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AMENDMENT TO UPDATE STANDARD CONDITIONS APPLICABLE TO REVOCABLE PERMITS
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RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a resolution:
1. Approving an amendment to the Standard Conditions Applicable to Revocable Permits to modify and update conditions; and
2. Authorizing the City Manager to take appropriate and necessary actions to carry out the purpose and intent of this resolution.
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Summary
Approval of the requested action will amend and update the Standard Conditions Applicable to Revocable Permits (Standard Conditions). Revocable Permits are issued in accordance with Stockton Municipal Code Section 16.72.127 and may grant the installation of private structures such as fences/walls, monitoring wells, sidewalk cafés and other improvements in the City right of way, subject to the Council adopted fee and Standard Conditions. The most recent update to the Standard Conditions was approved by City Council back on November 14, 2000 (Attachment A-Resolution No. 00-0554).
A primary purpose of the current amendment (Attachment B - Proposed Amendment - Redline) is to modify a condition related to sidewalk cafés, which currently allows eating establishments to provide sidewalk dining/seating with alcohol service, subject to having a Type 47(general) ABC license, in conjunction with a restaurant. The City received requests to modify the specificity of the liquor license Type 47 requirement to allow other liquor license types, such as Type 41 (beer and wine only) in conjunction with a restaurant, which is relatively less expensive and easier to acquire. The proposed change will require an appropriate ABC license rather than a specific license type, allowing eating establishments to provide sidewalk dining/seating with alcohol service under license Type 41 or 47.
Furthermore, the Standard Conditions contain some references that are no longer valid. Currently, the Standard Conditions require sidewalk cafés that serve alcohol to have a City Use Permit, which was eliminated in the past code amendment. Therefore, the reference to a City Use Permit requirement must be deleted as it is no longer applicable. The proposed amendment will also remove the Public Works Director as the designated issuing authority to provide consistency with the actual process, as the Community Development Department Director is the issuing authority under the Stockton Municipal Code (SMC) 16.72.127. Finally, a reference to an outdated Uniform Building Code (UBC) standard must be updated to the current California Building Code (CBC).
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution approving these amendments to the Standard Conditions.
DISCUSSION
Background
Stockton Municipal Code Section 16.72.127 requires a Revocable Permit for the installation of private structures such as fences, planters, monitoring wells, and sidewalk cafés in the City right-of-way. Revocable Permit applications are reviewed to ensure that any allowed private improvement installation will not compromise the City’s primary use of the right-of-way for public streets and utilities. Permits are issued subject to compliance with the City Council Adopted Standard Conditions and payment of the adopted processing fee (See Attachment A - Resolution 00-0554) and may have additional conditions specific to a requested private improvement.
The Standard Conditions recognize the use of a portion of the public sidewalk immediately adjacent to an eating establishment as an opportunity for a sidewalk café dining/seating area. For eating establishments that serve alcohol, the Standards require the business to possess a City Use Permit and a “Type 47 (restaurant) Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) license”.
The California Department of Alcoholic and Beverage Control oversees alcoholic beverage licensing. The two types of alcoholic beverage licenses available for restaurants are Type 41 and 47. The Type 41 license allows for sale and consumption of beer and wine on or off-site, whereas the Type 47 license allows for sale and consumption of beer, wine, and distilled spirits on or off-site. License Type 47 is generally more expensive and can be difficult to acquire.
On January 26, 2016, the City Council approved a comprehensive amendment to SMC’s alcoholic beverage sales provision, which includes making the full-service restaurants with the on-sale of alcoholic beverages a permitted or by-right use (Resolution No.2016-01-1601), which exempts them from the City Use Permit requirement.
Permitting responsibility was under Public Works’ purview until the early 2000s when Community Development separated from Public Works and became the responsible department for permitting. The approval authority of Revocable Permits is given to the Director of the Community Development Department (CDD) under SMC section 16.72.127.
UBC was used by the Building section of the CDD as the standard for building construction. In the mid-2000s, the City of Stockton adopted CBC as the building standard to be in compliance with California State law.
Present Situation
Two decades after City Council’s adoption of the Standard Conditions, staff finds that sidewalk dining/seating usage has changed, and updates are needed to reflect ABC’s alcoholic beverage licensure requirements and address the changes made in past amendments to the SMC.
Business owners are requesting an amendment to remove the specific Type 47 license requirement. Many sidewalk dining/seating restaurants offer alcoholic beverages in other municipalities and do not differentiate between license types. By contrast, Stockton’s Standards limit the ability to sell outdoor by requiring a Type 47 license. This makes it difficult for restaurants and cafés operating under a Type 41 license to serve alcohol within their approved sidewalk café area as they must convert to a Type 47 license, which is very difficult. For that reason, staff recommends replacing the reference to the specific license (Type 47) with a non-specific liquor license requirement to allow sidewalk dining/seating food establishments to serve alcoholic beverages according to their current liquor license type.
Additionally, staff recommends the removal of all references to a City Use Permit requirement, which are no longer required, the removal of all references to the Public Works Director, and replacing the term UBC to CBC in the Standard Conditions to reflect the current building standards in effect.
The UBC reference in the Standard Conditions is no longer used and therefore needs to be replaced with the current CBC, which is already in use as standard by the Building section of the CDD.
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a Resolution to approve amendments to the Standard Conditions Applicable to Revocable Permit.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
There is no impact to the City’s General Fund or any other unrestricted fund from this action.
Attachment A - Resolution 00-0554
Attachment B - Proposed Amendment- Redline