TITLE
Recommendation to request City Council to refer the item to the Planning Commission, City Attorney, and Planning Staff to undertake a study for the purpose of formulating a recommendation to the City Council regarding potential amendments to the City's current Conditional Use Permit (CUP) and CUP Exemption (CUPex) regulations related to bars located in Belmont Shore open after 12 midnight.
DISCUSSION
The Belmont Shore business area is currently negatively impacting the surrounding neighborhood and utilizing a significant amount of Police Department resources. The vast majority of the problems are occurring after midnight.
When a business has an Entertainment Permit the City has the ability to add conditions to protect the surrounding neighborhood. However, without an Entertainment Permit, the City must rely on the conditions associated with the State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) issued liquor license. The ABC allows the City to provide input on conditions for a new liquor license, but rarely will add conditions to a liquor license that is being transferred from an existing owner to a new owner through a "person to person transfer."
In an effort to provide the City with the ability to bring all existing bars up to an equal standard, it is recommended that the Conditional Use Permit or Exemption process be updated to incorporate a standard set of conditions addressing present needs. The conditions will be enforceable by the Police Department and/or Code Enforcement Officers.
Many Cities have adopted a Special Use Permit process to control bars. Old Town Pasadena began a phased in approach requiring new or change of ownership bars and restaurants to go through a CUP process. After a few years of turnover, many locations were restricted to tighter operating conditions and even shorter hours. The process has had a positive effect on the quality of life of the community. The Cities of Tustin, Fullerton, and Santa Barbara have also impleme...
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