Recommendation to adopt Minute Order declaring a moratorium against the issuance of any new "exemptions" from the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) requirement for those alcohol related uses set forth in Footnote 1, subsections b through e, inclusive of Table 32-1 of the City's Zoning Code; and directing the Department of Development Services and the Planning Commission to undertake a study pursuant to Long Beach Municipal Code Chapter 21.50, to determine whether or not the City's current zoning regulations related to CUP exemptions are appropriate or need further review or modification.
Thank you. Now we're going to take 25 before moving on to the rest of the regular agenda. Item 25 Communication from Councilmember Richardson. Councilwoman Gonzalez. Councilmember, your UNGA recommendation to adopt the order declaring a moratorium against the issuance of a new exemptions from the SEAL requirement for alcohol related uses and direct the Department of Development Services and the Planning Commission to undertake a study pursuant to Longreach Municipal Code to determine whether or not the city's current zoning regulations related to SIP exemptions are appropriate or need further review and or modifications. Thank you. There's a motion by Councilmember Richardson. I'll turn it over to him. Which with the second by Councilwoman Gonzales. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So. Currently the CFP process is one that enables us to bring in uses that might have an impact on our communities, such as alcohol, trucking, things like that, and provides a public avenue for folks to vet and evaluate those impacts in in the in year over the over years of having this contemporary process . A number of exemptions to that process have come into place that have created sort of a patchwork of holes in this ACP process. So so although there are there are a number of exemptions that that might have made sense on a case by case basis. But my concern is that we haven't taken a holistic approach at these exemptions. For example, there's an exemption for a department store or florist that sells accessory sales of alcohol. So that would be an exemption if a florist were to sell hard alcohol, for example, that's exempted from our conditional use permit process to evaluate whether or not that that could potentially have an impact on the community. And the zoning code gives no specific explanation as to why these uses are not required to go through a public vetting process prior to commencing the sale of alcohol. And the code currently doesn't distinguish between the sale of beer and wine and the sale of hard alcohol, is there? Is there a specific difference between the two? So in my research and in speaking with the city manager and city attorney, I wasn't I wasn't comfortable with the explanation for these these exemptions as they are. And I'd like for us to take a look at these so that we have a fair, clean process on how we administer conditional use permit. Now, to be clear, there are a number of exemptions that make a lot of sense and that we utilize all the time. One of them one of them specifically is the one on on restaurants that serve food. That's an exemption that I'm not saying that we need to review. There's another one that's specifically related to grocery stores, specifically grocery stores. And that's something that my motion I'm asking that that not be included. What I'm talking about is everything else, all of these things. There are department stores, there are pharmacies and florists that have that are exempt from this process. And I want to hit the pause button on that exemption. For a period of three months so that our staff can take a look at it and come back with one comprehensive look at the entire exemption process. So the moratorium would be on all of those exemptions except for like grocery stores, like outright grocery stores and restaurants that serve food. The entire policy is under review, but the exemption is just for those two. So that is my motion. Okay. There's a motion and a second. Councilman Kanjorski, want to speak to your second? Thank you. I want to thank Councilman Rex Richardson for bringing this forward because I think it's a really good review to be able to look at. I think it's it's time that we give the process a little bit more in-depth of a review, and I think it's vital for certain communities. I know in the first and the ninth and some other communities that have been inundated with other issues related to violence, related to alcohol consumption, I think we just had, you know, the a good example here on our very first hearing and how it can affect the community so much. So I just want to thank the councilman for bringing this forward. And I look forward to the review and to see what it brings back to us and what we can do going forward. Thank you. Get him to go to the speakers list. Councilman Mongo. If I could ask city staff, I know that the trend is towards department stores that actually include grocery, for example. There are targets that sell. A large section of their store is actually for grocery. So what percentage of a store would need to sell grocery? And or are we saying that it's based on square footage of the store? Is it based on sales of the store because certain types of stores aren't going be able to spend? Maybe they spend 50% of their square footage on grocery, but the price of electronics far exceeds the price of grocery. And therefore the sales wouldn't support that in terms of counting of those grocery. So what what would you term as grocery? Councilwoman, I'm going to turn this over to our director of development services, Amy Bodak, who who's been working on this. Councilmember Mongo and City Council. That's clearly something that we're going to look at. But it's and there are other jurisdictions that have a higher threshold of exemption, as well as a lower threshold of exemption. But I think the issue that we're looking at is standalone grocery stores versus general merchandizing stores. That also carry groceries. So I think that's going to be the distinction that has blurred over time in our definition of a grocery store. There are certain grocery stores that are not able to get a CPA exemption because they're frankly too small. Our current regulations are at 20,000 square feet. So, for example, you know, a fresh and easy would be required to get a cup. They would not be allowed to get this exemption. So I think we need to do. Some work on the definition. Of grocery store as well as that square footage threshold. Great. Thank you. Thank you. I may go to the city attorney and then to Councilmember Andrews. Me or members of the council. Councilmember Richardson, I think if this were to pass this evening, as as the motion has been made, the moratorium would go into effect immediately. And I was wondering if the three months could be stretched to maybe four months, because since it goes into effect immediately, it'll be three meetings before the actual moratorium ordinance will come back to you and the study session two planning commission, etc.. Sure. Just to be clear, the reason I said three months is I want this I don't want this moratorium in place just for the sake of having a moratorium. I want to allow you to do this review because I think it's important. And the sooner we get this completed, the sooner we can remove that moratorium. So if you if if you guys are comfortable with four months, I'm okay with former. Yes. Thank you. Yeah. Councilman Richardson, I think this is an excellent idea because the fact that first I was a little concerned because especially when you all of a sudden you are exempt the grocery stores because of fact, I think everyone that does not have a grocery store in their area, I'm sure that they would love to get one. And by you doing what you just did, I think this would be a great idea, at least gives them a possibility and understand that they could come into those neighborhoods and knowing that they wouldn't be penalized because of, you know, the liquor situation being a grocery store. So thank you very much for bringing this item to the board. Thank you, Councilwoman Mongo. I'd actually like to ask a question of one of my colleagues on the council. It. There are often times where we can research things while the status quo is in place. I know that in other cases we've put moratoriums on and I don't know that I heard that the city staff was asking for it. But I know that Vice Mayor Lowenthal has done moratoriums in the past to do study sessions. Is there a significant benefit to doing the moratorium, or would we be able to maintain the status quo while still doing the research? So just purely from my experience in issues that we've dealt with and brought forward, the moratorium has been helpful because then there isn't a flood of applications, flood of activity. There isn't an attempt to game. The system in that short time period. And not to say that that would happen, but it does obviate the possibility of that happening. So I found it to be helpful, but that's purely from our experience. I'm from city staff. How many requests do we have pending that would be put on hold? Should we move with this tonight? How many businesses would be impacted that are currently in the that we know are coming forward with this? Right now, we have no applications on file that I'm aware of as of yesterday that would be pending. But there is an expectation of probably two coming in the next six months or so. And would they. Be exempt to the moratorium based on the conditions set forth by Councilmember Richardson? Would they be exempt from the moratorium? No, they would not be. Okay. Okay. Thank you, Councilmember Austin. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'd just like to thank Councilmember Richardson and Gonzales for bringing this forward. As you know, particularly in North Long Beach, the issue of over proliferation of liquor stores and liquor is is has been an issue. And, you know, we tried to address that by bringing forth the alcohol nuisance abatement order, which has been largely successful. And we did so out of response to our constituents, our constituents who are saying that there are too many liquor stores and liquor is too accessible in North Long Beach. And so this moratorium, I think, allows us in last hour to kind of recalibrate our our position and and allows us this council to take a more active role and take a closer look at such licenses. I want to say that that I do do appreciate the fact that you have exempted the grocery stores, because I think that that is a it's an obvious that, you know, you you can you can you can buy liquor in a grocery store. But, you know, you can also go there and get healthy food options like food, fruits and vegetables and and other household needs for for for consumption. And so it just makes sense and it makes it very convenient for for residents to do that. And so with that, I'll be supporting this motion. Thank you. Councilman Mango Councilmember Austin, would you be open to taking. Oh, you're not on the amendment, but perhaps coming together on a substitute motion that really goes to what you said, which is to to exempt all organizations that may bring forth a request that have healthy food choices available to them in their store. I mean, while I recognize grocery stores. Primarily sell grocery. They also sell office supplies and other things. Would you be open to the idea of exempting everyone who sells grocery? I don't think it's up to me to be open to the idea. I think we have three council members who have made a motion. I was asking if you'd support a substitute motion. I think you should. I like. I like the. I originally thought you'd made the motion when I started my sentence, so maybe I can go back on. I didn't make the motion. I, I, I was speaking in support of the existing motions. Councilmember Richardson, would you be open to that friendly amendment? I think what this does is and so my answer is no, because I think the entire policy is going to get a good work over by city staff and like we want to be intentional about like we're hitting the pause button if we say. No one's included in the in the moratorium. Then what's the point of having the moratorium? Well, you have some exemptions already. Why would it change for the percentage of grocery they sell? I don't know that like. I think there's a logical argument to a restaurant with food, right. There's a there's a number of restaurants ongoing that are located in the city. But I just can't, like, think about a florist that would need to sell. Gray Goose. I don't understand that. So let me help you with that. Actually, my family used to own a basket company, and we used to sell to florists. And so graduation is coming. And upon graduation from colleges and universities, oftentimes with your bottle of champagne, along. With an issue, there's no distinction between a hard alcohol and a soft. I've been doing a lot of research and talking about this. I would say I. I support my motion in its current form, but I'd love to continue the conversation. Our city staff is is evaluating this. I just want to warn my colleagues that I have concerns for sales in the coming months because of a moratorium, specifically the only category. Well, there's one category that's artificially inflated, but with the exception of the one category that's artificially inflated, the only other category by which we meet our sales tax revenue percentages without leakage is is liquor. And so we are going into tough budget and economic times. And so while I appreciate that, we do need to look at this and I think that it needs a very serious look. I also am concerned about the viability of some of the flower shops that have contracts with one 800 flowers or FTD or any of these organizations. People want to send out graduation things. May is coming. There are wedding gifts that come with balloons that are tied to champagne bottles and the such. And I just don't want to have a disadvantage to our Long Beach stores that have national contracts because of a short term moratorium. And so I would hope that we could look at the ordinance without burdening our grocery stores and our flower shops that have not. I have not heard a complaint yet about the matter. And that does not mean that it's not. Broken. There are still things to look at, but I would hope that we wouldn't put ourselves in a fiscal standing like that. To look at a lot. I think that as we look at it, if we find certain categories that we want a moratorium on any given Tuesday, we could bring them here. So because of that, I won't be supporting the current motion, but would be open to any of my colleagues putting in a substitute that had a little bit more fiscal. Concern in council member. I think the residents of North Long Beach in areas with significant impacts from liquor would have wished the city council would have hit the pause button many, many years ago. Okay. I'm going to the speaker's list. Councilman Gonzales. I would also agree that, you know, I think when we're looking at this, I don't think it's to be anti-business. I think it's to be pro our residents and also looking at what's best for them versus just looking at it more in a fiscal lens. And so I think that when we look at this, it's really for the impact of our communities. And so I would certainly support the the policy. But I would also ask I just want to ask Amy really quickly. So we have a couple of things we're going to be scrutinizing a little bit deeper in this. So the definition of a grocery store and what were the other did you had mentioned something else. Certainly over time, as Councilmember Richardson said, there has been a blurring of lines between a general merchandizing store like a target and a grocery store. And even the the definition of a grocery store has changed as. Smaller format neighborhood markets. Have come into play. So we do really need to look at the overall definition of what a grocery store is versus a department. Store versus a general merchandizing store. And then really try to determine what square footage is we. Should be using in applying. These exemptions. We are assuming that that there would be a willingness by the Council to support. Some exemptions for. Those uses. We're just going to try to have to find that sweet spot for you. Thank you for the clarification. Thank you. Councilwoman Pryce. Thank you. Miss Bolduc, what response would you have, if any, to some of Councilmember Councilwoman Mango's concerns regarding this impacting some of the smaller alcohol vendors that might have general merchandizing attached to them? And is there something that you might be able to recommend that would hit the spirit of this agenda item, but not impact those businesses ? Well, those businesses are already in place, and so they are not actually impacted by this exemption at all. The folks that would be impacted by this ordinance or. Moratorium would be those who are planning. To come into into the the. City. We know of of two that would fit into the general grocery. Store category. We're not aware of. Any florists that. Are coming in. But we we would have had quite a. Number of concerns if the restaurants were not excluded from the moratorium. You know, that would have a debilitating. Effect on business districts. But since the current motion, as it currently stands, does not affect restaurants, we're we're pretty comfortable with the the recommendations. So it doesn't affect restaurants. And we're not going to do an exemption for grocery stores. So we're good to go. It does not affect restaurants, and we are not exempting any grocery store that currently exists. That is less than 20,000 square feet. Already has to get a copy no matter what. So we are aware of a couple of those that are coming in. They are not affected by the moratorium because they are less than. 20,000 square feet. Councilmember Richardson. And I just wanted to just underscore that point again, and I think Ms.. Bodak nailed it. Existing flaws, like, let's say Valentine's Day was coming up, those guys would not be impacted. It's literally a very narrow window of. This is in case this is so that we can hold off, hit the pause button and look at the whole policy in entirety. And we can say with certainty who gets exempt? Why is it based on square footage? Is it based on a percentage of sales? What is it? This is an opportunity to do that. But no one currently in existence is impacting. Okay. Thank you. And Councilman Mongo. Then we're going to a vote. Amy, with the two that are in the hopper, be able to apply now and then be approved upon the the conclusion of this. So I know went from three months to four months. So would they be able to apply and then wait in pending so that at the four month mark they could go through with their approvals ? Certainly we would accept the application. We would look at the rest of their application, but would not move forward at. All with any portion of their application that involved this. Exemption. That makes me more comfortable. Thank you. Okay. There's a motion on the floor. Any public comment on the item? Please come forward. Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Rick Guyton. I'm a representative of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 324. We represent 24,000 men and women who work in the food and drug industry. And I just want to I'm here on behalf of my members who support this moratorium. We work in grocery stores, and they also live in the community. We see so many of the communities that our members live in where the communities far exceed the permits given out. And it's it's a real tragedy to see what's happening in our communities. This is a responsible thing for this council to do to go take this moratorium, look at what exists currently, what makes sense going forward. I know our members support it and we applaud this council for taking this action. Thank you. Thank you, Rick. Any of the public comment. Seeing none. Members, please go ahead and cast your vote. Motion carries eight zero. Next item.