Good morning, everyone.

Thursday, May 14th, 2026.

Calling to order our 10 a.m.

planning meeting.

I'd like the clerk to please call the roll to establish our quorum.

Supervisor Marquez present.

Supervisor Tam.

Present.

Supervisor Miley.

Supervisor Fortunato Bass.

President Haubert.

Present.

We have a quorum.

Thank you.

Would you all please rise if you can and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance?

Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

Under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you all.

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Thank you.

Thank you very much.

The next item is approval of minutes of our planning meeting from April 16th.

Is there a motion to do so?

I will move approval of the minutes from April 16th, 2026.

Okay, motion's been made by Supervisor Tam, seconded by Supervisor Fortunato Bass.

Is there any public comment on this item?

See none I'll ask for roll call vote, please.

Supervisor Marquez.

Aye.

Supervisor Tam.

Aye.

Supervisor Miley.

Supervisor Fortunato Bass.

President Haubert.

Yes.

The motion passes.

The next item is closed session.

We will not be uh recessing into closed session, but it is listed on the agenda.

So is there any public comment on closed session?

There are no speakers.

Thank you.

Seeing none, we'll move to the consent calendar item three.

Is there a motion to approve the consent calendar?

I'll move forward the consent calendar.

Second.

Motion's been made by Supervisor TAM, seconded by Supervisor Fortunato Bass to approve our consent calendar item number three as presented.

Is there any public comment on this item?

There are no speakers.

Seeing none, I'll ask for roll call vote.

Supervisor Marquez.

Aye.

Supervisor Tam.

Aye.

Supervisor Miley.

Supervisor Fortunato Bass.

President Howbert.

Yes.

Our next item is the regular calendar item number four, conditionally used permit.

Kim Kevin and Kimothy.

Conditional use permit.

This is a appeal of a conditional use permit.

Is there a brief staff report to kick this off?

Yes, uh, good morning.

Rodrigo Dunya, Deputy Director, Alameda County Planning Department.

Um, this is uh an appeal by Tyler Dragoni from the decision of the West County Board of Zoning Adjustments to approve a conditional use permit to allow operation of an alcohol outlet, which is a type 21 license, which is hard alcohol in conjunction with a convenience store.

Parcel is located at 1690 East 14th Street on the northeast side, uh northwest of 170th Avenue.

It's in located in the uh Ashland and Chairland Business District specific plan area in unincorporated Ashland.

Uh this project is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act for Article 19, Section 15301, class one.

Uh it is existing facilities.

So you can see the location of the liquor store uh there.

It is on East 14th at one of our commercial corridors.

Uh the Eden area general plan is general commercial, and the zoning is corridor mixed use uh commercial.

On May 13, 2025.

The Eden Mac voted 7.0 to deny the uh the conditional use from it.

Um six speakers spoke in opposition, stating that there's a high concentration of alcohol outlets.

Um there is um uh potential for alcohol availability to increase negative impact, such as poor health outcomes, addiction, and uh DUI incidents.

Um, the high concentration of all-sale alcohol licenses is based on the California standard ratio, one off sale general license type 21 per 2,500 residents per census tract.

In census tract 4340, there are 4,084 people, and there are already two off-site licenses, which puts it at already over concentrated.

Uh, with one more, the ratio would be three to four thousand eight hundred-four people, which is uh further over concentrated.

Um staff's recommendation was originally to approve, however, there are based on evidence provided uh during the public hearing process, specifically the environmental justice element discussion regarding limiting uh access to alcohol uh outlets, to alcohol in general and to other um potentially hazardous substances, uh nicotine, um, other uh drugs, uh, other potential um vices.

Um staff's recommendation is to uh deny the conditional use from it.

On October 22nd, 2025, the West BZA voted 5.0 to continue the project, giving the project proponent time to provide updated floor plans showing that um 20% of the floor area space would be devoted to alcohol maximum.

Uh and that's um excuse me, uh square foot per shelf.

So it's 20% uh area square footage per shelf.

And then later on at a subsequent hearing, December 10, 2025, the West BZA approved by unanimous decision the proposed CUP with two new conditions of approval to have a 20% or less alcohol square footage and to have a section in the store for healthy food.

Um staff did receive an appeal on December 18.

Um there are five stating that there are five planning documents in support of upholding the appeal and two uh sensitive receptors within a 500 foot exclusion zone.

So planning staff um considers that the appeal is supported by two planning considerations.

There is a presence of a church next door already operating.

It was recently opened.

Um, and it's next door to the location of the alcohol outlet.

Um the uh church did not need a conditional use permit, therefore, staff did not know about it previously.

Um, in the Ashley and Chairland business district specific plan area, assembly uses including churches are permitted activities, and there was no need to make improvements to the church, so no building permits were filed for it.

So they opened without staff's uh knowledge at the time that there was a church operating.

That's why originally it was a recommendation for approval.

Staff has since changed to recommendation for denial of the use in support of the appeal.

Um, the second issue is that placement of the alcohol outlet in the census block is against policy 6.10 of the environmental justice element of the general plan.

Uh that policy uh limits uh is to limit uh priority community residence exposure to secondhand smoke and vapors and to reduce use exposure to and interest in alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.

Um we consider this to mean limiting alcohol outlet locations.

The West BZA saw this as limiting square footage of the alcohol sale in the stores.

Uh we have received a couple of emails against since uh the appeal was filed.

The these are two of them.

The first is shown on the screen now uh saying that uh liquor stores lead to several problems.

Uh the residents want to see healthy um businesses come to the community uh and would be discouraged by by the additional liquor store.

Uh the other email um uh also against um they uh consider the the potential social consequence of another alcohol outlet in the area uh again increased potential increase in incidence of of addiction.

So staff's recommendation is to uphold the appeal and deny the conditional use from it.

Um again, the uh consideration of high concentration of alcohol outlets as bases state standard alcohol outlets lead to poor health outcomes, addictions, and other potential um uh consequences.

Uh this is against the environmental justice element limiting alcohol outlets and due to the assembly church use located next door, which is a sensitive receptor.

Um the uh ABC license map for the area is shown.

Uh this shows um not only the distances to um other alcohol outlets in orange, but to churches and schools.

Uh there is a church located right next door inside the hopefully you can see my mouse inside the the the buffer, the 500 foot buffer.

Um this is a uh side plan of the church located next to the uh proposed liquor store convenience market.

This is uh floor plan uh depicting that they would have uh 20% shell space maximum.

Um they are uh proposing landscape improvements.

This is an existing exterior shot.

They did submit this morning uh proposed facade improvements.

I can show that later.

I did not have time to load it onto the PowerPoint presentation, it was submitted this morning.

Um, but I can show it later if the board wishes.

This is the uh view currently, as of January 12th, 2026.

Um this information was provided by uh County Public Health.

Uh in Alameda County, about 24% of the population is within a quarter mile of healthy food outlet and about 51% within a quarter mile of an off-sale liquor outlet.

In the uh subject area uh priority area and running to just priority area about 70% are within a quarter mile of an off-sale liquor outlet.

Uh, and in Ashland and Cherryland uh it's um 82% in Hayward Acres, it's all of Hayward Acres.

So this is a comparison in the maps.

You'll see this map I'm showing now.

With a purple is healthy food access, East 14th.

The subject site is located where my mouse is now.

Hopefully, you can see the mouse and you can see some healthy food outlets.

This next map shows the off-sale of liquor, and you can see several more off-sale liquor establishments.

Again, my mouse is located in general where they um proposed liquor store would be.

So, in conclusion, staff recommends that the board of supervisors grant the appeal, overrule the decision of those kind of border zoning adjustments, and deny the conditional use permit for the proposed alcohol outlet type 21 license in conjunction with a convenience store.

And we are available for questions.

So, Supervisor Miley, would you like to ask questions before we go to the appellant?

Please go ahead.

Yes, thank you.

The next step will be the appellant.

So, um Rodrigo, um walk me through the chronology because I was trying to map this out.

So the alcohol outlet.

What's what is the name of the establishment?

What is the name of the establishment?

Yeah.

Uh it is Ashland Wine and Spirit Market.

Um Ashland wine and spirit market.

Okay.

And when did they start operating?

So they received in 2007 a condition use permit C 8566.

Um excuse me.

What date did you say?

2007.

That's when they received their church.

That's the church.

Yeah, because I was trying to follow us when did they start operating?

Jeez.

That is a good question.

I will have to take it and find it.

All right.

So if you can give me a sense of when they started operating.

So then, according to the chronology, they stopped operating.

Was it 2021?

Yes, they they stopped operating because of COVID.

And then they um uh applied later for a tobacco retailer license.

Um, but we already have too many tobacco retailer licenses, so that was denied, and so now they're back to applying for a uh liquor store.

Okay, but once again, I'm trying to so was it in 2021 that they stopped operating as an alcohol outlet?

Uh yes, it was it was uh because of COVID, correct?

2021, so they stopped operating.

Okay, and then when did they start operating again?

So right now they're not operating as a liquor store.

They're waiting for this condition, right?

So they were they stopped operating in 2021.

Um due to COVID, I don't have the exact date, yes, but they closed during COVID, yes.

Okay, right now, how long have you been working on alcohol that's with me?

Well, quite a long time.

Yes, um, well, I've been doing this now for over 15 years, yeah.

Yeah, at least, yeah, okay.

Yeah, and you're specifically assigned as a planner to know the regulations for alcohol outlets.

We set all this up.

So I thought, and it it wasn't mentioned here, at least I didn't think I read it.

Um I thought we have a law that uh when a license becomes inactive, it's abandoned.

Yes, so basically um over six months uh of closure, it is considered abandoned, and so they have to apply for um permits that are required at the time of the application.

In this case, it's a conditional use permit per uh the county alcohol outlet policy uh and the zoning ordinance, and so uh they are now considered a brand new alcohol outlet use.

Brand new establishment correct that's what because the the operation was abandoned in 2021, longer than six months because now it's 2026, so that's at least uh six, five or six years.

Correct.

Okay, and so under our law, they have to they're considered a new establishment, right?

That is correct, but currently a new establishment.

Under our law, you brought up the environmental justice policy element and then uh around sensitive receptors, church and school, correct, and typically under our law when we have a new establishment in the sensitive receptor receptors, we don't allow for alcohol outlets.

Correct.

That's I just want to make sure that's clear on the record because I've been working on these matters actually going back to my days on the city council in Oakland, but clearly as the county supervisor for 25 years.

So I wanted to, because I think most of the important numbers are new to all this, so I wanted to set the chronology here, and so the board would understand this existing operator stopped operating, then abandoned the operation for six years and now it's coming back.

It's a new permit, and typically we don't allow alcohol outlets to exist around sensitive receptors, churches and schools and child care facilities, etc.

etc.

etc.

So I just want to lay that out clearly.

We can hear the you know both sides.

I'll make sure the board is clear on this.

Um, did I say anything incorrect?

Um I don't have the exact date of the closure, but it will according to the applicant, it was due to to COVID.

So they have been closed well over six months, it's been years.

Over 10 years, and I just want to make this clear.

When we established the law for a license that was abandoned, there were no exceptions.

I mean, COVID, you know, whatever it might be, there were no exceptions to that.

So, supervisor, I believe there is an exception for a casualty to this structure.

So had there been a fire and then you would have time a certain amount of time to rebuild, I think it may be one year, but that did not apply in this particular situation.

That's right.

The only other thing I would comment about is the um the prohibition regarding uh sensitive receptors is in the alcohol policy, and that is not a law per se, it is a policy, and so it's it is the policy itself says it's not intended to be rigid or final, but the general prohibition and the general approach taken by your board is to uh prevent the uh opening of alcoholic businesses uh retailers within 500 feet of a sensitive receptor or another another facility.

Another facility.

So I'll make sure.

I mean, because I know this stuff really gets out because um I have an alcohol policy working group that meets with me on occasions.

Um then the other thing is when we establish all these policies and laws, we didn't have the Eden Mac in place.

EDMAC's been in place for what three years yes, not longer than that.

Yes, roughly how long, Tyler.

Four years, four years, okay.

So the EDMAC has been in place for about four years.

And so I think the Eden MAC, like Cash Remack was very Mac, has a really good sense of what um they feel comfortable with uh in their community.

And so I'm not saying I always agree with the Macs, but the point is generally I follow um try to listen to them, and I just think based on the law, based on our policies, based on the Mac, I think the board needs to be very cognizant of that as we can take up this matter.

All right, that's all I just want to lay that framework.

Thank you.

The questions I have are could you please remind me the chronology of this?

When the applicant applied, the first step was that it had to go to the Mac, correct?

The MAC denied it.

Correct.

At that time, did staff recommend approval or have no position?

Originally we we uh recommended approval uh with lacking more evidence regarding the environmental justice element and the existence of the church.

Since then we uh at the hearing it came up that those were the circumstances, and so we uh are now recommending denial.

So when the MAC denied it, although staff had tacitly recommended it, then it went on appeal to the BZA.

No, the the MACs uh is a recommendation, and it uh gets the the final decision, the actual decision is done by the West BZA.

That's right.

So it was a recommendation uh advisory, not an approval or denial.

Then it goes to the BCA.

At that time, did staff continue to have its tacit recommendation?

We no, we we uh we recommended denial.

So at the BZA, staff recommended denial, the Mac had already denied it, but the BZA approved it anyway.

Is that right?

Correct, okay, and then this is an appeal of that West BZA.

Okay, and then uh seeing no other questions, the appellant has the ability to come and tell us why they're appealing this, I would think.

Then after that, we will have the applicant who wants to see this happen, have a chance to speak, and then the appellant can finish it off with any last minute comments.

Then we'll bring it back for public comment and deliberation.

The appellant then is Mr.

Dragoni.

Hello, good morning.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

Supervisor, how much time are you allowing the um okay, minimum five maximum, 10.

10.

Okay, 10 is fine.

Maximum up to, doesn't have to be.

Got it.

So I want to um make three arguments.

The findings of public necessity can't be found in um utilizing your alcohol uh policy of the county.

A CUP for an alcohol outlet violates the environmental justice element, and a C UP for an alcohol outlet at this location violates the Ashland Cherryland district specific plan.

Uh next slide, please.

All right.

So going on to my first argument, the findings of necessity for an alcohol outlet cannot be made, and this is using your alcohol policy.

And next slide.

So this is your policy.

Next slide.

So these are the specifics.

So I'll go through one through six.

Next slide.

So this information comes from Supervisor Miley's office's burn justice implementation grant from 2015-2018.

The crime analysis HTA, who was the consultant planning and research teams worked with the county, Sheriff's Office, to gather data.

Next slide, please.

What are your major findings about crime and its drivers in your target area?

Jumping down to the arrow, drug and alcohol related crime, accounting for the vast majority of arrests of arrest reports in the Ashland and Cherryland neighborhoods.

Okay, next slide.

Sorry, alcohol policy specifics.

All the things that your policy looks at as related to alcohol related uh arrests and crime.

All right.

Next slide.

So this is just the arrests in Ashland uh and Cherryland part one.

Um you can see the Cherryland arrests versus the uh Ashland.

Um part B, um long-term levels of undue concentration, uh, and that's defined as 20% higher than the state average.

Next slide.

Um, so you know, by minors, there are three off sale licenses in this census tract.

That means that there is a current thirty-three percent over the permitted state um definition of concentration.

A fifth would put it sixty-six point seven percent above the state concentration definition.

Next slide.

Um proximity to sensitive land uses, uh, schools, churches, residences, parks, etc.

Next slide.

Um, this is the uh slide that the BZA got at their hearing.

Um by the way, um the DCA did not hear everything that I just said, right, as far as the the focus on those one through I think two or three or whatever one we're on.

They did not take into account.

There was no information or data on specific neighborhood arrest numbers and crime numbers, et cetera, et cetera.

So that was not discussed.

There was no data discussed regarding anything that I had just said.

This instead was the slide that they got.

You could see the one, two, three, fourth bullet point.

Location is more than 500 feet from any school or church.

That is incorrect.

So the BZA was making a decision on a false assumption.

Next slide.

So just had to ride my bike down.

And the red door is the church.

The orange door is going to be the liquor store.

Next slide.

Number four, whether the locale in question already draws excessive amounts of law enforcement resources.

Next slide.

This is a difficult number to find because Ashland itself doesn't have, and the county sheriff doesn't have specific numbers that are publicly available.

But for uh, you know, for an area of Ashland, Cheryland and Castro Valley, 148,000 calls of service in 2023.

That is an extremely high uh call volume.

So law enforcement is taxed for this specific area.

Next slide.

Um here's just sort of the county uh health data as a whole.

You know, counties uh rate is almost double that of the state when it comes to violent crime rate.

And then um, yeah, so the different ways of looking at it 65.65% higher than the state average.

Uh next slide.

Um, this is your own county website.

Why it's important.

Next slide.

Studies have shown that neighborhoods with a high density of alcohol outlets are associated with higher rates of violence, regardless of other community characteristics such as poverty and age of residence, etc.

etc.

Um, this is your own county information.

Next slide.

Uh number five, business operations.

Now, this is going to be the argument that the applicant is going to make is that the curtailing of the amount of alcohol, and I'll tell you why that is an incorrect and unworkable assumption.

Next slide.

Um limitation schemes like this require constant monitoring.

The resources that the county does not have, constant inspections, could um fall into measurement disputes with applicants.

It's unrealistic.

The county has multiple problems with alcohol outlets already when it comes to public drunkenness, littering, etc.

etc.

Um, so I believe that this is an unworkable um condition of approval, and perhaps maybe um not um applied fairly across the board to all alcohol outlets could be deemed a due process violation.

Next slide.

Number six, health indicators in the locale in question.

This is where I want to bring up, you know, myself and a lot of community members worked many hours on the Mac when it comes to the environmental justice element, um, many work sessions at the Mac.

And so it was kind of frustrating to hear a BZA member say, oh, well, you know, maybe the Mac made a mistake because these policies are really complicated, and you know, maybe they just didn't know what they were doing, essentially is the encapsulation of that BZA comment.

And so it was just really disappointing.

Uh, the environmental justice element has multiple um indicators of health uh of the neighborhood.

Um, there's a lot of documents I know, but it seemed it seemed um it didn't seem right that you know the you know sort of health indicators were dismissed and the Eden Max concerns of health were dismissed by the BZA.

Next slide.

Uh number two, it violates the environmental justice element.

Next slide.

Um, so this is the um, I don't know what my time is.

All right, so this is the encapsulation and the purpose of the environmental justice element.

You can go ahead and read at your leisure.

Next slide.

Um, and I'll just read the last paragraph.

This EJ element represents a shared value statement between the community and Alameda County and affirms the commitment of the county and its agencies and departments to work cooperatively towards a just and inclusive future for the residents of the unincorporated communities.

Next slide.

So the BZA was looking at this policy specifically in the environmental justice element.

Quote, uh this is EJ 6.10, quote, limit priority community residence exposure to secondhand smoke and vapors.

And reduce youth's exposure to an interest in alcohol tobacco and other drugs.

So the West County Board of Zoning Adjustments inaccurately substituted the clause regarding the limiting of secondhand smoke and vapors instead to pertain to that of alcohol exposure within a liquor store.

That was a it's an incorrect assumption to move the word limit uh exposure to secondhand smoke to limit alcohol.

That's not the that's not the policy.

It's reduce use exposure to an interest in alcohol.

Granting another alcohol outlet would not be reducing.

Uh next slide.

Um, and uh the Ashland Cherryland business district specific plan says that uh when it comes to alcohol sales, no alcohol outlet shall be with located within 500 feet of existing facilities that are primarily devoted to use by families with children or minors, such as parks, schools, and churches.

Next slide.

So reasons there's no public necessity, there's a church next door.

The location is walking and biking distance to many neighborhood parks.

Um, these parks are new, and neighbors want to continue to see them safe and welcoming.

Um there is a private daycare less than 500 feet of way.

Discourages wholesome investment of small businesses.

Um, we're getting really, we're I, it's close to being revitalized.

We're going in the right direction.

Um, this would definitely be a back sap.

There's yo-yos um just down the street.

There's also Sanaa, and I want to talk about this just a little bit.

Um, I would, you know, Enterprise um car was at the Sanaa location.

What the county did was enforce its policy on car washing, rental car washing.

And because of that enforcement policy that they that the code enforcement actually applied, um, enterprise left, and we got a wholesome small business investment of a coffee shop.

It's the first coffee shop in Cherryland.

Um, and it was a good, it was a good thing that the county enforced their no-washing cars in the parking lot because it actually enabled the specific plan to actually work.

So I'm asking you to enable the specific plan to work as well.

There's an oversaturation of liquor stores already in the community, and there's um I'm not gonna go through the data, but alcohol plagues communities of poverty of violence, domestic violence, and DUI addiction facilitation and others.

Next slide.

So, how do we avoid in the future?

Listen to the municipal advisory councils, listen to the public commenters, read and understand all county ordinances pertaining to a specific topic.

Um, I would be 250 more wealthy if staff just visited and inspected the site to determine if sensitive receptors existed.

That's it they had to do.

They just they had to drive by recognition that the urban unincorporated area is like a city without a municipal government to give it an economic direction.

Thus, the documents we have to protect our community should be taken seriously and listened to.

Next slide.

Okay, my 10 minutes are up.

So these are the sources of the information that I use.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We also have all 30 pages printed out and for us.

Wonderful.

We have the uh applicant now ability to come and present their side.

Good morning.

Uh my name is Mikey Az.

I'm um here on behalf of the applicant.

Um, just a couple of housekeeping items for the record.

Um, a little concerned.

Um, I just need to be notified on the record if you've had any communications with the appellant or if he's been a member or part of any of your community organizations in developing any policies, um, if you've ever met with them in the past.

I mean, I think particularly you, uh Supervisor Miley, just for the record.

Oh, well, yeah, I know Tyler.

I I didn't know he was gonna file this appeal.

I appointed him to the Mac and I took him off the Mac, but I've known him for years and years and years, but I had no association with him around this appeal.

All right.

Very well.

Just talk to him about it.

That's anything.

No, it's just my job.

You've got five minutes, you can use it any way you want.

Can I have 10 minutes?

Nope, five minutes that we just that's our standard policy and procedure, right?

So, 10, 10, and you gave Mr.

Dagoni 10, 10, 10, and 50.

Okay.

We've gone back and forth with 10 for the applicant or appellate, and then you can have 10, and then they'll have five minutes to make a final comment, the appellant.

Time should be equal, and so whatever was provided to Mr.

D'Agoni should be made available to the applicant.

So again, we've always given somebody to a present, the other person, other side to present, and then the other side of mine wouldn't.

That's what we've always done.

That's not equal because it's the person that goes first gets to also go last.

Is that okay?

I'm just asking the legal question.

There may be a need for the opportunity for Mr.

Raz.

Yeah, excuse me, my apologies to to make provide rebuttal depending upon what Mr.

DeGoni says when he returns.

And so, based on if he introduces new information, he may want to give the uh applicants counsel uh an additional time, but I could see that going back and forth, rebutting and rebutting and rebutting.

Just once.

Okay.

Just once 10 minutes.

Thank you.

Um, good good morning.

My uh my name is Mikeyaz.

I'm here on behalf of the applicant.

Um, we've heard a lot today.

Uh, I want to clarify a couple of things.

This business has been there for 30 years.

It did shut down because of the pandemic, and it took our client uh tremendous amount of effort to get back into the space.

During the time that he's been out, he's been paying rent at that facility.

There is no need for public convenience and necessity determination.

I'm hoping council can chime in here, but we are not adding a license to the census track.

This is the same license it that has been there.

So there is no net increase in the census track.

This is not going to be the fifth license.

Our license is currently at the location, surrendered and in active status.

In other words, it's there.

We just haven't been able to operate because of the COVID pandemic.

Now we work tirelessly with the code with with uh the decision making body and coming up and developing uh uh conditions of approval that would satisfy the concerns.

These items that you're talking about are in fact policies, they are not the law.

What was curiously left out of the staff report today was that we've met every uh code uh zoning code requirement within the code.

We've mailed out notices to everybody within the prescribed uh neighborhood.

Nobody from the actual neighborhood, as far as I know, there may be, but nobody from the actual neighborhood showed up to the last hearing, not one to show to come up to complain.

We did reduce the availability of alcohol, as you can see.

We've developed the site with a 20% restriction that the idea that you the city can't regulate its own businesses.

You you approve Walmart with the same condition not very long ago, not you, but this the city did or the county did.

Walmart, this is where the BZA actually kind of came up with this idea with us.

Well, we did this with Walmart.

Um, this was talked about at the hearing.

Um, and so we did limit that.

We did limit the hours, we did add the food component.

You know, um, these policies, uh, they're not outright restrictions, they're suggestions.

And we went and got a unanimous approval from the actual governing, the decision-making body.

Again, the BZA uh or the advisory committee that we went to, those those uh commenters weren't residents within the immediate area.

There was use of California statistics that weren't applicable.

The sheriff's department has not uh come forward and said deny this application.

We've had a long standing history.

My client has actually been paying rent on this building for the last five years with the intention of coming back, right?

A lot of people, a lot of business owners don't know that if you go dark for a while, you have to come back through the conditional use permit process.

We've done everything up and by the board, and that's why we're here today.

We've agreed to a litany of conditions of approval, and I would just implore you that you know, you don't you don't you don't punish this person that's been in the community.

He he also lives in the community, he actually lives in that community.

He had his children go uh to school here.

His other businesses and up, he has other uh properties that he owns here.

This is his livelihood, and it took him all this time to just rebound from from the COVID pandemic, and it is getting uh fought on by uh uh honestly uh activist groups, not the community uh as itself, and they have the right to do that, and we're not discounting that in any way, but the this location is not going to become a vegan bakery.

This location is not gonna become that they have tried other uh things, and it's just it's just not rentable for those uses.

This is the use that the landlord has approved by way of giving uh the approval to this application.

Additionally, it's curious to me, is there a business the business license requirement for churches in the county?

Because as we sit here today, and my client can testify, and the landlord who unfortunately is out of the country, but we reached out to her, there's been no activity, and they don't even know what's going on with that building.

There's been no church activity that they've been able, they haven't been able to contact the tenant, and they they wouldn't discuss the rental payments with us, but there's been no activity at that church.

Um, but again, we mailed notifications to everybody, including that our neighbor, and nobody came forward and said we don't want this.

In fact, we had people that say we're we're excited for the store to come back and open.

Now, these policies that we're talking about, these crime statistics, these are not provided by uh, you know, we weren't provided these to review the calls for service or go through them line by line because the sheriff department, who is the the voice of the police issues and in this jurisdiction, has not come forward and said that we have a problem, right?

And so again, uh prior to this, this location was authorized to operate without any limitations in the square foot of alcohol, without the limitation of uh healthy food requirements, it could stay open till two o'clock in the morning.

We heard the complaint uh the concerns, and so we came back to the to the board and said, look, we will reduce our hours to midnight, we will uh provide healthy food options, and again, we're actually uh adding more than what's required, as you can see from the image behind you.

If you can see it on your screen, and we've reduced the total uh area of alcohol square footage.

Again, public convenience and necessity under the business and profession code isn't required here because the license already exists at the space, there's not gonna be an increase in the census track.

So again, these distance requirements that we're talking about, the distance requirements are 500 feet.

You're getting information that there's a school 4000 feet away.

There's a park, you know, 900 feet away.

We meet the zoning code.

What I think is particularly important for you to know is that the operations at this liquor store or I mean this convenience store, I I don't want to call it a liquor store because that's not what it is.

A liquor store would be a store that has most of its floor dedicated to alcoholic beverages.

This is not that very limited when we say uh the limitation is also to beer and to wine and to distilled spirits, so a very small portion of the stores, you can see from the plans will do that.

You will not only have the city uh to the concerns of uh the speaker uh to regulate this, but ABC also will have teeth.

ABC is a regulatory agency that if if anyone calls and complains, they're out there the next day.

I work with ABC every single day.

So these conditions could be mirrored in the conditions of approval of the ABC.

We would we would say to this board uh request that so that the 20% limitation that is within the conditions of approval also get affixed to our ABC license so that that issue can be very easily regulated by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control in the event the county doesn't have the resources.

But to deny a business because the county doesn't have resources is a little bit concerning because people need to have businesses.

People should be able to operate businesses, not on the ability of the county to to do their job, but on the ability of the operator to do its job and comply with the conditions of approval.

I know that the county will come and do their job as they have done uh regularly with these facilities, and it's you have the other regulatory teeth of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control that the county and and concerned citizens can always use to that effect as well.

I think you cannot ignore the previous unanimous approval.

Um, you know, and and the advisory, the MAC committee.

I mean, these are uh these are respectable people, but uh there was a misunderstanding of the application.

They were there the the policy does not say do away with, it does not say restrict at all costs, it says reduce.

And so the plain reading, and that you know, the uh uh reading the plain reading of it.

I think the court of uh proper jurisdiction will will agree with us that it's not an outright prohibition, rather it's a limitation or a reduction, and that's what we negotiated with and and got the uh the board to approve.

We said, look, we're not gonna have this be a you know, we're gonna limit or reduce the availability by providing all these other services and restricting our display and sales area.

Now, when it comes to all of this data that's that's included in here, this is countywide data.

It's not specific enough for us to know what's happening at the site.

We don't have any site specific data to to this location.

What we have is a 30-year history of the location operating without a single violation, without a single ABC violation while my client was operating this business.

That's public record, that's easily attainable.

Uh and it's curiously again, even though we've provided that to planning, they've left that out as well.

Folks, this gentleman is just trying to do business.

Don't damn him before he's had the opportunity.

We would be willing to come in for a review hearing.

Uh, we've we've offered that already.

We know that is another conditional use permit here for a review.

We would come back in at a six month, 12-month, whatever you say, because these impacts are not going to occur.

My client has vested in this property.

He's paid, like I said, for six years.

Now, we're also talking with the landlord about renting the neighboring space, which is this alleged church that is never open or operating.

And the city apparently has no records of it ever doing anything.

It just has a sign that looks like it's older than the building itself.

Um, and you know, we can't be prejudiced by the fact that the that the planning department apparently didn't pick this up.

I mean, we we provided everything to them.

Um, and so our our goal here is is to not put this man out of business again.

He's already survived the pandemic.

This isn't uh a terrible use, it's a lawful use that properly conditioned should be approved.

Thank you.

We'll now give five minutes for the appellant to rebutton.

Um, just a few things.

Uh a representative from the applicant did not attend the Eaton Mac hearing.

Did not listen to residents' concerns at the Eden Mac hearing.

So that was there was no one representing the applicant at our at the Eden Mac hearing.

So you're getting BZA members that don't live in the community making a judgment on whether or not an alcohol outlet liquor store should be approved.

Um the other thing that I that is just demonstrably false, if you um look at the sign of the church, the church is active every service of every time that is listed on that sign that is in uh on there um on the front of the church.

So um that's it.

Thanks.

I'll make this short.

I was at the hearing, so I don't know what he's saying.

And this is a picture from yesterday where that sign the church is gone.

So I don't know when he went there, but this is a sign that we took yesterday.

So I would submit this to the to the board, please.

Um, again, um I was at the I was at the Mac hearing.

I I appeared uh via Zoom in representation of my client.

Um very much so.

And again, I would implore, I mean, again, we're ready.

The administrative record is clear.

Um, this has been we we have been at this process since late 2004.

So when you talk about the time that it's taken, this is what's taken.

The planner that handled this case, um, unfortunately, uh, you know, there was some issues with getting this to hearing.

In fact, we requested this hearing months and months and months ago.

It took about four months to get us here for reasons that are unexplained to us.

So we're trying to move as quickly as we can in relation to how long it took.

I mean, again, we started this process in late 2024.

Uh, our letter of justification is dated January, and it's taken us almost 18 months or whatever that whatever it is to get to today's point.

We've been through four hearings, um, you know, uh that we've been through the MAC.

We went through the uh the the Board of Zoning Adjusters to two hearings, and now we're here again today.

My client has done everything that he can do.

He's invested everything that he can do.

He's agreed to every condition that has been put in front of him.

All he wants to do is preserve, he has he has many more years left on the lease.

And so that's why when I tell you he's been paying the landlord, is because he has a legal liability there, and he can't afford uh to lose this space or to lose this business as it will materially impact his children that live in the community, his family, his employees, and everything else.

So again, you know, I would I would ask staff if they have any kind of validation that this church is actually operating.

Uh the fact that, you know, in 2007 they got a CUP, and in 2012, that CUP expired and it became a buy right use.

I I just don't know.

We haven't seen anyone there.

I mean, my client's there every day.

We haven't seen anyone there and and active.

So if if a if they don't require a business license or they don't require if they don't require anything, then it's our it's our belief that the church isn't operational at that location.

Um so what is this photo?

That photo is a rendering?

That's a rendering, yes, sir.

That's a rendering.

Uh we obviously it looks like this today.

It looks like that today, yes, sir.

And it's closed down, but he's there every day.

He's yeah, there's nothing going on here.

Yeah, there's nothing going on there, but he is there every day um because he lives in uh in an immediate area, so he drives by it every day.

Um, and he has been, you know, um preparing for opening uh based on the uh on the approvals and other things.

I mean, he's paying for it.

So the church.

Yes, sir.

But won't tell you where they are.

The same landlord says they don't know what's going on at that place.

They haven't heard from them, they haven't seen them.

Um, and his his wife, who is apparently out of the country, um, it deals with most of that stuff.

So I can't uh president Hubert, I can't I can't give you details.

I just that's the that's the discussion we had with with the landlord uh husband this morning uh yesterday.

It's gonna look like this if it happens.

It is, uh, once we get all of our appropriate permits.

You're gonna take that fruit in and out every day.

My clients here.

Okay.

Okay.

Cool.

And and again, we're open to reasonable conditions.

You know, we've we already have a litany of conditions.

Um, and you know, we'd be we'd be more than open to talk about reasonable conditions again.

Uh a review period, a shortened review period.

Um, I would implore you to look at the ABC uh history.

Is it finished?

Yes, sir.

Okay.

Public comment.

We have three um in person.

Matt Turner, Chuck Meadows, and Alyssa Elizabeth Stanley.

Very good.

If anyone's online, now would be the time to raise your hand.

Good morning, supervisors.

Um I worked on the criminal the burn criminal justice grant uh and and there was a deep dive and analysis on what was happening in this community.

Uh it is a uh community in crisis by by most metrics.

And the idea that we would further burden them with yet another liquor store um is just to me outrageous.

And uh, and I wish that this hadn't gone this far.

I do feel for the uh applicant in that when something is is you know said given an open door.

Hey, you can go ahead and put in your application rather than being told up front, actually, this is not something that we are encouraging or or would like in our community.

Um the stats that we we went over for months during the burn criminal justice grant uh process uh were unequivocal that saturating neighborhoods like this with alcohol outlets causes harm.

Uh the the arrests related to this, the hot spots we could show uh right around this this facility and the others.

I mean, the data was there.

Uh the sheriff's office put a huge amount of time into this to explain why this is not a good idea and helped provide the evidence for the environmental justice element for the planning department.

And I I'm my uh deepest wish that you uphold this for our communities.

I myself live in a community surrounded by alcohol outlets.

Uh there's single-use bottles are all over the sidewalk outside of my house.

People are passed out.

My kids have to see things that no kid should have to see.

Please spare Ashland from that.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Good morning, members of the board.

My name is Chuck Meadows.

And uh, like Matt, I again ask you to uh uphold the appeal and deny the permit consistent with unanimous Eden MAC decision 70.

The applicant causes the revival of a historical store.

However, under Alameda Code section 17.52.690, legacy rights expire after six months of inactivity.

The store has sat essentially idle for over three years.

Under California law, those rights are extinguished.

This is not a revival, and I think has been acknowledged.

This is a brand new application for a liquor store in a neighborhood that's already saturated.

The environmental justice plan has been referenced multiple times, and I think the policy direction is clear.

Under case number PLN 2017 0142, which was another application, the ACSO, Deputy Sheriff Sweeney, stated that every new license in a saturated area adds systemic weight to dispatch an emergency responses with four other existing stores already within walking distance.

Adding another doesn't serve the public, it actually endangers it.

The BZA erred in my humble opinion by ignoring the legal abandonment and the mandates of the general plan.

Please respect the MAC and the community health.

Deny this permit.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Hello, my name is Elizabeth Stanley, and full disclosure, I am a member of the Eden Mac.

I actually led the charge here to deny this.

But today I'm speaking as somebody not from the Mac, as somebody who lives about 957 feet behind this up on the hill.

Anybody familiar with my area, live on 170th, which is the nearest cross street to this.

We have 580 behind us and 238 right across the street from where this liquor store was, and hopefully won't be.

Knocking over the stop sign, a fire hydrant, uh road rage incidents.

I only share it with about 30 other homes, but we're constantly bombarded with a stream of cars who are using us as a shortcut.

And again, they litter, they're drunk.

Um, like I said, these are just things that me and my neighbors have witnessed.

Uh I've lived here since 2015, and for the most part, that building has been empty.

There are also two other churches within the 500 feet radius.

One of them I see people actually going to.

Um so I would just again reiterate that we don't need this.

I'm all forest tour, but it's embarrassing, honestly, that we've especially with the East 14th corridor improvement project that we've spent all this money and I've seen it.

I see it every day to make it nicer and safer.

And yet I feel like this would be a reversal of that, right?

We want something we can be proud of, and we don't need another liquor store.

Thanks.

We have eight raised hands online.

First up is Mike Barrata.

Mike, please unmute.

Can you hear me?

We'll come back to you, Mike.

Keith Barros.

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes, go ahead.

Yes.

Um, first of all, uh, it's been it's been six years since COVID, and I would think that if they they would have they would have had the ability as far as COVID is concerned, to open quite some time ago.

Uh, if there was uh such a desperate need.

Uh, this should have been denied at the BZA.

Um, I I never thought I'd say what's wrong with the BZA, because I was instrumental in creating the BZA many years ago, but they all they evidently were not aware of all of the evidence and all the all of the uh circumstances around us.

Um when uh I was curious as to when uh what year uh I missed it.

What year this uh smoke shop was uh was operating there before they decided to apply for something.

Uh smoke is not healthy.

I I think one of my concerns is uh is the applicant and the representative and possibly even the landlord's uh credibility and intent with this.

Uh well first there was a liquor store um then and then a smoke shop.

Um, yeah, to hear that this is to hear the to hear the applicant's representative say that this is not gonna be a liquor store and that and and the title of it is gonna be wine and spirits.

Uh doesn't really uh doesn't really hold water very well.

Uh quite frankly, uh if this uh if this use, if they were allowed to have alcohol at this particular location at with everything that is with everything is against it.

I tell you the people, the people in this area, they work.

It's a problem for them to get to uh to these meetings.

Um but the evidence is there, the community has had it with these with these outlets, and uh quite frankly, if this were allowed to go forward, this would be an absolute environmental injustice.

Okay, thank you very much for listening.

Mike, go ahead.

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes, go ahead.

Hi, yes, my name is Mike.

I'm a land resident.

I mean, Ashley Land and Wellness element.

Ashley Cherry Land.

Business uh specific.

The fact that they're asking for a Clearly that this does not fit the plan for the region.

I think the um the rendering that is offered shows quite clearly right up front that they're proposing a wine and spirit shop.

That's that's their front, that's their front door, and they're telling you what their intent is.

I think Mr.

Jaconi um very well underlined all the reasons that this does not fit for our community.

The the county itself, the county planners recommended upholding the appeal and denying the request.

I I hope that uh you the board of supervisors can appreciate the community that we're talking about, the issues that they face, and the future that we're hoping to create.

Thank you.

Hi, good afternoon.

Uh my name is Teresa de Jesus and live from Ashland for uh more than 21 years.

Good afternoon, supervisor.

And I'm speaking today to oppose another liquor store in the unincorporated area.

Our community already has so many liquor stores, and we we don't need any anyone, any another one.

Families in the neighborhood use the community centers and the hundred fifty seven for family events, join activities, celebration in community engagement.

This area should be continued to be safe and welcome place to children and families.

And communities need more investment.

That's what our family's jump programs help.

And that's definitely another liquor store will not improve quality life for residents in this neighborhood.

I respectfully ask to you not listen to I respectfully ask you to listen to that concern of the community and deny the request.

Please thank you so much.

And we had a lot of activities in the 1570 is very close in Ashland Community Center.

We have uh many groups uh to have a community.

We had activities, we had events uh and uh in that and I get like I think like 20, more than that.

So is we need a uh safe space that we don't need no more liquors.

Thank you so much for listening.

Sandra, go ahead.

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes, go ahead.

Um, yeah, so I wanted to first start off by addressing something that was said by uh the applicant that the people that are opposing this is some activist group that doesn't live in the area, but I think that that is kind of a laughable response.

Uh at the EMAC, the public speakers were predominantly our slam youth leaders.

Um, I think that for those of you that have been at EMAC or unincorporated services, our SLAM youth leaders turn out.

So I want to definitely speak for them since they're at school, they can't be here.

We are extremely opposed to this.

Ashley does not need another liquor store.

Um, we have done uh environmental scans related to liquor stores because that's part of the work that we do in prevention at SLAM, and um there is an oversaturation.

There's literally a liquor store on the next block.

It's close to the triangulation between Reach, the Ashland Community Center, and the Cherry Lane Community Center.

This is a hub for community.

We have Sokolo Park that just opened.

Um it is a corridor that also something that hasn't been brought up is that it is directly in front of the community identifier, which I was proudly uh on the selection committee.

So the point of the community identifier that says Ashland on one side and uh Cherry Lynn on the other, was to bring in this new phase of Ashland to help it grow.

We do not need more liquor stores.

There is uh an issue around accessibility in our community, and I really ask that you really listen to what we are all saying because the notion that Keith borrows that there is that Mike that myself are just some outside agitators goes to the the you know lack of credibility that this retailer is presenting, trying to present us is like we don't live here.

We are completely united as a community against this project, and I hope that you listen to us to the leaders, the youth leaders that aren't able to be here, and that you deny this application and support the appeal.

Thank you.

Kelly, go ahead.

Thank you.

Um by uh focusing so much on what was happening in the law, um, the um Supervisor Miley is may uh uh have his attention diverted away from what was what's happening on the ground right here, right inside this shop.

Uh we heard the the uh this their representative say that they've been there for 30 years and they go there every day and they've been operating this place continu uh all the time continuously, and they're responsible for what's been happening there for the whole time.

And uh and COVID shut them down.

Well, I uh I see uh a picture from uh tw June of 2021 of the cloud nine smoke shop in this location.

Now, uh what's really disturbing about that is that your staff didn't tell you that there was a smoke shop.

They only told you that in the law that there was two applications in 2021 and 2022 to the county to their own staff to your planning department for a tobacco license, and both of those were denied.

So if you see a picture from June of 2021 in the middle of the pandemic of the grand opening of the cloud nine smoke shop in this location, and somehow this thing is operating, their doors are open, and Google's got a picture of it.

Uh what how could that happen with your staff not knowing that they did they only look at the application and they didn't go out there and didn't see that they had an illegal uh tobacco store?

And if they found the tobacco store, why didn't they mention it to you that there was an illegal tobacco selling operation here?

Um, and what does that say about credibility?

If for the last 30 years they've been operating and um they did think illegal things like apply for licenses and then open business, a tobacco business without a license.

How could that happen?

And how could your staff fail to inform you of these violations?

Thank you.

Randy Wage, go ahead.

Hello, hopefully you can hear me.

Um basically, I just want to say uh if common sense, if you drive down uh East 14th, you will see that there are a ton of liquor stores.

I applaud Tyler for this appeal and sticking up for his community.

Thank you.

And I applaud all the other people that are speaking.

Um, we just we don't need another liquor store.

It's just way too many on East 14th, as as been mentioned.

So I just want to chime in and and say that also.

We want good businesses.

We've always wanted good businesses, another restaurant, you know, even housing would be better than um a liquor store.

So please listen to the community voices.

Please make that decision and deny this CUP.

The Eden Mac unanimously denied this.

That's made up of a ton of community members that live in the area.

Uh uh, yeah, this went way wrong on the BCA.

So anyway, please deny the COP, no more liquor stores.

Please, no more liquor stores in the area.

You know that a lot of times there's bars on the windows that they bring nothing but but problems.

Thank you so much.

Anne Maris, go ahead.

Hello, uh, Dr.

Ann Mary's here.

I'm a uh chemist and educator.

Um, I live nearby, Southern Castor Valley.

This site is uh very close to the intersection of Hayward, Cherryland, and Castor Valley.

And um I shop there, I visit friends there, I walk on the street, and it it doesn't always feel safe to walk on the street, and adding another liquor store isn't isn't going to improve that.

So I really thank Mr.

Dragoni for presenting this and for everyone else speaking up too.

Um, I really care about this area.

I care about the improvements.

Um we definitely don't need liquor stores.

There's easy, it's easy to find them.

And and this this proprietor is is you know really joking if they're saying it's not a liquor store.

If we look at the name, we look at their focus is on liquor.

So this is this is for liquor.

Um, I really want to see revitalization, and we've we've heard how we've we've gotten that when we've taken other not helpful businesses out.

Um it's a family neighborhood, working families, like you've heard.

My nephew lives on that street right there on 170th.

He's raising his two young kids there.

And and they love using Unity Park.

They need to walk past this site to get to Unity Park.

Right now they don't feel safe enough to walk there.

So they have to drive there.

And so part of not allowing this liquor store is just continuing to improve the area.

And I just ask that the supervisors uphold the Emacs unanimous um recommendation to to not allow this to continue.

Sounds like it was against the law anyway.

And um, I'm usually proud of what the BZA does.

So I just think a mistake was done at this time, and we didn't expect it, or I would have been at that BZA meeting.

Thank you.

Ray Maruma Hoko, go ahead.

Good morning.

Can you hear me okay?

Yes.

Wonderful.

Uh, my name is Ray Marumaoko.

I live in Cherryland.

I am a member of the Eden Municipal Advisory Council, uh, one of the individuals that voted no.

And it was an easy decision at the time.

I'm now here as a citizen.

Um, as a person who drives through this corridor often.

I walk it when I can, but in the years that I've lived here, that's not always been feasible or advisable or safe.

It's wonderful that it's a new day dawning in the unincorporated area.

You've heard about some of the businesses that are opening up, the corridor revitalizations that are happening that is actually planned for just south of this location starting this summer along mission.

And um, it's a joy to see the youth out in the parks that are existing, the skate park, as well as the new Unity Park, also just down the road.

Uh, this is this is a unique opportunity, I think, for the applicant to reconsider that the community, as far as I'm concerned, continues to say no, but we're saying yes to a lot of things because there are businesses that are opening, some of which are surprising demographic wise.

I know there was an idea poo-pooed about a vegan bakery, but having seen the wildly successful and frequently populated Sana Cafe just down the road from where I live, I would actually challenge that notion.

And more to the point, I would invite you back to the Eden Mac.

I would invite you to the Community Development Association, maybe to this forum at some point in time.

Let us know how to help you explore other ideas.

I'm sensitive to the fact that the business owner is in the community as we are, but it's just clear that we're saying no to one thing and potentially yes to so many other options.

So thank you, Tyler.

Thank you, Supervisor Miley, for having the uh Max in the first place and for this opportunity to speak today.

There are no more speakers.

Very good.

I'll bring it back for discussion and deliberation.

I'll start with Supervisor Miley.

Thank you, President Howard.

Um, before I make some ask questions and make some comments, uh, do staff have anything they'd like to respond to based on anything you heard from um either party or the public?

Yeah, the staff planner uh Michael Fleming uh did go out to the site the most recent uh most recently Sunday this week.

Apparently he spoke to a pastor who told Mike that there are two services per week.

Um the uh street view of uh I think um there was a request to show the street view of the facility to see whether or not there were uh was any signage regarding the um the church.

So the Google Street View from uh the most recent one is April 2025, and that is actually not showing the church, and I will put it up.

However, staff did go out and um and show uh and and take pictures more recently.

This is from June 2021.

You can see that there was um liquor and there were um uh smoke shop.

They did go through the TRL, the tobacco retailer license process um twice, and they were both denied, so the smoke shop was closed down.

Again, the most recent view of the street of April 2025 does not show any signage for the uh church, however uh and site visits.

Um church in January 2012, 2026.

Um, front of church in May 7, 2026.

Uh however, uh again, according to to Michael Fleming, who's operating in May May 10th, which was Sunday, uh, he spoke to a pastor on site.

So that is some of the information we've gathered regarding uh some of the site visits.

And again, this is that old Google Street View of April 7, 2025, not showing the signage.

I would just like to clarify that the only um decision you're being asking asked to make today is regarding the conditional use permit.

You're not being asked to make a finding regarding public convenience and necessity.

Uh, the applicant is correct as stated in the West BZA report.

There is an existing license for that site.

Um, so those findings are not relevant to your decision today.

Um, I would note, however, that some of the factors and criteria that are used to determine whether or not a public uh uh convenience and necessity is present may have relative um relative information and add on to the findings of the conditional use permit, which also speak to public need, um injurious to health and safety and those same they're they're similar but not identical.

So focus on the conditional use permit findings if you would.

Thank you, counsel.

And then uh is the church the only sensitive receptor, and are we talking about 500 feet or a thousand?

So it's 500 feet, and um there is there are home daycare centers apparently uh throughout the area, those are permitted as of right, and again, they um may exist uh uh there was uh some indication that there was one that was um uh some one around the corner about uh uh somewhere around 200 feet away.

I think that was the evidence provided by the by the appellant.

Um, but that again those um come in and out of existence, and staff did not know of its existence uh independently.

Okay, um so yeah, the um and the attorney for the uh the applicant um once again you know I'm on the record um because you know I know Tyler, I've known him for years.

I didn't even didn't know he's filing the appeal, didn't talk to him about the appeal, all the speakers who spoke.

I know all of those speakers.

I haven't talked to any of those speakers about this appeal.

The only people I've talked to about this appeal is the staff, and my staff.

Um, county staff and and my county staff.

So I have no conflict of interest around this.

And further, I've been dealing with alcohol outlets for probably the last 30 or more years.

Prior to being on the city council, I worked on alcohol outlets because they were, you know, um over concentrated in Oakland, bringing down the quality of life in Oakland.

Um I continued to work on alcohol outlets on the city council, passing a number of novel laws that were taken up statewide.

Um, in addition, uh when I got on the board of supervisors, I established a lot of our policies and laws associated with alcohol outlets, work with both code enforcement planning uh and the sheriff's department and public health.

So um I'm quite familiar with this area of uh of um policy and law.

And uh we're talking about alcohol outlets, and this is an alcohol outlet.

It might not be a liquor store, but it's an alcohol outlet.

And um when I look at uh at this, it's a in council point we're we're here uh around a CUP.

That's what we're here around to decide whether or not a CUP is appropriate in this instance.

Um and I think the findings can be made around public need and necessity on because I think as we pointed out, there are a number of facilities that serve alcohol and provide alcohol in the um vicinity, and then in addition, a number of the speakers have talked about the uh EJ element and our efforts at trying to improve the quality of uh the of life in the community.

You know, you don't turn around um uh a community in one year, two years or three years.

I've been working on this stuff with a lot of these focus with a lot of these folks for maybe the last 25 years.

Um, some of them are new, some of them aren't new, but collectively, all the speakers that spoke, I've been working with them um in different capacities for the last 25 uh plus years.

So I've seen things in Ashland improve, I've seen things in Cherry Land improve.

Um, and we've heard that the community is against uh this facility opening up as an alcohol outlet.

I think one speaker even spoke to the fact that having 15 or 20 percent of it set aside for uh fruit and vegetables, and the other, I mean that's appalling.

Um, you know, we had an organization, I know SLAM is still in existence to um uh La Familia, but we've had organizations over the years like Compree and others that have worked to address of the proliferation of alcohol outlets, the over concentration of alcohol outlets, and the need to address alcohol outlets.

And as I said, I've worked with the Sheriff's Department, so we've gotten grants from ABC to address um uh alcohol outlets as well as other uh drugs, um, be they tobacco, be they alcohol, be they marijuana, whatever it might be.

And we're not saying alcohol is a bad thing, we're just making sure we regulate it and it's not overly concentrated and uh producing a burden on a community unnecessarily.

So I just think um I have a lot of uh empathy and sympathy for this um applicant, but I just think uh to try to get to a CUP at this point.

I I can't support that.

Um the Eden Mac opposed it, and and every speaker practically said, and like I said, I know most of these people, if not all of them how the BZA got it wrong the BZ got it wrong um and and I just and I'm kind of surprised once again my philosophy is I don't interfere with the Mac I make those appointments and I let the Mac do what they're gonna do BZA make those appointments let the BZ do because what it's gonna do but when it gets to my court which is here that's when I take over and do what I need to do but all those different stages that this stuff goes through my staff might monitor it but we aren't directing the Mac or the BZA in terms of what they should do or not do.

We let them do their own uh analysis and in this case I just really feel the BZA got it wrong and the Mac is right on target here and they're on target with what um the community would like to have done uh the board doesn't always follow the Macs as I think number of you know that you know they didn't follow Cash Valley Mac around a project recently um I think some people think they know the unincorporated area better than I know it so and I represent the people out there for 25 years.

I don't always agree with you on everything but I know I know most of you and I know you're interested in concerns.

So we'll see what this board does on this issue but you know where I stand on it.

This is not a use that we need to have in Ashland um uh on east 14th street we can have a grocery store there we can have a convenience store there we can have all that but we don't need to have the alcohol component there and it's unfortunate that they abandoned the use but under the law it was abandoned and now it's a CUP request and we have we have the right to take a look at whether or not it's justified and the other thing is uh we've always looked to try to reduce the number of alcohol outlets reduce the number of tobacco facilities make reductions there not increase them so I said enough because I can get really passionate about this stuff but we'll see what the board wants to do and when the chair's ready for a motion I'll make it thank you supervisor Miley I'll continue with deliberation and discussion um turning to county supervisor supervisor for not a bass thoughts comments deliberations yes thank you president howard and thank you supervisor miley um I take seriously uh representing representation of the unincorporated areas and our general plan and the environmental justice element uh being a framework for planning and uh how we potentially grow and address historical inequities and I really appreciate uh the work that the community has done on this environmental justice element um I think a lot has already been said and um I think it's important to make sure that uh this is um a framework that the supervisors uphold and so because of that I am in support of upholding the appeal and denying the CUP thank you Supervisor Marquez thank you uh clarifying question for staff what is currently allowed um in this zoning area that would not require not require CUP so permitted as of right uh let me get to that um page um hold on give me a second here so most businesses that uh so for example a restaurant even if a restaurant sells alcohol um as long as it's not a tavern or a bar that primarily sells alcohol that would be permitted uh so uh retailing uh is uh permitted anything you know dry goods clothing cafes um uh uh personal services uh park or playground, as long as it's not in key intersections.

Recreation on that requires a conditional use permit uh so those kinds of of uh of uses that that even if it is alcohol sales as the example of a restaurant um as long as it's a bona fide restaurant and not a tavern that and those are different license types, that would be permitted outright.

Correct.

And if it if the applicant were interested in changing the use to a restaurant, they would still have to undergo an ABC permit, correct?

Correct.

And if it's sold yes.

Okay, okay, but obviously, but that's allowed.

It's it's it's not prohibited.

Um the supervisor, they would have to have an on sale premises ABC license.

Currently, they have type 21, and that would trigger the public convenience and necessity findings.

Okay.

Because it is a new license.

Okay.

Um, and then I thought I heard earlier that we've also put a cap on no more liquor or tobacco establishments.

Just tobacco.

Okay.

Um, so I'm also gonna uh support the comments made by Supervisor Miley and Fortano Bass.

Um I actually drove by this area, it was uh late in the evening, um, it had to be past 9 30 or 10 because we were here till almost nine o'clock on Tuesday night, and I passed by uh I'm not sure if I'm pronounced it correctly, but the Sana Cafe.

And I was impressed.

It was vibrant in activity, and it was just so exciting to see that on East 14th and with Unity Park across the street and the investments being made by Hard, Ashland Reach Center.

It that's the vibrancy we want to see in that community.

So um definitely want to uh support the applicant if they're amenable to considering another use in that location, but I do agree that we do have a high saturation of um liquor establishments in the community.

Thank you.

Thank you, Supervisor Tam.

Um Thank you, President Halbert.

Uh my staff uh and Supervisor Miley's staff work very closely with uh planning on developing environmental justice element for the general plan.

And we didn't want this to just to be a document that sits on the shelf.

We want it to be something that's put into place and practice and adhere to and while I appreciate um some of the the timing issues that have occurred.

Um I think even if we conditioned the permit, the conditional use permit, I don't think we could um get it to a point where it won't materially affect the safety and health of that neighborhood.

So I am um also concerned about the saturation, the oversaturation of alcohol outlets, not necessarily a liquor store, because as the EJ element has pointed out, uh 70% of the people that live in that area are within a quarter mile of an alcohol outlet, so there's not that public necessity that we can make a finding on.

So I'm also um supportive of granting the appeal.

Very good.

I would like to thank the public uh commenters, the appellant and the applicant for coming in.

This uh has been a long um uh a long hearing on this.

Um I I I can actually see it going um both ways in some regards in that um this is an historic use.

Uh however, um indeed it's been pointed out that we have a policy for a reason.

I respect my colleagues who have worked hard on that policy.

Uh while this isn't my district, we all do uh govern the entire county, including all of the unincorporated areas.

So as a team, we work together uh on this and um while uh it it is um it can go both ways.

I uh support the uh upholding of the appeal and um would entertain a motion to do so.

Right.

So Mr.

Chair, I'd like to move that we um uh uphold the appeal and deny the conditional use permit to allow the alcohol outlet in conjunction with a convenience door based on the fact that the findings for C UP cannot be made, all right.

Motion has been made by Supervisor Miles, and by Supervisor Tam.

President Halbert, can we confirm that the motion includes the adoption of the resolution included in your packet?

Yes, with the findings that represent the inability to make the findings, that the uh that would be our recommendation that you adopt.

Okay, so I include that in the motion, but council has indicated.

Is that good with the second?

The second are agrees.

Okay.

Well, noting that the motions made by the county supervisor whose district this is in, seeing as how we see lots of items from this district, and that we respect our wise elder supervisor of this district.

Can we have a roll call vote, please?

Supervisor Marquez.

Aye, supervisor Tam, Supervisor Miley, Supervisor Fortunato Bass.

Aye, President Halbert.

I vote yes, and uh uh through the chair.

I would just remind everyone that you know the unincorporated area is about 150,000 people.

If it were city, it'd be the fourth largest city in the county.

Um, mostly in corporate area I represent.

So we try to um treat it like it's a municipality.

It's taken a long time for the county to make that mindset and move in that direction over the last 20 plus years.

Um, I know you uh butcher uh Albert and Tam represent a portion of the unincorporated area, but you know obviously I've got the most of it, so that's why a lot of these matters um come from um my district since I have the healthy portion of the unincorporated area, and that's the way the lines have been drawn.

And indeed, uh I look forward to the unincorporated services commission committee or whatever we're calling it that you've been working so hard to have happen, finally come to fruition.

With that said, we're now going to move on to item five, a mandatory review of a conditional use permit.

C UP for Patty's swim school.

I believe also in district four.

Castro Valley.

Is there a brief staff report to kick this off?

Yes.

Um I'm gonna share my screen.

Uh so okay, this is an appeal of the West BZA decision to approve mandatory review of conditional use permit, um, permitting operation of an outdoor rec facility with modifications to the conditions of approval.

The appellant is Derek Lee and Fu Feng Wei.

Uh, this is Patty Swim School located at 4621 James Avenue in Castro Valley.

Uh zoning is single family residential.

The general plan, excuse me, general plan is uh R1.

This is CECO exempt.

It's an existing facility 5 15301 class one.

Uh uh just to remind the board you did see this in 2024.

There was a one-year mandatory review uh with that application or request for the mandatory review.

There was a uh solicitation for modification to the hours of operation and allowing an increase in number of students.

Um so again, the pool is uh at the outside of uh of an existing residence.

There is uh a bathroom facility and changing rooms.

Um the uh conditions of approval were to allow the pool uh school, uh swim school to operate between the hours of 8 a.m.

to 8 p.m.

Monday through Thursdays and 9 a.m.

to 2 p.m.

on Saturdays.

The West BZA approved the continued operation with the following modifications uh to increase the number of students from four to five, uh extending Saturday hours from 8 a.m.

to 4 p.m., allowing Friday operations from 8 a.m.

to 8 p.m.

and removing the 15-minute lesson staggering condition.

That condition of approval was originally so that vehicles parked in the parking lot would not overlap as students from a previous lesson left and new students from the new lesson arrived with their parents in vehicles.

This next door neighbor is the appellant, and they share a driveway access easement from the public road James Avenue to their property across the subject property that is this swim school.

And then there was also modification to mandatory review condition from a three-year subsequent mandatory review to five years mandatory review.

So again, the school was originally approved in 1998.

The last time the West BZA heard it in 2024 with a prior PLN number.

In the basis of the appeal is that there have been modified there have been violations to the modified conditions of approval, violations to certain conditions, numbers three, four, six, and nine.

We can go into those if you wish in more detail, operating outside the permitted hours, failure to provide the 15-minute intervals between each and use of the residence for swimming pool, installation of an operation of uh the air-supported structure without proper permits.

You may recall that that's the structure that's usually put up during the winter time to keep the students warm.

Violation of access season condition of approval number six.

And that vehicles are parked uh in the driveway, blocking the easement.

Uh the swim school exceeds the capacity of condition of approval number two from that prior 2023 permit, and as well as there being public safety risks, traffic and easement impacts, environmental and creek safety concerns, incompatibility with residential uses due to noise and quality of life effects and lack of operational necessity of the for the expansion and the potential impact to property values.

So these are uh documents submitted by the appellant.

Uh they're uh showing that vehicles are parked blocking the uh driveway.

They're showing that a vehicle is parked closer than nine feet to their shared property line, which is represented by this fence, and uh again impacts to not being able to leave their house with the vehicle blocking the um the easement.

There are also some uh other photographs submitted by the appellant operating prior to the 9 a.m.

start time on Saturdays.

Uh this was on April 4th, 2026.

Um in 2025, code enforcement uh staff observed and confirmed that the operations violated certain conditions of approval.

That code case was bought brought to the West County Board of Zoning Adjustments in May of 25.

Uh there were um resolutions and subsequent fines and fees uh imposed.

Um, however, no other code cases were created after May of 2025.

So those violations were resolved.

Um, the operators obtained building permits to install the dome structure, so that is not a violation, and the building permit uh expires in this month 2026, and any new um uh uh if it is not final, then we can double check if it's been final, but basically the the the right to use the dome structure does exist with building permits.

The swim school is considered an outdoor rec facility uh that requires a conditional use permit.

Uh again, the the school has been operating continuously for the past 28 years.

Um staff received the uh concerned uh comments from the immediate neighbor, but there's also been uh comments of support from both clients and neighbors further away from the facility.

Um, all comments were presented to both the Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council and the West BZA.

Um, and again after their deliberation, the West BZA did approve operations Fridays from 8 a.m.

to 8 p.m.

Approve the expansion of students from four to five, remove the minimum 15 minute staggering of the lessons, and uh added new conditions disallowing parking within nine feet of the shared property line, um, and did not allow operation of the swim swim school on Sundays.

So the objections forming the basis of appeal are addressed by the additional conditions of approval discussed in adopting March 25, 2026 at that West County Board of Zoning Adjustments.

Apparently, one of the concerns from uh uh regarding the appellant is that Patty started the modified hours of operation before the 10 day appeal period ran its course and before this appeal, as since now it is at hearing has run its course.

Uh but again uh staff's understanding is that um the swim school will wait until the appeal has run its course before uh updating their hours of operation uh and modifying um their operations based on those uh updated conditions or approval.

So um with that staff recommends denying the appeal and approving the project as initially approved by the West County Board of Zon adjustments uh on March 25th, 2026.

I'm sorry, did you say deny the project?

The appeal and approve the project.

Okay, very good.

With that said, our next step would be if there are no clarifying questions or comments, which we have, but I'll just prepare the appellant will now have time to explain their appeal.

Supervisor Miley.

Yes, I just want to get some clarity here.

So Rodrigo, so this the staff is recommending denying the appeal and approving the conditions that the West County Board of Zoning Adjusters established on March 25th, 2026.

Yes.

And these conditions are different than the original conditions.

Correct.

They are now allowing um operation on Fridays, they are now allowing uh Saturdays longer hours, they continue to deny operations on Sundays, they increase the number of students from four to five, and uh no parking within nine feet of the shared property line.

Okay, so as you pointed out, this facility has been in existence for 28 years.

Yes, and I know when this came up to the board in the past, this has been very controversial.

Why wouldn't we just stick with the original conditions?

So they have been um uh modified or tightened to to accommodate the concerns of the neighbor about potential for noise.

Um, so for example, uh and also to help out the business.

So, for example, the original condition about limiting the the uh the staggering uh of 15 minutes, so the the applicant requested that that be removed so that they could have more lessons throughout the day uh and serve more of the community, and so the West BZA agreed to remove that 15-minute staggering.

Um and to accommodate the the neighbor, they modify the condition, not allowing uh parking within nine feet of the shared property line.

So those modifications have been made to help with concerns from both sides.

Okay, so those modifications address concerns from both sides, correct?

And those are the only two modifications.

Um the hours of operation have been allowed to so Fridays to again serve more people.

They did not allow Fridays originally.

Now Fridays are allowed.

Uh Saturdays there are longer hours.

They still do not allow Sundays.

And the neighbors, if folks are comfortable with those those modifications, so I think the appellant is not comfortable with those modifications.

I see all right.

Well, I wait to hear from folks, but yeah, okay.

That's helpful.

So thanks.

Okay.

Very helpful.

Yes.

The appellant.

Now would be time to present your feelings for why your appeal should be approved.

Hi.

Greetings to our dear board of supervisors and everybody in person and also online.

We are the immediate labors for Patty Swimming School for 617 James Avenue.

My name is Ann Fu Fangwei.

My husband, Derek Lee.

We also have a six-year-old son, and then Kian, and also just recently adopted a dog.

So our family is the family only can get into our property through the easement and shared with the Patty Swim School highwalling clients.

Actually, basically every day, Patty already confirmed they have 100 to 250 cars running on the easement.

And then you can see a lot of cars on the street and also near the easement too.

And then actually we are here not just pretending uh presenting ourselves, we also presenting all the neighbors near Patty Swim School.

Sorry, they are not able to attend here because some of them are senior.

They're not able to get out of the house that easily.

So that's why it was very important to have a quiet um environment in the backyard to let them at least enjoy at home.

And also some of them, uh one of the neighbors has surgery today, so she's not able to come over.

And then some of them have newborns, and then um, but they both uh everybody signed the opposition expansion for the extended operation hours for Patty Swimming School, and the Wadi got 14 residents signed on the form from 11 families' address.

So also the neighbors also submitted individual letters with the evidence too.

And also our neighbors submitted a lot of public comments.

You can see from all the documents um in the files.

Yeah, um, so actually today we are not here to shut down the business.

We're just here to find the balance between the um the business and also the residents, the neighborhood.

So um the business has not damaged uh demonstrated consistent compliant compliance with existing permit limits.

So this should not uh um granted to have more operational hours.

We respectfully respectfully ask the board not to approve any further expansion for the swimming school operation hours capacity or the use of property.

Um please allow us to explain.

My husband will explain.

Thank you.

Good morning, board of supervisors.

Uh, my name is Derek.

Uh, I am one of the owners and uh 4617 James Avenue, uh, the new owner.

We've been living there for a year.

So um, well, with why we're actually asking the board not to approve the uh expanded hours is that there are a lot of existing conditions that they're not following.

So there are multiple documentation instances or non-compliance observed by the uh media county enforcement as well as neighbors' residence.

So these files are not isolated but reflected on the ongoing pattern of non-compliance with their port uh approval uh condition use permit of PLN 2023 00114.

So um you have already received a lot of these um in the email of uh and our evidence of the appeal letter.

Um just like I'm just kind of the code enforcement findings that official violations condition to number three, number four, number six, and number nine.

That is from the code.

Um we have been also observing uh from the neighbors is that conditions number three and number two have been number three and number six have been violated.

So in this, um, there's a there's a lot of observations constantly showing that the swim lessons were conducted outside the approval hours, which is accomplished accompanied by significant vehicles, activities, congestions, and the use of easement areas.

So when we uh again, we've been living there for a year.

We've been uh kind of observing the conditions of the traffic um between outside of James and into our easement, um, that we come back into it.

So a lot of observations, they have the screen costs that they um oversee or we're spilled into different um the hours that they have, like the Saturdays from eight to three or to four p.m.

uh sometimes Sundays or as well.

So they're actually there's a lot different kind of violations.

Um they also um condition number six of the violation of the easement condition is that vehicles should not obstruct the roadway easement or entry access into 4617 James, which is our property.

So uh we have a lot of the uh pictures showing that uh there's a lot of blockage and interfering into access to your own property.

So at um yeah, there's an overlap of the operations that in here, um they always kind of block into our properties.

Clients frequently come uh uh drive into our property too.

Uh there's not signage uh that says do not enter the property and in it.

Um, we have all the five videos to show it's just happening yesterday, but actually they happen daily.

This is the car they're running our house for parking.

They sit there for half an hour parking.

We have five videos, or already submitted code enforcement.

Yeah, so it's uh every day, and then we have uh this business that is a lot of um occupancies of the 20 cars and sometimes up to 25 cars in um for that's in the case that may have violated the uh the more than the four or five um occupancies of the swim school.

So they might talk about is the in condition number 12 or conditional use permit, it actually clearly states that failure to comply with all applicable regulations, laws, and ordinance may result in a ratification pursuant pursuant to the Alameda County zone and ordinance section uh 17-15 uh 54.032.

So there is a on the planning that should approve.

Well, we should not approve um those that actually is in current violation.

So the ongoing violation by asking we should not continue that.

And also, um, so if you prove if you prove Monday to Friday, eight to eight, Saturday, eight to four, and then you will be like uh six hours out of six hours out of seven days, that's way too much for a residential area.

So we think that it's if you approve that six days, there will be like a commercial.

What do you have the showing the data is showing that even though the commercial area is not as busy as they are?

I already have the data.

Do you mind telling me to submit it to the board of the supervisor?

Thank you.

So they already have existing more than 50 hours.

If you approve that will be 60, will be go over 60 hours, 68 hours per week.

That's way too much for our quiet involvement for our community.

So they actually would be a lot of cars are going into the easement and impacted us as and going in and out of our property on it.

Um so in describing uh one incidents that that uh one car was actually blocking it, and a family of two kids were walking back into the car uh and was going out and trying to avoid them, uh actually scraping it in to our own gate and destroying the car.

Scraping it.

So the lot of um customer parking is currently near the front of the property directly adjacent to the easement.

Well, any various sorry, I think we don't have too much time right now, but we just want to get to the end.

So please um deny all the requests for expanded option hours, including any addition days or hours, and then no more than total four students, even though already validated, so we should not approve anymore.

And they also maintained unlimited hours for Monday to Thursday.

This is all the requests for our neighbor, Monday to Thursday, 9 to 6.

Um, Saturday, 9 to 2, please.

Uh especially for summer in June and July and August.

Those are the very busy hours for a swimming school, but we live there every day and share the Eastman every day.

And also, can you let them to relocate the client parking from the near the East May area to the backyard?

Actually, I already have the picture showing that they do have enough space for the side when they go into the backyard rather than parking the east main.

And so they have a big land, a property, big property, and then they can park, have enough space for their clients, for their um coaches to park there.

They can update a lot of cars, and also please enforce a strict um compliance with all permit conditions because feel like we trying to report the violations from our neighbors, all the neighbors trying to report them, but there's no ending change in the neighbors.

You can say um on the street and also near the Eastman parking, um, very often it's a 25 cars.

Can you imagine that a school only a lot of four kids in the facility, not in the pool, only four kids in the facility?

They can't have 25 cars.

That's impossible.

Yeah, thank you.

Does that conclude your presentation?

Oh, thank you.

Okay, okay.

Do you have anything more to say?

Can we ask a question?

I mean, I think you said it all, but if you have more to say, how many times did they take?

They use the 10 minutes.

Okay, got it.

Then thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Now we have the applicant to present their side.

10 minutes.

Welcome.

Hi, good morning.

Um, I have given you a good afternoon.

You're right.

Um, I've given you a lot of information prior to this, to save time, I'm hoping.

Yes, exactly.

There you go.

31 pages.

And so I'm not going to reiterate a lot of those facts.

Um, I am Patty O'Brien, and I'm here to talk about the land use of 4621 James Avenue and how it benefits the community.

Uh, our swim school has been the cornerstone of the Cast Valley community for even longer than 28 years.

Um, our reputation is built on a foundation of trust and a safety record of having zero accidents.

Any any type of physical accidents, falls, obviously no drowning, um, any type of accident.

And we have provided over 200,000 lessons, not served 200,000 students over this year, and that's an approximate over those years.

That's an approximation.

We are here today to ensure that we are able to continue meeting a recognized public need.

Uh, as you well know, the CDC is clear, drowning is a leading cause of death for children under the ages of four.

Providing swim lessons is not a luxury, it's a life-saving intervention.

Our school's mission is to eliminate drowning as a cause of death in our community.

Every child we teach will become life protected.

Not just men, not just temporarily protected, but protected for life.

Anne and Derek, who are have brought up the appeal, their son benefited from this life protected skill.

We, I, I should say, um, went into this new neighbor that came in a year ago with very much open arms.

They have a at that time they had a five-year-old who was not water safe.

They did not have the money to swim with us, and I provided about $3,000 worth of free swim lessons to that child because I was not comfortable, even though we're gated in and the gates are locked, and it's supervised.

We were not comfortable with having a child that close in proximity to the swim school.

We also provided a fence.

So there are now two levels of protection, a fence around the pool and a fence that separates their property.

That was all at my cost.

In addition to that, they will say they also, when they took their lessons, they needed lessons after six o'clock.

They both work.

They also needed lessons on Saturdays, they both work.

So they understand the access of work of working families.

The primary challenge we face today is a misalignment between our current permit and the needs of working families.

In 2026, data shows that 80% of families in the East Bay have two working parents in order to survive.

It's difficult for these parents to get off of work before 5 p.m.

Our conditional use permit offers a restricted window for that time and that fails to then serve the majority of the community.

This gap forces parents to take time off of work, rely on grandparents or frantically rush through heavy traffic just to secure a life saving instruction for their children.

To address this, we're asking for the modifications to our conditional use permit previously supported by the MAC and the West County Board of Zoning adjustments.

This is not an expansion of our mission, it's a practical alignment with the actual family schedules that exist in 2026.

It ensures that families who need to be here need actual access to these services can have them.

This flexibility is vital for high risk populations.

We teach 67 children on the autism spectrum, with those of which are 160 times more likely to drown than their neurotypical peers.

In addition to that, we contract with the Alameda County Regional Center.

All of these children are sponsored by them, different foundations to swim with us.

They do not have access to any other swim school in the Greater Bay Area that can service these children.

That's the that is where we're going to use our Friday hours.

We are going to try to bring in a completely adaptive program that specializes in severe autism.

We're good at it, but we want to be better at it, and we want to be able to serve more of that.

More uh the increased rate of autism in California has grown to 156% in the last 10 years, making 2024 as the first year it had to become the majority of diagnosis categories for children.

More locally, Alameda and Santa Clara Counties report 15% of their school age population has an autistic diagnosis.

Pleasanton alone reported that in 2026 to date that they have that 15% as well.

These specialized learners require, this is really important in regards to how we operate.

They require a calm, one-on-one environment with parent involvement and with subsidized involvement.

We incorporate physical therapists, behavioral therapists who will come to our site, watch the lesson for a child and give us, and psychologists and psychiatrists, all of which, thank you.

Okay.

Like any small operation, we face raising costs raising costs from utilities, labor insurance, all those things have increased.

We've kept our costs at a cap for the last five years.

We do not run one increase prices, we want to increase the kids that we can serve.

We take our role and obligation to provide safe land use seriously, and we have already implemented all safety measures for that, including the dome that is up from November to March and has no sound, it's very low impact in terms of sound.

We did more importantly, I really want to show you this quick presentation that we had that was taken last weekend.

And in the background, you can see what's going on in on a Saturday at the swim school.

It also shows the 26 different languages that are spoken, children who are represents.

It's the best type of evidence I can give you.

We hope that you support our conditional use permit expansion of hours.

Thank you.

Oh, and I'm happy to answer any questions if you.

Any questions before we turn it over for rebuttal?

Supervisor Tan.

Um, thank you.

Um, my recollection was that when this came before us, um, that you you had also owned the property next door, and you sold it.

Is that correct?

So a little bit about it.

My it is I have owned 4621 for quite a while.

My dad was a doctor that served the community for until he was 94 years old.

He lived his life out in the home and passed away in the home.

Um, and at that time the property was owned by his estate.

Yes.

When he passed away, I have four siblings that are a lot older than I am, and they wanted to immediately cash out on that property.

Um, and you saw me a couple years ago because the original the there was it was purchased by someone else who wanted to develop it into three or four houses that didn't work out for him.

Um it was sold.

I would like to point out that it was sold for $300,000 more than the original owner.

So the fact that that it isn't that the swim school causes any um decrease in land value is not true.

Uh after the first incident, I made sure that Bob Fry, who's a realtor in Castor Valley, whose children I've taught to swim, I approached him, I said, Hey Bob, what did you disclose here?

Because I have a really angry neighbor.

And he said, Patty, I've disclosed it all.

I my kids swam with you, I know your operation, I know what you do, I let them know it was disclosed three times.

That disclosure information was provided today to Rodrigo, and the current applicant at the Mac board or the current appellate at the app at the Mac board denied that they had any knowledge to that disclosure, but I made sure it was disclosed.

Okay, so when you sold it to the I didn't I didn't have anything, it was in a state.

Um of 4621, James, they had the disclosure, and uh, you don't know whether or not the disclosure about the swim school and all the activities and the easements were part of the subsequent transaction.

If they definitely were, and we provided evidence.

We actually I reached out to the realtor yesterday as a um request from some one of the super one of the one of the supervisors, and we were able to obtain those disclosures.

He got them over to us this morning.

Okay.

You have you they're in your yeah, they're in your email.

Yes, please.

So I will uh share what staff was provided regarding disclosures.

This is for full disclosure.

I was a supervisor that asked.

I'm sorry, but I was the supervisor then.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We did we were able to get them from them yesterday.

Uh excuse me, let me find that because it was submitted.

I thought I had it.

Excuse me, sorry, I had it up and then I took it down.

I thought you were gonna need them.

Here we are.

So is this the disclosures from the second sale?

Not your state sale, but but the subsequent sale is the question.

No, Bob Fry listed the property for sale both times, okay.

So he was he this is it was disclosed both times with the first owner Ofer Gabay, who brought us to the board a year and a half, whenever I've seen you last, a year and a half ago, and then again, but I reiterated it obviously when he went to go sell it the second time.

I actually met with him and said, Hey, Bob, you know, let's be completely transparent here.

And he was like, I I got you, I understand.

And so we made sure that he was completely transparent.

And and should I mention I the appeal, the person, the people that are appealing have experienced the swim school.

They their kid, their son took lessons there.

So prior to them appealing the extended hours, they they know the experience.

But they were aware prior to moving in as well.

Okay.

I mean, I can just tell you it's a shared easement.

It's only supposed to be a 16-foot easement.

It's about a 22-foot easement.

So when you see maybe a and I I don't want to get into the civil harassment aspect of this because it isn't the place for it.

This is a place for land use, but we have provided you a lot of information about the civil harassment that we have had.

Um, but I don't want to get into that because that's a different story.

Um, I just yeah, I just it was very clear that the easement was for it's an egress.

They can go from the street to their home.

So during the time um that the conditional use permit was put in place.

Is it your opinion that none of the conditions were violated?

Since the since the Mac from the original conditions, we had some violations in fairness to us.

We had Damian Curry as our original planner.

I there's no criticism there, but he did not ever let us know that environmental health needed to be in place, that you can look back on his on that on the history of that.

So we were unaware in 2020 in 2020.

I think right at the beginning of 2020, environmental health got into became into play, and as you know, working with environmental health, even working with the building department takes a long time.

We did a complete renovation of the property, we did an 88 compatible access um path from the road to the pool.

We put in handicapped parking, we put in an ADA um accessible bathroom and changing rooms, um, little things, other things that he wanted, like um a drinking fountain that was ADA accessible, little things, but but all those little things required Greenwood and more at $75,000 alone just for those improvements because, and I'm and I'm I feel like I'm talking, I'm you know, talking to you who know very well, when one thing when you put something out to environmental health, one set of plans, they will come in and say, Oh, that's great.

I need you to redraw that because you need a drinking fountain over here, or I need you to redraw that because it has to have an electrical outlet over here.

So the process of continually, the expense in the process of continually modifying the plans in order to get them so that we were out of violation, took time, and but we were on it, and I took up a very substantial loan to get it done.

Okay, um, maybe this is a question for staff.

So the conditional use permit.

Um did uh what are the penalties for violations of the terms?

So it is basically um operating outside of the conditional use of goods, said to code enforcement who uh tries to remedy if it's a use issue.

There are the it is brought to the attention of the of the operator, and then they need to fix the use.

If they do so, then we won't take them to revocation hearing.

Otherwise we would commence revocation hearings to deny the CUP based on the fact that they're violating the terms of the conditions of approval.

Uh, if it's a physical modification that's done not per code or no uh permits have been issued, then uh that's slightly different uh other options exist, potential slightly different options exist, and that we can say, okay, well, these are your physical violations.

You need to remove the physical violation or apply for permits to correct it, uh, building permits uh to correct it.

If they don't, they can't be subject to fines and fees uh because those are actual uh uh physical of violations.

Um, so there's slight different um remedies.

Okay, so um help me understand this.

The violations of the conditions of approval um based on what is stated here from the appellant is they operated outside of the permitted hours.

They failed to provide 15 minute intervals between lessons.

They used their residence for the swim school, which I guess it's it was um there's a difference.

They installed and operated in an air-supported structure without proper permits, and then uh they also talked about environmental and creek safety concerns.

Were those violations of the original conditional use permit addressed?

Yes.

So our staff's understanding is that regarding the, for example, the staggering, right?

So in obtaining the most recent approval from the West BZA, um the uh the operation modified their hours, including removing the 15-minute stagger, however, the 10-day appeal period was not up.

Uh and so we need to we need to wait for that 10 to day appeal period that was an appeal submitted, so now we need to wait for the for the for this hearing to be concluded, and if it goes in the operator's favor, then they can modify their hours of operation, including add days to the week, and hours on Saturdays.

Remove the 15 minutes stagger.

Um cars uh should not be obstructing uh the easement for life safety issues regarding the the um the air supported structure of the tent, that's the those building permits have been issued and closed, so that's not a violation.

I just want to do the fact that not only were was I not aware that it was a 10-day period, but Derek and Ann were not also aware, and they actually the meeting ended at about 3 30 at about 4:30.

I got a call that the sheriffs have come out to the facility because someone had parked nine feet from their fence.

So it was clear on both sides that they called the sheriff immediately within hours of the meeting because we hadn't made put up cones within that nine-foot cordoned off area that was just added in as a modification.

So it was on both sides.

We we just didn't realize there was a 10-day to appeal.

Okay, the to the um structure, the permitted dome structure.

There are six permanent dome structure.

There are six drones exactly like mine in the Bay Area.

There's two in Oakland, there's one in I I think I've gone through this before, multiple ones.

None of them have ever been asked to be permitted because they're temporary structures.

We were asked to permit ours.

The door we had to go, it was not easy.

We had to go through Jeff Morgan, who was working with a dome, uh the dome company, and they had to go back and forth with lots of different things.

But we did permit our dome.

I I think it's probably uh what's probably a really good idea.

Every improvement that you've been asked, but we've been asked to do has yielded of course a better environment for our swimmers.

Okay, thank you for the responses of the questions.

Any other questions?

No.

So then we have the appellant able to rebut the applicant.

Would you like to say anything else?

I think it gave the opportunity.

Um I want to explain that I really appreciated Patty offered a class for my son, but it's not the truth.

That is she gave me $3,000.

So each class is $95.

And they um we only went to there for six classes, and they also I told her that I can offer, I can pay it, but she refused.

And also for the fence, we offered that too.

So we can pay half of it, but you have to wait until we have the money.

When running a business, like a day, they have a lot of money, but we can't.

We're both working in the community colleges and they are paying very low.

So um, so I offer them just wait, and also um that time when they trying to set up the fence, we already talked about it.

This one, they would make appointment to meet together.

We already made the line.

We'll have the stream made the line, but unfortunately, second day when she and her contract came here in the morning very early before we get up, and then they move the line over to our property a lot, and then she lied.

And then also, um, we should mentioned that a lot of things that I know.

We're not trying to shut off the business, we want to help the kids too, because we're in the community colleges.

I mean, they would have a lot of students, different situation students.

We're trying to say to find the balance, and also they violate it.

So, based on the permits, when they violate it, so the permits condition number 12.

If they violate it, they can be revoked the permit.

We're not talking about anything else.

We're talking about everything, everybody had to follow the condition to do things, correct?

Um, and also you have to be, I really don't want to bring this out, but yeah, be careful when you talk to Patty.

They right after the um the public hearing, she and her boyfriend Michael went into our property, just stolen our uh woods.

Those woods they dumped already, but they're trying to bring it back.

I don't know what's going on, but they did without consent.

They went to our property, stolen our stuff.

And then yesterday, Michael came into our property again.

We found out after we checked the um the camera.

Now we feel every morning, every more um every moment when our camera gets triggered, our heart is bumping so hard.

We feel so helpless.

We have a six-year-old son.

I'm so sorry.

I've been going through the depression a lot.

That's why my covenant has been more than one mother already.

I'm not recovered.

It's just we just want to find a home here, but everything seems like it's damaged, and then they're running the business with so many people.

We know that in the disclosure, they have business here, but they never mentioned they've been violated so much.

8 a.m.

to 8 p.m.

now have the month to Saturday, 8 a.m.

to 8 p.m.

Can you imagine that?

So sorry.

And then they can come into our property without consent anytime when they when they think they can't they want to come.

Do you think that they have the privilege to do the things for us?

So I'm really not happy that I'm so sorry for my emotion.

And also, thank you.

And also, we th we received a threating communication from Patty.

You can say from email recently, after the public hearing, she says that everything will be different.

She told us that, and also she told us that she's very familiar with the authorities and the police in the cashier valley, and also is that she's threatening us to pay a fine 5,500.

We just purchased a house.

We don't have enough budget.

When I see the email and the letter from her, I guess we'll panic, and then she threatened us, but later on, we connect to planning department.

Actually, this is forced.

They don't have any active code regards to the email.

She just lied, and then you can see that from the yup review the online review, she re she's trying to remove all the bad reviews.

You can see that from the customers, and then the customer to report it is not us.

The customer is trying to tell the people that they have violated, they have sometimes 12 students in the pool, not just in the facility.

Sometimes they have a sibling together to wait in outside of the pool.

Can you imagine that?

How busy for our life?

I just sincerely please help us.

This is not just you know appeal, it's related to the life, daily life for us for all the neighbors, especially some of the family, the residents.

They have kids with the artisan.

You know, this one day my son came to me and cried to me.

Mommy, I want to move out from here because it's so noisy, and then the car when I sorry, when I got a car accident, when I'm trying to get out from our property through the eastment, my car, I was paying attention to a one mom with kids, two kids without holding hands.

I have to protect the kids first, right?

So I didn't pay attention for my right side.

I damaged my gate and then cut my car.

My my kid was sitting in the back, and then she was crying and yelling.

I feel like this is not our home anymore.

This is a disaster.

Sorry, and thank you so much.

Yeah, in conclusion of it, so I was just thinking about it.

I want to ask us that we're living in a residential area, so she is right now.

Well, the swim school is right now, is trying to commercialize in a particular uh area, which is all the um the well, newborns coming in and the retirees, so there's a lot of disturbances with them.

So what we were actually hoping, even though we know that the swim screw is there, but at that particular point, when we start living constantly noticing that noises and noise and disruptions in our lives in here, and it does for the whole community at that neighborhood.

So we are actually asking not to approve their operational hours.

Okay.

So we read this request that we don't know what to do at those moments.

We really want the government, the city, the county can make sure they comply only named the full kids for each section in the facility because it's way too much, and also if you could just let them move the parking to the backyard.

They have space for that.

They are able to do it.

Just move from the east main area to the to the backyard.

That'd be really appreciated.

Thank you so much.

Okay, thank you.

It's now time for the applicant if they would like to make any rebuttal remarks.

It is it just isn't feasible.

First of all, there's a house there, and so we'd have to remove part of the house to make an ADA compliant pathway.

But in addition to that, it would create parking that's closer to kit people that are on hire.

The parking situation at 4621 James Avenue is does not affect anyone except for possibly the people that live at 4617 James Avenue.

But again, like I said, there's a lot of foliage, there's a lot of distance between the pool and the um and their home.

We don't use whistles, we don't use, we don't have a public address system where there's no music.

It is a one-on-one conversation that we're having with our students.

If it was loud, we would not be able to have, we would not be able to instruct.

We are talking one-on-one to students.

You can see from the photo.

I in this day and age of AI.

Is the testimony of my clientele and some of the photos that I've sent you in maps.

So let's look at this photo here.

Is there not a large dirt backyard that people could park in?

There is, but there's a house right there.

So is that the black?

That's see where that those are all solar panels.

Yes, there's no access to that area.

Except for to the right, to the right of the house.

But you can also see if we were to park there, how close we would be to those residences on higher.

Of course, when the swim school was established, I mean, none of these structures existed, right?

So we've been there longer than those houses have.

But you'd have to take it, we'd have to create an ADA accessible path from the street to the pool, which we just did, by the way, and handicap parking.

And it just, I I the cost would just be exorbitant.

Okay.

And I don't even know, I don't even know if it's doable.

Any other any other questions?

Oh, so I do have questions.

How many code enforcement violations have you received?

Uh no, I personally, yeah, in overall time.

I personally have not, and we've had so we submitted we maybe a question from staff.

How many?

We opened it up, by the way, to which is unheard of, the Mac board told us to have spontaneous regulated visits.

We are visited without any warning.

Okay.

And Williams been there, Rodrigo's been there, members of the BZA came.

I mean, they've how many fines have you had to pay?

I didn't, I don't think I paid any.

I think we re we resolved them all, or maybe we maybe the dome one.

So there were a couple fines, but just and these are now closed.

So uh there was a code case in 2020, 2013, 2014, 2017, um, through throughout the years 2018, 2020, 23, 25, 26, but these are closed.

These have to do with um complaints about backing into the road easement, um, tree from Patty Swims who will encroach into the property with debris, uh blocking and parking on easement.

Um, so operational type complaints about from from the when you mentioned the years, these that's one complaint for each of those years that you mentioned or correct each each case there's a case for each one of those okay we um we could park on the street where do you have your employees park but we're not we won't we have not been allowed to park on the street damian asked us to move parking as much as we could on site we are only required for parking spots on on site and we just by goodwill decided to where do your employees park um they now park on the street because after the BCA meeting and after the Mac meeting we were told it's just ridiculous it's a it's a street that everybody can use and so our employees who don't move their cars many of my actually I think three or four of my employees they don't even have a car some of them walk some of them Uber they're young so parents pick them up drop them off okay thank you uh any other questions.

I'm just glad you don't sell alcohol right okay I I quite the contrary I save lives thank you very good let's bring it back for deliberation discussion oh is there any yeah good point public comment for members of the public in person first thank you and then uh and then online how many speakers do we have four in person and currently two online okay very good first three Suzanne Sharpnack Michael Tierney and Chase Miller welcome okay just a second I'll just be able to see what I'm reading.

I'm Suzanne Sharpnik and I we just got this letter for uh support for Patty Swim School that came in late so I just wanted to be able to read it to have it on record uh to whom it may concern I am writing this letter in support of Patty Swim School.

I feel strongly that our community needs Patty swim school to remain open and accessible my name is Sabrina Dusaw and I live 10 doors down from Patty's I am a teacher and a mother of three boys I drive walk or bike by Patty's at least six times a day and until March until the March hearing with the Mac board I had actually been wondering if Patty had retired it is that quiet on the street and in the neighborhood when I am going to and from school sports and walking my dog my family would not be what it is without Patty Swim School.

You see two of my children have developed typically and one has not he needed medical intervention to learn to walk and after he mastered that skill his team of specialists said to get him swimming I tried lessons through our city pool.

I was living in Martinez at the time but they did not work after I moved to Castor Valley I discovered Patty Swim School through a Google search Patty got my kids swimming it was tough going but she did it Patty Swim School also gave our family a community some of our first friends were made on the pool deck at Patty's Patty's has helped build a strong community of swimmers in Castor Valley my oldest child a senior at Castor Valley High School has been part of their water polo and swim teams both very successful high school teams who made it to NCS in large part due to the skills learned at Patty's I know I can feel la it can feel loud living near a pool.

My next door neighbor has a pool and their family of eight have been known to swim until after dark it feels loud at 10 p.m I also know that people aren't used to seeing and hearing kids playing outside these days covet and screens have driven kids inside kids need to be outside for healthy development and yes it can be noisy that is the sound of children learning growing and experiencing joy castor valley is not a retirement community it is a multi-generational community full of young families who need to get their kids outside and water safe please keep patties open in a way that provides meaningful access to families please reach out if you have questions or want to hear more about the challenges of getting appropriate swim lessons for a kid with a special combination of thank you.

Michael Tierney.

My name is Michael Tierney.

I just want you to be aware.

That Anne, who just got up here and cried in front of you, is the same lady that got in front of the Macboard and told you that she had no idea that she bought a house and there was a swim school next door.

But we just showed you proof of the closing documents showing by both the seller and the buyer that there is a swim school next door.

Her word is questionable.

The accusation she's making about a bunch of kids in the pool and bad Yelp reviews are laughable.

She has found seven bed Yelp reviews or 10 bed yelp reviews.

Think about that.

Take your calculator and figure out 200,000 swim lessons, and she's found 10 bed yelp reviews.

What is the satisfaction rate?

That is a 99.99949.99943% satisfaction rate.

Patty has been in business since 1981 at this pool.

She has taught generations of swimmers and she's taught families and the families come back.

She is doing something right.

She is providing a service for autistic children that can't find this anywhere else in the region.

If you talk to some of the parents, when the children come on Saturday, it's their favorite day of the week because they are getting some stimulation for their minds and for their bodies that they don't get elsewhere.

The swim school environment for autistic children has to be quiet.

They do not enjoy a lot of noise.

They don't like that.

So if you think about the environment on a Saturday, it's very quiet.

Chase.

Hi, I'm Chase Miller.

I'm reading this on behalf of another swim instructor who is a teacher and cannot attend today.

I've been a swim teacher at Patty Swim School for five plus years and a licensed registered behavior technician and a paraprofessional for the last four years.

I'm actively blending applied behavior analysis with my vast experience in teaching swimming to ensure that everyone every one of my students is water safe, regardless of neurodivergence.

My work with each client at Patty's is instrumental in reducing these numbers, especially over the summer when everyone's schedules more flexible.

Reducing hours of operation would directly affect the clients who receive services now and potential clients we may never reach if there's a p this appeal is considered.

Adding Fridays would positively affect more lives than it would harm.

In 2024, the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine reported that drowning is a leading cause of unintentional injury death among California children less than five years of age.

Averaging 49 fatalities for the years 2010 to 2021.

And children with autism are nearly 160 uh times more likely to drown, making it leading causing of death cause of death.

In the same study, researchers noted that participation in formal swimming lessons reduces this risk up to 88%.

The education we provide at Patty's helps me and the entire staff reduce the risk through our carefully refined curriculum.

We do something that no other school does, and we have fun doing it.

This is a philosophical question where a train is headed for the baby or the old man, and one has to consider ethics and morality, also known as a trolley problem.

So do the complaints outweigh the improvement of day-to-day lives for all of our clients and potential clients.

Thank you.

Ava, go ahead.

Hi there.

My name is Ava Steel Saccio.

You all hear me.

Yes, go ahead.

Great.

Thank you.

So I'm the mom of a four-year-old who currently goes to Patty's swim school.

And I want to speak in support of her program and extending the hours.

We started at Patty's a month ago.

I had been looking for a place for my daughter to do private swim lessons for nearly a year.

She had been at two different swim schools, Aquatec, and then private lessons at a pool in Alameda, and neither of them worked for her.

Um, I was so happy.

Then when we found Patty's, they're the only school uh within 45 minutes of us that provides that caring, warm and encouraging um environment where parents are also allowed to be pool side, and those are things that my daughter um really needed in order to even get into the pool.

So when we first um pulled into the driveway, I really couldn't believe that there was a swim school on the property because it was so quiet in the parking lot and near the pool.

Um two things really struck me.

One was how happy all the kids in the pool were, and two was the diversity of the kids in the pool.

There were kids like my daughter who have anxiety, kids all along the autism spectrum, and then later I saw other kids with different disabilities, and these are the kids that you really don't ever see in other swim schools.

Um there isn't the support for them to learn how to swim.

As Patty mentioned, I'm sure there are many more kids in the community who um need to be served and would benefit from the extra hours that Patty's um extended hours would provide.

And the home of the school uh or the home feel really makes a big difference.

So um I just wanted to say that swimming is a life survival skill that really should be a right for all children and adults, regardless of whether they have a disability, whether they're neurodivergent, or whether they just need a little special attention, like my daughter did.

Um, and it makes it possible for all kids to learn to swim and to ensure their safety in and near the water.

We would be devastated if Patty's swim school.

Go ahead.

Wong, please unmute.

You hear me now?

Yes, go ahead.

Hi, my name is Helen Ren, and I'm in Patty Swim School.

Uh, one of my daughters is uh on the autism spectrum, and she's been with Patty for about four years.

And my younger daughter, who is really afraid of um being in the water, has been with her for about a year.

And um, I feel like Patty's school is really special and that she does cater to um children who needs that special one-on-one attention and special um needs.

And I understand I sympathize with parents who don't who are not able to make it to the regular school hours.

Um, my husband and I are fortunate to be able to have that flexible um working schedule, but other parents aren't.

So they need the extra extended hours that she um is able to give them with the special licensing um extension, and then also for the neighbors.

I feel like they've only been there for a year, and Patty's been providing these lessons for so many decades.

And to ask her to move all these infrastructure or to have all these changes is really unfair to her business because of their complaints.

And I feel like I've been there for so many years with her that I feel like we as um her customers, we try not to block the driveway.

We try to be as courteous to the neighbors as we can, and we try to be as quiet as we can.

And I don't think that it's really an issue to the neighbors at all when I'm there.

I I try not to do anything that would obstruct them in any sort of way.

So I'm here um to support her business, and I'm always here showing up whenever there's an appeal to um to block any sort of extension to her business.

So I really hope the county board um lets her have this extension in her hours so more parents and more kids can be served by her um by her lessons.

Thank you so much.

Courtney, go ahead.

Good afternoon, thank you.

My name is Courtney, and I'm a manager at Patty's swim school.

I'm also a swim instructor with over 12 years of experience and a parent of a child who has taken lessons at Patty's.

I understand that there have been concerns raised regarding traffic noise, privacy, and neighborhood impact, and we are sensitive to those things.

We also we are clear with our clients on where they can go, how to how they access the property, where they are to park, and how to find their way to the pool deck so they do not access anyone else's property or knock on someone else's door.

Patty's swim school is a small, highly specialized program set back from the street.

Not a typical public-facing business with a with walk-in traffic or large gatherings.

We do not use commercial signage, amplified sound, whistles, bells, music, or loudspeaker systems.

We also do not allow free swim.

Our clients attend their appointment and then they leave the property.

Our parking is on private property and off the easement.

I also want to mention that the facility includes the pool deck, two changing rooms, and a bathroom.

The rest of the property is private residence.

The backland is not part of the swim school.

The residence is only used to store the printer and electronics at night.

The public does not utilize the private residence at all.

We are not asking for a great expansion.

We are asking to add a few lessons a week to accommodate a few extra students.

As both an instructor and as an excuse me, as both an instructor and a parent, I have seen firsthand how meaningful that environment is for families.

My own son had a near drowning experience at another facility.

Excuse me.

What I have seen at Patty's is a level of attentiveness, structure, and care that gives families real confidence that their children are safe.

From both a professional and per personal perspective, I believe Patty Swim School is an appropriate and compatible use for this property and surrounding neighborhood.

Thank you for your time.

Matt Turner and Tyrone Aubrey.

Good afternoon.

I hadn't planned on speaking on this, but uh I I heard um heard a case years ago when I was on the Castor Valley Mac.

Uh and uh there were similar issues.

Um but this the need, and one of the things that might not be clear to folks is that in Castor Valley, there aren't really no public pools that are available.

If you have an apartment building that has a swimming pool, you know, bully for you, but otherwise getting a place to swim is very, very difficult.

Uh my own two children learn to swim at Patty's swim school because there's no other options, that's it.

Um, and this is a town of 65,000 people.

Uh so the need for lessons is very real.

Uh the high school had had a swimming facility with hard.

It was built for a while, they clotted back, took it over, and now it's not available to the community.

So we don't have pools.

Patty's is one of the very few.

So, you know, if it seems unusual that there's a private backyard um swimming school, it's because the need is very, very real.

Um, you know, my kids are not great swimmers, uh, but they wouldn't be swimmers at all if they didn't have this opportunity.

Uh, and so this this is a vital, vital service.

Uh, and having they have been clients there, we got to see uh that there was great respect for the neighborhood.

Um there were they made it abundantly clear how important it was to respect uh, you know, the neighbors with parking.

And uh, you know, you can't control all of your clients.

That's not possible.

Um, but I think people were were given uh the best instructions that could be given to respect people in the neighborhood.

So I understand this might be a concern for some folks.

This is a vital service, and my experience was overwhelmingly positive.

Thank you.

Hello.

Uh my son Nathan is a 25-year-old down syndrome uh man that has been going to Patty Swim School for three months.

The instructors and all the personnel at the pool are friendly, positive, kind always.

Swimming is something that he or Nathan enjoys and is excited about going every time.

He has been to other programs, but this program by far stands out because of his special needs.

It would be very difficult to find some other place comparable to Patty's swim school.

We love it here.

Um, besides the fact of going to Patty's uh Nathan went to the Berkeley Y for a few years because they were compatible to his needs after COVID.

He kind of shut it down, didn't bring it back.

We've been to Alameda.

Um also uh during COVID, we went to Pleasant Hill and also Danville just because he loves it so much.

Uh I'm a resident of Oakland.

And I commute to Castor Valley to go out there because it just brings joy to my son.

Like I said, he has down syndrome.

Um the property is it's a pleasant environment.

Um very very quiet.

Uh on the way they are traveling from Oakland.

My son and like he'll likes to play the radio, he'll have it all loud, and we'll be coming into the community.

I'm like, man, I gotta turn this music down.

I mean, I don't want to be uh impeding on my noise into this place because it's so quiet and pleasant.

Great school, just optimal service.

Um thank you for your time.

Kelly, go ahead.

Thank you.

Um, this is a very definitely a first world problem to have that you have a swim school that's so successful and is doing such a great job of serving the community.

Um, and is uh, you know, and then the parking problems, you know, if this were um a regional park and you wanted to shut down the uh the the parking uh and the walking trails and the hiking and the biking and the and the horse riding, you'd be you send out your public works agency and they'd be putting up official signs, government signs telling people where to park.

Um, and and and that you would do that uh as a service for your for your uh as a constituent service.

But here at this place, you kind of expect these uh proper the business owner to regulate the parking uh or or maybe the neighbors, and they all have like vigilante signs, they're all like running a little vigilante uh parking operation, parking control operation.

Put up signs defining, you know, weird little signs that a homemade where to park, where not to park, and all that stuff.

You know, I'd send out some uh some some of your your experts from the public works agency to figure out what how to put in the proper uh you know uh uh signs to uh regulate the the parking a little bit.

It looks looks like there's plenty of parking though.

If you look at uh, you know, run the look at uh Google pictures, you see that street looks pretty empty all the time and uh uh you know, and it's uh like a little uh also there's a flood control uh creek right next door.

Uh that's a lovely uh facility with lots of lots of trees, lots of greenery.

Um this is really truly a first world problem to have that that things are so doing so well in this uh this facility.

Are so great.

Thank you.

There are no more speakers.

Very good.

We'll bring it back for deliberation and uh discussion.

I'll call on Supervisor Miley.

Yes, and I've been out to the facility, not recently, but you know, obviously, having dealt with the situation since I've been on the board of supervisors unfamiliar.

And um, you know, clearly no one's talking about the quality of the school uh and the use.

The issue is whether or not uh it is uh um an activity that's taking place in the residential uh community.

So the issue, that's why I was asking staff about the hours.

Um it's just puzzling that uh in Supervisor Tam and Howard asked the question.

So we are prepared to support expanding the hours, even though there's been violations and it would interfere with the quality of life of other neighbors.

And this is not a commercial district, it's a residential district, right?

Correct.

It is a residential district.

So we're prepared to expand the hours.

So yeah, so the so the hours were expanded by the West BZA.

Um, and uh they they immediately modified the hours of operation again.

Again, did not understand according to the operator that that they should have waited for the 10 day appeal period, and so the appeal was filed, but the West BZA had already expanded the hours, yes.

So, as I understand it, the hours, the approved hours are Monday through Thursday eight to eight and Saturday nine to two.

So they have been modified as f as follows uh saturday hours are now eight to four per the West BZA's action uh on four six of this year Friday hours are eight to eight and then Mondays and then the rest of the week Mondays through Thursdays also eight to eight not open on Sundays.

So the the West County Board of Zoning Adjusters have expanded the proposed hours eight to eight Monday through Thursday.

So Monday so I they also include Friday now so it's Monday through Friday eight to eight Saturdays eight to four closed on Sundays.

If I may add that the Cash Valley Mac had also unanimously agreed to the modifications okay in the former hours because I'm trying to compare what were what were the hours and what we're expanding the hours to because it just seems like it's a total disregard of anyone's concerns who live in the community so the former hours that were approved were Monday through Thursday correct eight to eight correct and then not open on Saturday I mean excuse me not open on Friday.

Correct Saturday nine to two correct not open on Sunday correct okay now what we're proposing to do is go Monday through Friday eight to eight correct Monday through Friday eight to eight correct Friday being an additional day correct Saturdays eight to eight to four.

Eight to four yes so Saturday is the same as it was except uh no Saturday's expansion of hours too because it was nine to two correct so they added three hours okay and then Sunday it would continue to be closed correct and that was the case under the former that's the the those are the changes as of April 6th okay so I'm trying to count I'm trying to calculate and maybe someone's doing the arithmetic it's so it's an extra 50 supervisor basket because I know she's the brains it's an extra 15 hours and 28% increase it's additional 15 hours and a 28% increase so that's what the BZA is recommending.

Now I wonder I need to understand with the violations in the past are we justifying this change because it's going to help or are we justifying this change when I say help it's going to provide an alleviation of the violations or we just find this change just to justify this change.

I understand that I'm not questioning the validity of the program because the you know we've we've we've that's been asked and answered by this board since I've been here we support the program what I'm trying to understand is why would we justify increasing the hours in a residential community maybe because a pool got taken away or maybe because that's that's what doesn't compute for me so from staff's perspective uh there the only benefit would be for the business and increasing the number of clients, there would be uh no additional uh benefit to the neighbors because they would increase capacity.

So we're not concerned about the quality of life of the neighbors in a residential community.

I'm just thinking if I live in the community, it's a resident community.

I'm moving to the community, obviously there's a commercial use in the community, I've got to accept that, but do I have to accept an expansion?

So that that's the determination.

I think that this board is the government and uh okay.

All right, because that's what bothers me.

I really respect the use and the need, etc.

I'm just I'm just perplexed about whether or not the expansion is justified in the residential community.

That's what bothers me.

We're not saying we're closing it down, like I said, that's been asked and answered over many, many decades with many, many boards who've supported this facility.

The question is in my mind, whether or not we need to expand the use in a residential community.

That's what I'm struggling with.

And maybe because there are the board members here, maybe they'll help me with that dilemma.

If I may add uh Sandy Rivera, uh director of community development agency, I uh will note that the Cash Valley Mac had also had uh public comment and received that, and they had also supported it.

So I think uh maybe the West BCA leaned on that as well as staff, um, maybe more than we typically would.

So, but I thought from reading the report, I thought there was testimony on both sides.

There was support the other kids, exactly for at both bodies.

At both bodies, okay.

All right, so I'm gonna listen to what the other board members have to say because I think Supervisor Tim and Halbert has some good questions to begin with, because that's kind of what I'm struggling with.

I'm not struggling with whether or not to support the facility, I'm just struggling with whether the conditions of operation, particularly on the hours, need to be altered.

Um, then I'll go to Marquez and Fortunatabas.

Um thank you, President Howard.

Um I want to agree and align myself with what Supervisor Miley is saying.

Uh, we're not questioning the value or the importance and the need for the school, especially for the developmentally disabled uh kids.

Um part of our role on the board and part of the reason we had the conditional use permit with the specific hours and the restrictions and where parking is, is so that this important school, which has been around for so long, can be good neighbors with everybody else.

And I saw the um the language that was in the disclosure.

It basically talks about noise with kids, which is understandable when you have a school, but it doesn't really get into some of these other concerns that uh have been expressed, and so uh my dilemma is the same one that uh supervisor Miley had if you had um an existing set of conditions, but you had difficulty complying with those conditions.

Now we're trying to change the rules so you could comply with the conditions in terms of the hours of operation, and and that's where the dilemma is is a problem for me.

And I you know, I think the school, frankly, is kind of a victim of its own success.

It's doing very well and it's probably outgoing the site, and maybe it should have just basically not sell the site next door, but you know, that's not something that we could uh control at the moment.

We can't do it from the audience because nobody can hear you.

So I think I think I understand that seems like we have a lot of hours to operate, but I I think the key thing that is missed here is that in Rodrigo will know and Liam who's done site visits spontaneously will also know there's nobody there until three o'clock or four o'clock in the afternoon.

No one.

It used to be that we had a lot of stay-at-home moms, right?

Or people that would bring their children during the day to us.

So we don't use it from eight to eight.

And I think that's the one thing that got kind of, I mean, I tried to highlight that a little bit with the two working families and the need to change the hours based on the needs of families.

So we're not looking to use 60 hours, we're looking to just increase our time or the number of kids and the number of days that we have optimal hours for two working families.

And that's where we run into the violation is because we're contracted by the by the regional center to provide instruction for these kids.

If our and we have our very sophisticated staff that can address these kids' needs come on Saturdays.

So we originally addressed the Mac board to ask them for an additional day so that we could we could um we could do those makeup lessons and be in compliance with the regional center.

So so we don't we're not using 60 hours a week.

There's no one there.

Okay, um that's a good point because I I'm looking at some of the other um swim schools, like the one in the Hayward commercial area and the one in Pleasanton.

And nobody opens at eight in the morning.

Right.

Well, so you don't need to be open at eight in the morning.

Does the regional center require you to be open at eight in the morning?

I mean, we so what we do maybe sometimes at like we don't there's nobody there at eight in the morning, um, but sometimes like at noon or something, we'll do like a bucket list of an adult who wants to learn to swim, or we do other specialized things like come um getting people that are headed into the navy to able to do their swim test.

Um little things like that.

Well we'll do during the day.

Maybe we'll have one instructor, but that isn't even every day.

Everybody's working.

So you would be comfortable if we uh basically uh move the hours away from 8 a.m.

Let's say start at 10 a.m.

like uh the one in Pleasanton, and and then keep the number of hours total at 53 without expanding it.

Well, we yeah, that would be fine.

Yes, you're you're right.

I think you know we're we're seasonal, right?

So during the winter time we hardly use any hours because it's the winter time and people don't come out to swim.

Um during the summertime, it helps us to have the 8 a.m.

to 8 p.m.

Really, we're we're still not even using those all those hours, but we do have one or two parents.

We have a lot of grandparents that will have their grandchildren for a week and they'll fly in.

And as a tradition, they'll come to Patty Swim School.

So it helps us to have that flexibility between June and now summer's cut so short.

So between June and August 1st, we don't even go through August because school starts now on August 5th.

So we don't have that either.

Is that answer your question?

Sort of.

I mean, basically, we don't need to be open at 8 a.m., excuse me.

And people are your neighbors are getting up, they're getting to work, they're sure they're moving around.

And it might be easier if you don't have that.

Yeah, we don't we don't use it.

I'm sure they can attest to that.

We do not use it.

It would be nice for us to have it in June and July, just because we do have a more increased demand.

But but the rest of the year, we I mean, even noon would be fine.

Like we don't we're not there, we don't even start until noon or one.

Okay.

I'm kind of inclined right now to have you work that out with staff, but um, and kind of present a different set of conditions.

If that's what the majority of the board wants, I'm happy with the way it it is, noting that it's not even used at that time and I don't know that getting it perfect.

Is I don't know.

Uh uh I'll hear from Supervisor Marquez, Supervisor Temp, uh, Fortune Bass after that.

I've got 15 more minutes and then I've got to adjourn the meeting or leave, and the rest of you can um maybe follow up, but I've got another meeting that I have to be in the Tri-Valley for at two o'clock.

Um, we have the Kaiser Center for, yeah.

We might have to just postpone this for our next meeting.

If we can't get it done, we have three other items as well.

Well, I I I do think that uh having heard from Supervisor Miley and Supervisor Tam, I think they're on to something, which is could there be um could the staff look at uh working with the um the business owner to spread out over six days the same number of hours, 53 hours, and maybe there's some kind of adjustment for the summer months, but sort of work within that framework.

Why don't you make that as a motion?

Supervisor, could I suggest that you would first close the hearing regarding public testimony?

And then uh you could either make a motion or ask staff to come back with uh uh suggested conditions of approval.

Um, so we'll close the public hearing.

Thank you.

I don't want to see this again if we don't have to.

I would like to move on with a motion and hopefully an approval and let staff work it out from there.

Supervisor Miley to your district, you want to make a motion?

Well, I'm trying to get a sense because if I'm hearing from a couple of supervisors, we want to keep the number of hours at 53, but then try to have staff work with the the property owner to determine how those 53 hours are.

Sure.

I personally I think it's much ado about nothing because their hours that aren't even used.

Maybe in the summer they would like to use it, but now they can't.

Seems like a minor inconvenience, but if that's what we want to do, that's fine.

Then I think staff mentioned parking.

What's the parking?

So the so the parking change would be they're not allowed to park within nine feet of the shared fence.

So that I'm assuming would remain.

Um the 15 minute stagger elimination.

Uh, I'm assuming would remain the number of children from four to five, I'm assuming would remain.

Okay.

Supervisor, if you look at the resolution that uh was prepared on um uh the second page of that resolution under conditions uh operating conditions two.

At present, the change in that number two is to uh go from four to five students uh allowed.

There was the removal of the condition related to the 15-minute uh staggering of lessons, and then the hours are in condition three.

The new condition five addresses the parking that um Rodrigo was referencing.

So looking at the so we would be making a change to number three.

Right.

The change that your board is proposing is to change uh number three such that there would be remain 53 operational hours uh six days a week, and then staff would work out what those hours would be.

Um, six days a week, so Monday through Friday through Saturday.

And then condition number two and five, the county council pointed out.

So there would be now five students at a time instead of four.

Um, condition number five uh regarding the no blocking the roadway easement, including there shall be no parking nine feet from the shared property line between 4621 and 4617 James Avenue.

Okay, that would remain.

Okay, so really the only thing we're making a change to in terms of uh the BZA would be item three.

That is correct.

If I'm correct, okay.

All right.

So is that your motion?

I can make a motion that we um uphold the action of the BZA, except as relates to condition number three, uh that the facility continue its operating the maximum operating hours of 53 um per week Monday through Saturday, and we have the staff work with the property owner to determine how those hours are going to be dispersed over those six days.

Is there a second?

I'll second, appreciate motion's been made by Supervisor Miley's second vice who's about supervisor Marquez.

I would like to make a comment, which is we as a county enforce our codes based on complaints.

If we receive complaints, we will validate, inspect, go out, observe, and enforce.

I think we have a good plan in place here.

But that will all get upset and turned over if we get complaints.

Let's operate within the rules.

And I'm seeing head nods.

That's what my hope would be.

This is a good plan.

A motion's been made and seconded.

Roll call vote, please.

Supervisor Marquez.

Aye.

Supervisor Tam.

Aye.

Supervisor Miley.

Supervisor Fortunato Bass.

Aye.

President Howbert.

Aye.

The motion passes.

I do note that item six is a bit time sensitive.

Can we move through this fairly quickly?

No, actually, I'd like to see if we could um move item six to our next meeting.

Continue it to our next meeting.

Um item six will be continued.

I don't the other two items.

I think we can move fairly quickly.

Really quickly.

Okay.

Not really.

Let's do seven and eight.

We also have public comment.

I guess as we say item six.

Uh I know some folks are hoping we can get to item six, but I need to determine based on county council's um advice to me whether or not I have a conflict of interest.

Okay, unless you can't vote, and I just don't know that information yet.

Okay.

Fair enough.

Item seven.

Good afternoon, Supervisors Alley Avers Planning Department.

Um, at your September 11th, 2025 hearing, your board voted to concur with the recommendation of the Altamont Landfill and Resource Recovery Facility Open Space Advisory Committee to approve a 790,468 grant to the California Rangeland Trust to acquire a 160-acre deeded conservation easement on the sweet ridge ranch property, which is APN 99A 1820-1, and delegated authority to our agency director to execute that agreement, which was executed on October 3rd of 2025.

In January of 2026, at the landowner's request, the applicant uh requested a minor amendment to the contract to reduce the easement area by 7.4 acres to exclude the residential areas, along with a proportional reduction in grant funding of 27,555 dollars.

This change does not affect uh the project's conservation purpose, public benefit, location, or willing seller status.

Um March 20th of this year, the open space committee approved uh the applicant's request, and staff now recommends that your board authorize the CDA director or her designee to amend the agreement to reduce the conservation easement uh as requested from 160 acres to approximately 151.05 acres and to reduce the grant amount from 790,468 to 762,913, subject to county council review and filing with the clerk of the board.

Thank you.

I have to step out so uh supervisor Miley.

Can you uh finish the rest of these items?

Item seven is what we're at right now.

We have we're good, we have a quorum.

Okay, and then we didn't.

Oh, seven minutes, all right.

So do we have any speakers on item seven?

Or no speakers, the speakers and I said, All right, we have a staff, any board comments.

Go ahead and have a staff recommendation.

Somebody want to make the motion.

I will move uh the staff's recommendation to authorize the agency director uh to do what is described in item number seven.

It's been moved by second by Marquez.

Maybe anything else?

Otherwise, let's take the roll.

Supervisor Marquez, aye, supervisor Tam excused, Supervisor Miley, aye, Supervisor Fortunato Bass.

Aye, President Howard, excused, all right.

Item eight.

Thank you, supervisors.

Uh this item is uh Altmont Landfill Resource Recovery Facility Open Space Advisory Committee.

It's there um oh sorry, I'm on the wrong item.

It's on the Altmont Landfill Settlement Agreement Education Advisory Board's expenditure Plan for Fiscal year 26-27.

This uh comes to your board uh annually uh in 1999.

Alamity County was part of the Altamont Landfill Settlement Agreement, the Altbont uh Settlement Agreement created the Altamont Education Advisory Board to propose allocation of grant funds in the education accounts for waste prevention and recycling, job training and education.

The education funds are generated from approximately 49 cents per ton surcharged originating from the Alspont landfill and 48 uh cents per ton originating from the Vasco Road Landfill.

The Altamont advisory uh board is five member boards representatives appointed from Northern California Recycling Association, those are two members, uh City of Pleasanton, City of Livermore, Alameda County Recycling Board, and the 26 uh 27 expenditure plan outlines their funding needs and objectives and proposes expenditures in a variety of areas as you can see there, board communications website, many grants, and the cities of cities cities of Livermore and Pleasanton and Northern California Recycling Association Association have approved the plan and we recommend that the Board of Supervisors review and approve the Education Advisories Board's proposed expenditure plan for 2627 and Ruth Abbey, Chair for the Advisory Board is online if you have any questions.

Thank you.

Do we have any speakers on this item?

There are no speakers.

We very much appreciate the board's support of this over the year.

You know, the county does um receive the funding and uh transmit that to the city of Livermore, and then we provide really good um uh programs to schools and teachers and um uh nonprofit organizations throughout the county.

So we're just here to um ask for your support in uh authorizing the plan um for the expenditure of the mitigation fund money.

All right.

Well, thank you.

We have a senior wow, but it's good hearing from you.

All right, the board have any questions?

Otherwise, we can have a motion.

I'll move the item.

Move by Marquez.

I'll second it.

Um, Supervisor Marquez, aye.

Supervisor Tam excuse, Supervisor Miley, Supervisor Fortunato Basque, aye.

President Howard Excused.

All right, so do we have any speakers on non-agendized items today?

There are no speakers.

No speakers, great.

We we are adjourned.

Thank you all.