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RED FILE
MEETING AGEND A
DATE i Q ITEM #_
From :Linden, Debora h
Sent :Tuesday, January 05, 2010 4 :47 PM
To : Ashbaugh, John ; Council_ALL ; Hampian, Ke n
Cc : Mandeville, John ; Dietrick, Christine ; Ermina Karim ; dcash@downtownslo .com NL4i7//s
Subject:RE : response to your inquir y
Dear Council ,
After reviewing the email below from Council Member Ashbaugh, and conferring with th e
Community Development Director and City Manager, I would like to offer the following staf f
response to Council Member Ashbaugh's proposal to modify the language regarding hours o f
operation in the Sidewalk Cafe ordinance .
Staff from the Police and Community Development Departments continue to support the existin g
language in the ordinance to limit sidewalk cafe use to between 8 :00 AM and 10 :00 PM . Staff
does nothave significant concern regarding an earlier start time, other that it may create conflic t
with delivery trucks supplying the various establishments . However, staff is very concerned abou t
extending the hours of use beyond 10 :00 PM . It is our experience that the nature of the downtow n
changes after 10 :00 PM in that restaurant dining slows down significantly and the majority o f
patrons frequents the bars and nightclubs, including the larger restaurants which stop servin g
food after 10 :00 PM and operate as nightclubs . This is especially true on Thursday, Friday an d
Saturday nights when large crowds of bar/nightclub patrons form in the downtown area, an d
when a majority of our alcohol-related problems occur in the downtown . Staff believes tha t
extending the use of public sidewalk cafes beyond 10 :00 PM will further exacerbate th e
downtown alcohol situation at a time when we are working to reduce public safety problem s
associated with alcohol establishments .
Staff is also concerned that the proposed modification would allow some establishments t o
operate sidewalk cafes later than others, without clear guidelines for staff regarding whic h
establishments, and where, extended hours should be allowed . This puts Police and Community
Development staff in a very difficult situation when, if exceptions are made for one business ,
other competing businesses want the same consideration . Ms . Cash's email illustrates thes e
challenges, especially when alcohol service is involved . The question of which businesses shoul d
be allowed to operate longer, and where, is very difficult to deal with in a fair and consisten t
manner at the staff level . Differing "rules" for hours of use also makes regulation and enforcemen t
difficult .
Should Council have a desire for sidewalk cafe use to operate beyond 10 :00 PM, staff woul d
prefer Council extend the hours for all sidewalk cafes so the rules are clear and consistent u p
front to both staff and applicants . Should Council wish to extend the hours, staff would urge th e
hours not be extended past 11 :00 PM, and that alcohol service in sidewalk dining areas still en d
at 10 :00 PM .
Thank you ,
Deborah Linde n
Chief of Police
City of San Luis Obisp o
From :Ashbaugh, Joh n
Sent:Tuesday, January 05, 2010 3 :26 P M
To :Council_ALL ; Hampian, Ken
Cc: Mandeville, John ; Dietrick, Christine ; Ermina Karim ; Linden, Deborah ;
'Cyril vik6l,t_
Cct-
RECEIVE D
JAN 5 201 0
SLO CITY CLERK
dcash@downtownslo .co m
Subject:FW : response to your inquir y
I just received this message from Deborah Cash in reply to my request that th e
Downtown Association consider an amendment to the Sidewalk Cafe ordinance to permi t
some flexibility in the hours for permits to operate in the Sidewalk areas . I hope that
she'll be there tonight when we review the Consent Calendar . I propose that we add a fe w
words to proposed Section 5 .50 .045 B . "Hours of operation shall not begin prior to eigh t
a .m . nor extend later than ten p .m .or as otherwise specified by theconditionsof th e
permit "
It just seems to me that if we trying to get more businesses to take advantage of thi s
opportunity, we should also enable them to conform their use of the sidewalk to th e
operations of their business . An example would be Christie Knapp at Monterey Stree t
Espresso, who opens earlier than 8 am .
John B . Ashbaugh
San Luis Obispo City Counci l
990 Palm St .
San Luis Obispo, CA 9340 1
805/550-771 3
From :Deborah Cash [mailto :dcash@downtownslo .com ]
Sent :Tue 1/5/2010 10 :50 AM
To :Ashbaugh, Joh n
Subject:response to your inquiry
John, good mornin g
The Executive Committee this morning reviewed your email request fo r
input on your position for cafe seating .
Their unanimous response was that it makes perfect sense to allo w
businesses who go to the expense and through the process of obtainin g
a permit for cafe dining to be allowed to have their outdoor seatin g
hours the same as their business hours . If the point of the ordinanc e
is to encourage businesses to offer cafe seating, limiting hours o f
operation could discourage them from doing so . Would a restauran t
that's open until 11 or 12 have to ask their outdoor customers to mov e
inside ?
There was a concern however about the ability to review the permit i f
problems present themselves and a question as to whether the permit i s
conditional in use for determining if the business and hours are
suitable for cafe seating in the first place . An example was if a
business like Mothers Tavern moved into the Wineman building . I t
would make sense to limit the hours of the outside seating because o f
the residences upstairs . Or perhaps a condition is that the permit i s
for outdoor dining, so it should be while food is being served, thus
limiting those establishments that stop serving dinner at 10 but stay
open later to the hours of food service .
So, it sounds like your idea is a good one as long as there's a
process for review attached to the permit .
Thank you again for allowing some additional input .
Deborah
Deborah Cash
Executive Directo r
SLO Downtown Associatio n
P O Box 140 2
San Luis Obispo CA 9340 6
805-541-028 6
dcash@downtownslo . corn