy rate. The proposal complies with the Economic Development Strategy as the new Grocery Outlet Inc. Market would fill a void left by the vacation of the Ralphs grocery store, maximizing the use of a vacant tenant space in the City before considering the construction of new commercial centers. Grocery Outlet Inc. operates approximately 260 stores in six states. Over 100 of those stores are located in California. The Ventura store will be the first Grocery Outlet Inc. Market in Ventura County. This store will be staffed with approximately 35-40 employees. PROJ-11369 PC/08/09/17 /BB Page 3 PC-3 Historic Context The subject building at 9372 Telephone Road was originally built in 1965 as part of the Central Shopping Center. As only tenant improvements are associated with this Alcohol Permit, no historic review has been conducted. Intermediate Commercial (C-1A) Zone Consistency The project site is zoned Intermediate Commercial (C-1A), which provides an area in which a variety of commercial uses may develop and function safely, efficiently and harmoniously and protects commercial uses from encroachment of incompatible uses that are more appropriately located in other zones. The C-1A Zone allows Food and Beverage Retail Sales by right (SBMC Section 1 24.234.020) and does allow "Shopping Center: Large " pursuant to SBMC Section 24.234.030 and the proposed Type 21 license (Off-sale General) use subject to a Use Permit pursuant to SBMC Chapter 24.460 ("Alcoholic Beverage Establishments - Use Permits"). Staff has analyzed the proposed project and found that it is consistent with all of the requirements of the C-1A zone and the conditions included in Planning Commission Resolution No. 4262 (Attachment B). The proposed Alcohol Use Permit requests to allow Alcohol Sales from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m., which is consistent with normal store hours. Parking Table 1 below shows the proposed use would be in compliance with the required parking spaces. The shopping center has a Legal Non-Conforming parking space count of 230. Shopping Center: Tenant Space: One space for each 250 square Tenant Space: Large (b) with a 21,491 square feet feet of gross floor area. Food and Required: 86 spaces Beverage Retail Sales Use Type Proposed: 86 spaces greater than Entire Shopping Center: 10,000 square 63,280 square feet Entire Shopping Center: 1 SBMC Section 24.115.3410.1: Shopping Centers: Large. Shopping Centers with a total area of five acres or more. PROJ-11369 PC/08/09/17 /BB Page 4 PC-4 feet in area Required: 253 spaces Existing, Legal Non- Conforming: 230 spaces Adequate parking is available for the new Grocery Outlet store within the Central Shopping Center. As demonstrated in the above table, the tenant's 86 available parking spaces immediately to the north of the new store equals the 86 required parking spaces. Alcohol Use Permit Food and Beverage Retail Sales is a permitted use within the C-1A Zone (SBMC Section 24.234.020). However, per Municipal Code Regulations Chapter 24.460 ("Alcoholic Beverage Establishments-Use Permits"), a Use Permit must be approved for any business engaged in the sale of alcoholic beverages. The purpose of this Alcohol Use Permit is to consider whether the necessary findings for the Use Permit can be made, and if so, to adequately condition a project to minimize potential negative impacts to the health, safety and general welfare of the community, residents and surrounding properties. As part of project review for the Grocery Outlet Inc. Market, staff, working with the Police Department, recommends operational conditions that are based upon the applicant's Operational Plan to ensure the establishment will be compatible with the surrounding uses. According to recent crime statistics by the Ventura Police Department, Grocery Outlet Inc. Market is located in reporting district (RD) 137. The Ventura Police Department has provided the following crime statistics for RD 137: • In 2013, RD 137 had 71 percent more reported crimes than the average number of reported crimes as determined from all crime reporting districts in Ventura.