Walnut Creek Planning Commission Meeting - January 22, 2026
Walnut Creek Planning Commission Meeting - January 22, 2026
The Walnut Creek Planning Commission convened on January 22, 2026, at 2:00 PM. Commissioners Moran, Cound, Strongman, Klopp, and Chair Anderson were present; Vice Chair Knighting and Commissioner Quok were absent. The meeting addressed two conditional use permit applications: Pacific Veterinary Hospital and Stereo 41's request for extended alcohol sales hours. Both items were approved unanimously.
Consent Calendar
- No items were placed on the consent calendar.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public spoke during the public communications period or on either agenda item.
Discussion Items
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Pacific Veterinary Hospital (Conditional Use Permit #Y25069): Staff presented a proposal to allow a veterinary hospital at 1079 Boulevard Way. The facility will operate Monday–Thursday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM (closed Friday–Sunday), with no overnight boarding or walk-in services. Two to three staff will be on site, and the business is an annex of a Lafayette hospital—pet owners will not visit the site; animals will be transported via a shuttle. The 5,000-square-foot space will house an MRI machine with an exterior chiller. A parking study showed that the seven allocated spaces meet the requirement of four stalls (two to three for employees and one for the shuttle). The applicant, Kira Connery, answered questions about MRI safety protocols and future use of the space. No public comments were made. The commission discussed parking adequacy and potential shared use by other veterinary clinics.
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Stereo 41 (Conditional Use Permit #Y25087): Staff presented a request to extend alcohol sales and service hours beyond 11:00 PM on Fridays and Saturdays only. The restaurant currently operates under an administrative use permit allowing alcohol until 11:00 PM daily. The proposed extension would allow alcohol sales and service until 12:30 AM and consumption until 1:00 AM on those two nights. The alcohol service would be limited to the indoor dining area; the existing outdoor dining permit remains unaffected. Staff noted that after one year of good operation (no police calls), the hours could be extended to additional days by the Chief of Police and Community Development Director. The applicant, Victor Gabin, described the business as a restaurant with food sales comprising 70–80% of revenue and a late-night food menu until midnight. No public comments were made. The commission praised the owner's track record with other Walnut Creek businesses.
Key Outcomes
- Pacific Veterinary Hospital: Motion to approve the conditional use permit and find the project exempt from CEQA (Class 15301) passed unanimously (5–0).
- Stereo 41: Motion to approve the conditional use permit for extended alcohol hours on Fridays and Saturdays passed unanimously (5–0).
- Staff announced upcoming agenda items: Mitchell townhomes, Porsche dealership, and a second mobile trailer at Children's Hospital. The League of Cities Planning Commission Academy (March 11–13, Anaheim) was also noted.
Meeting Transcript
I gotta go on. Welcome to the January 22nd of Walnut Creek Planning Commission meeting. Would you call the roll? Yes. Commissioner Moran. Here. Commissioner Cound. Here. Commissioner Strongman. Commissioner Klopp. Here. Chair Anderson. Commissioners Quok and Vice Chair Knighting both phoned in that they will not be attending tonight. Thank you. So we have a quorum. Even better. Do we have anything on the consent calendar? Staff has nothing to recommend to move to the staff to consent. In that case, we'll move on to item three, which is public communications. A member of the public. And one is uh at the hearing for any particular item. You can just speak at each of those. The second one is if there is something you wish to speak on that is not on the agenda but is within our jurisdiction. You can speak at this time. And if so, uh just come to the podium. Microphone, no one wants to do that, then we will move on. Uh disclosure of ex party communications. Anybody communications to disclose? All right. Moving right along then. Uh, get to the first public hearing, and this is uh Pacific Veterinary Hospital for conditional use permit. Have a staff report on that. Okay, it's not up there. Do have a staff report and perhaps some visual aids. There we go. Okay. So good evening, Planning Commissioners. My name is Gerardo Victoria, assistant planner community development. The project before you today is the Pacific Vet Hospital located at 1079 Boulevard Way. Just some site context for you. Here, hold on. Here is Boulevard Way right here. This is Boulevard Circle. The tenant space with the star, that's where the business will be located. The adjacent business is an automotive shop. The site is surrounded by retail at this location, retail across the street, and a chiropractic and salon offices or businesses located at this location. The general plan designation is general retail. The zoning is community commercial. Pet hospital uses are permitted with approval of a conditional use permit. So the business plan calls for 9 a.m.
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