Redwood City Council Special Meeting – May 4, 2026: Entertainment Zone and Appeal Settlement
Redwood City City Council Special Meeting – May 4, 2026
The Redwood City Council held a special meeting on May 4, 2026, at 6:00 PM. The meeting focused on two main items: a proposal to establish an entertainment zone in the downtown pedestrian mall and a resolution of an appeal regarding unpermitted construction at 2455 Carson Street. The council also took a brief recess between items.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were made during the general public comment period or on the entertainment zone item. For the appeal, the appellant's attorney accepted the settlement terms read into the record.
Discussion Items
- Entertainment Zone (Item 7A): Deputy City Manager Jennifer Yamaguma presented a proposal to establish an entertainment zone at the downtown pedestrian mall, authorized by SB 969. The zone would allow alcohol purchased from participating businesses to be consumed in a defined public space during city-managed activations. The pilot program would involve 2–3 activations of 2–3 hours each over the next 3–4 months, with allowable hours from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Only beer and wine would be permitted initially, in non-glass, non-metal, and non-plastic containers. The city would manage activations, coordinate with public safety, and maintain emergency access. Estimated cost per activation is $4,000–$5,000, totaling $15,000–$20,000 for the pilot. Council members expressed strong support for the program, noting its potential to boost local businesses and community enjoyment. Councilmember Sturgeon suggested future expansions including later hours, cocktails, third-party activations, and extending to the 2600 block of Broadway. Councilmember G. asked about costs, container materials, emergency plans, and communications strategy. Staff clarified that compostable cups would be used and that an emergency plan and comms plan would be developed.
- Appeal of Administrative Citation (Item 6A): The council heard an appeal of a February 25, 2026 administrative citation for unpermitted construction of a garage addition at 2455 Carson Street. Staff and the appellant, Stephen Burns (represented by attorney), reached a settlement. The settlement terms: Mr. Burns will remove the unpermitted garage addition and legalize the ADU conversion; staff will rescind the citation regarding the garage improvements, refund the $100 deposit, and issue a permit for legalization and demolition with conditions; Mr. Burns must submit updated plans within 7 days; staff will waive plan check fees and extend an existing permit for six months. The settlement does not affect separate violations concerning creek setback and vision triangle, which will be heard later.
Key Outcomes
- Entertainment Zone: The council voted unanimously (5-0, with Councilmember Howard and Vice Mayor Aiken absent) to approve the ad hoc committee's recommendation to establish the entertainment zone, with a minor revision to section 33B3 as proposed by staff. The ordinance will be brought back for adoption on May 11, 2026, with an effective date in June 2026.
- Appeal Settlement: The council accepted the settlement as read into the record, resolving the unpermitted garage improvements portion of the appeal. The next hearing on the remaining violations is scheduled for late May 2026.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 6:45 PM. The next city council meeting is scheduled for May 11, 2026.
Meeting Transcript
All right, everyone. It is six o'clock. We're gonna go ahead and get started. Good evening, and thank you for joining our special city council meeting of May 4th. It's already been a full day with the opening of the Veterans Memorial and Senior Center building. But we are back for more. And we hold meetings in a hybrid format with both in-person and virtual participation. The city welcomes public comment on topics within these sub city's subject matter jurisdiction, and members of the public may provide comments as follows. In-person speakers will be called first. Speaker cards are located at the back table in the council chambers and must be turned in to the city clerk here at the Dais. Please be sure to indicate the agenda item number which you wish to speak on. Attendees who have joined us by Zoom will be called to speak after the in-person comments have been given. Detailed instructions for public comment will be provided on the screen when the time for public comment begins. If there's a high volume of public comment this evening, we may decrease the time allotted for each public comment or limit the time the total time for public comment.org. Written comments are not read aloud, but are made part of the public record. And I'll now turn it over to our city clerk to call the roll. Here. If you're attending in person, please fill out a speaker card and submit it to the city clerk here at the day's. And if you're attending virtually, please feel free to raise your hand on Zoom at this time. Or press star nine if you've joined by phone. Once we've gathered all of the speaker cards and raised hands and have begun public comment, no additional speakers will be allowed to queue up to speak. And I will now turn it over to our city clerk to facilitate public comment. Thank you, Mayor. I don't have any in-person speakers. So if you have joined us by Zoom and would like to speak under general public comment this evening, feel free to raise your hand on Zoom to be recognized. Seeing no raised hands, Mayor. Thank you. Thank you, Jessica. With that, we're going to go a little bit out of order in our agenda. We will come back to our public hearing item, but start with our staff report item. And so we'll begin with 7A. Deputy City Manager Jennifer Yamaguma will give us a presentation. An economic development manager Amanda Anthony is available for questions. Good evening. Thank you, Mayor and Council. We'll get started, but I really want to take a moment and just thank all of the staff that helped with this presentation from city attorney's office, police, fire, public works, parks and rec, everybody did fantastic work on this, and I just really want to appreciate all of the effort that went into this item tonight. So tonight we are bringing you forward a proposal to establish an entertainment zone in the downtown. The recommendation before you comes from the ad hoc on special events, which met on April 28th. And we have two of our uh council members and um ad hoc members, yourself, Mayor, and Councilmember Padilla, as there are as we go through the presentation. If there's anything you'd like to add or questions, then please definitely feel free. And Councilmember Chu. Thank you. Okay, so our presentation outline. So we're gonna walk through the state authority that allows for entertainment zones, how other cities are using this tool, and our proposed framework. I will say that we have a phased implementation as part of this approach, and so we'll walk through that a little bit more and cover our key policy elements and next steps. Questions for council. We're really looking for direction in four different key areas. First, whether to establish an entertainment zone at the pedestrian mall. Second, whether to use a city managed activation approach. Third, whether the operating parameters feel appropriate, and whether there's any additional direction that you would like us to consider as part of this initial first phased implementation.
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