Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing, accept Categorical Exemption CE-17-078, and consider the Appeal from Siew New; and Deny the Appeal and uphold the Planning Commission’s decision to approve a Conditional Use Permit (CUP17-006) permitting the operation of a bail bonds business at 1420 East Pacific Coast Highway in the Regional Highway (CHW) zoning district. (District 6)
Thank you. So at this point, we're going to move forward with hearing number one. Madam Clerk, would you please introduce the item? Item one is a report from Development Services. Recommendations to receive supporting documentation into the record conclude the public hearing except categorical exemption and consider the appeal from Sue New and deny the appeal and uphold the Planning Commission's decisions to approve a conditional use permit permitting the operation of a bail bonds business at 1420 East Pacific Coast Highway in the Regional Highway Zoning District District six and authors require. Thank you. I hand it over to Mr. Modica. If the clerk can do the oath, please. Anyone wishing to speak on this item, please stand and raise your right hand. You in each of you do solemnly state that the testimony you may give in the court now and pending before this body shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God. Thank you, Mr. Vice Mayor, for this item. The staff report will be given by Linda Tatum, our planning bureau manager. Good evening, Vice Mayor Richardson, members of the city council. I'm here with Gina Cassius. She's the project planner on this case, and she will be supporting in the this evening's presentation. This item before you is a public hearing to consider an appeal of a planning commission, approval of a conditional use permit to allow a bail bonds operation at 1420 Pacific Coast Highway in the Highway Commercial Zoning District. This slide just gives you a vicinity map of the area. It shows the location of the site, which is highlighted there at the red with the red arrow. And it's on the south side of Pacific Coast Highway at Gundry Avenue there at the south west corner. The site is currently developed with a multi-tenant shopping center and a car wash, and the car washes from the views of the center that you see here. The car washes over to your right or west of the actual building. And it is the physical wash itself is located behind the building. The next slide. Oh, I'm sorry. If you could go back on the prior slide. If you see a red arrow there to the left of the site, that is the location of the proposed bail bonds operation. Would also like to share with you some slides of these around the area. These are photos of the adjacent area. To the north is Long Beach City College and directly behind the site is the Whittier Elementary School to the south. And there's also a an adjacent motel and I'm sorry, the Motel six. And there's also a CVS to the West Side. Just talking a little bit about the current zoning of the site and how we how those see you p that's currently being applied for applies. Right now the zoning code does not call out a bail bonds operation as a permitted use. And the way the zoning the city zoning code is structured, if a use is not called out, it is expressly prohibited. However, in this case, because the bail bonds operation is a financial institution, there is a category called all other financial services that are not specifically listed. So under that provision, the code requires a conditional use permit for this type of operation, and that's the basis for the conditional use permit hearing before the planning commission that was undertaken previously. Next slide, just to give a little bit of history and background on the Illinois bail bonds. They've operated for more than 20 years at a location here in downtown Long Beach, Ocean Boulevard. They're adjacent or directly across the street from City Hall. Now they are licensed by the California State Department of Insurance. And it's one of those very unique uses that does not a handful of uses in the city do not require a city business license. And a bail bonds operation is one of those that is completely regulated by the state, the Department of Insurance. So there is no city approval. However, they are subject to the city's land use controls, and that's why they are required to get a copy. Just a little bit regarding their operation. We know that they've been in business. It's one of the largest bail bond industries in the the United States. And they've been currently at that location on ocean for more than 20 years. But just talking a little bit about other bail bonds operations in the city, because they do not get a city business license, we don't have an exact count or how many are operating in the city. We know that just by a website search that there are probably approximately 30 that say they serve the city of Long Beach , but we don't know how many of those are physically located in the city since the city does not have a license for them. Also, just a little bit of background about the the the project when it came into our city and we reviewed it, the things that we were looking for were compatibility of the site with the adjacent neighborhood and those kinds of considerations. So as a part of that, the applicant reached out to the neighborhood and we did get a letter of support from the neighborhood association. The Central Neighborhood Advisory Committee provided a letter of support for the project to the to the city staff. Next slide. So the item was heard by the Planning Commission in a public hearing on July and June 1st, 2017. And during that Planning Commission item, there were a couple of individuals that came to speak against the project, and we also had a letter of support from the neighborhood association. We also received a another a couple of letters of support from I'm sorry. The letter of support was from the neighborhood organization and two individual spoke against the project. However, at the Planning Commission, they deliberated on the item. They spoke to the applicant to get a better feel for the nature of the operation. The applicant, Elwyn Bale, Bonds's representative, spoke that the the business essentially operates like an insurance office. They don't they don't exchange funds there. It's all done electronically. And they their position is that they operate more like an insurance office than anything else. What we do know is that the nature of their operation, when someone is arrested, they operate as a bail agent, essentially. And the the family member or whomever comes to represent the the person who's been arrested provides a surety or a bond to ensure that the arrested person is available for the trial. So in that sense, the staff nor the police department had any concerns about the nature of the operation. And once Planning Commission asked many questions of the applicant to get a really good feel for the operation, and also based upon some of the very specific conditions of approval that were put on the project. And those were the city standard conditions of approval for any type of operation where we asked them to make sure that the property is maintained, that it is always clean and neat and does not create any impacts. We also added several special conditions of approval to the project and those included enhancing the exterior lighting on the project to eliminate the entry, the parking lot in the rear, any rear exits to the to the business. We also asked them to install security cameras with a 24 hour video feed that would go directly to the Long Beach Police Department. We also established another condition of approval to prevent loitering or any noises on the site during the hours of operation of the bail bonds. And of course, another condition that we thought was appropriate was just making sure that they didn't use any advertisements that created noise or any type of disturbance to the surrounding area. So after planning commissions, deliberation and the consideration of the conditions of approval, the Planning Commission voted 5 to 0 to approve the project subsequent to the Planning Commission approval on June 1st. We did get an appeal of that decision by Mrs. Sue New, who expressed her concern that the perception of the area as being a high crime area, and she thought that the bail bonds operation would contribute to a negative image. However, staff did do research on the area prior to the approval or recommending approval. We determined and through coordination and getting data from the police department is that the location of this site is not within a high crime area and that dispelled our concerns. So based upon the fact that it was not high crime and that we put appropriate conditions of approval to ensure a fairly safe and secure operation. The staff recommended approval to the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission concurred and they approved the conditional use permit. So in closing, I would just like to note that we did receive a letter from the applicant in support of the project, and that letter was provided, I think, to the City Council in your packet, but I wanted you to be aware of that. You may have a copy already. And with that, I would like to close by recommending that the City Council deny the appeal that was filed by Mrs. C sue new on this project and recommend that you adopt the the approved the categorical exemption for this project in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act and that you approve conditional use permit number 17 03-38. That concludes staff's presentation and we're available if you have any questions on the project. Thank you. That concludes Mr. Monaco staff's comments. Yes, it does. Okay. So at this point, we're going to invite the applicant forward as the applicant here. I. Thank you. And according to our city attorney, you have in a reasonable amount of time to make a case. So let's call it 10 minutes. Thank you and good evening, Vice Mayor and members of the City Council. My name is Mike Recuperar. I represent Aladdin Bail Bonds. At first like to thank staff and the city for working with us over the last year on this project. And thank thank the leadership of the city of Long Beach and Councilman Andrew's office for working with us, encouraging us to do outreach to the local community. We met with the CDC and had a really constructive meeting with them. The. Bail bond industry is misunderstood. And all of the comments that you will get from people who believe that is going to draw crime. To their neighborhood. Are frankly misplaced. It is an insurance. Transaction where the loved one is coming in to bail out someone who is incarcerated. And so it is not a place of loitering and it is not a place where headhunters like you see on TV work. In fact, a land bail bonds doesn't hire, doesn't. Have headhunters or fugitive recovery agents, as they're called in the state code. And so there is a misinterpretation that from what you see on TV and frankly, what you see in other parts of the city is going to happen here. The other, there are approximately 20 other bail bonds facilities, none of which have a use permit in the city of Long Beach. And you will see that some of their guerilla marketing and advertising techniques. Are less than desirable. ALLEN Bail Bonds is the largest bail bond company in the United States. They have about 50 locations throughout the Western states, and they have a high degree of professionalism, as you would expect in an insurance transaction. So we are here to answer any questions that you have, but I want to thank you for your time and your consideration. Thank you. So now we'll invite the appellants to the front with a similarly reasonable amount of time. So no more than, say, 10 minutes. Please come forth. Give us your name and proceed. Good evening. I'm sorry. Good evening, council members. My name is Sunil and I am an owner of the Quadriplegics. This one street down from this proposed business on 17th and Gundry is about 20 feet away. It's very close, I would say. I actually put an appeal on Exhibit H and I would like to kind of recap what I see in the exhibit. The neighborhood, as is, has a reputation as a high crime area and the presence of this bail bond company, but only enhance and reinforce the reputation now. And the perception of a safe neighborhood is a major selling point for a rental business such as mine to get business. And this high criminality image will lower the brand of this area, which currently is actually much lower than elsewhere in the city. It will make it more difficult for small business owners like ERs to survive and. I would like to appeal that the council member denied this bail bond company and not drive us out of business. Otherwise we may have to resort to leaving the area. On the point that the Neighborhood Advisory Committee has supported this business. I can say that I did not get any notice from them about this business until I got a letter from the city about this motion of having the business in the area. So I really denied that I had any interest that they are representing me at all. And my greatest fear about this presence of business is that other business of the similarly nature. Will. Be encouraged to open their businesses here. And it would definitely. How do you see? Cost the value of my resale value of my property due to plummet. That's my concern. I hope. You will. Be able to put yourself in my shoes and empathize my situation, because the reason I had invested in this building is to take care of my retirement. As well as to provide decent housing. For the neighborhood. So I hope you. Will consider that. And. Be able to. Empathize my situation. Thank you. Thank you. Is there a second appellant? No. Okay. So we'll invite the applicant back to rebut if he chooses to. So the rebuttal is no longer than 3 to 5 minutes. Thanks, Mr. Vice Mayor. Thank you. I think we heard from staff that indeed this is not a high crime area, despite the fact that one individual considers it to be. And second of all, with the the concern is that. This is going to become a. Area where you're going to get a lot of bail bondsman moving in. I would suggest that's probably not the case for a lot of reasons. But I think it's also important to remember that of all the bail bondsman in the city of Long Beach, this is the only one that's coming before you currently for a use permit . To the best of my knowledge, we're trying to. Do things right, and staffers conditioned this project to work in a professional manner. And so I think that deserves some recognition. Thank you. Thank you. So that concludes the hearing. Now we'll take it back behind the rail. Councilmember Andrews. Yes. I don't have very much to say about this. I would like to ask the young lady if that's okay. What do you. Yes, you have the floor. Yeah. I just want to ask one question. Do you live in the area? I'm sorry. Do you live in the area? Yes, I. Do. Okay. You live in there? You have property in the area? Yes, I have a property in the area I have a vested interest in. Do you live in the area? Do you have property in the area? Yes, I do. You live in the area? Yes. Okay, fine. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. That's that'll. That's all I have to say. To my colleagues. Will you support me on this issue, please? Thank you. To Peru. Thank you. Any public comment on the side? Yes. Please come forward. Before you proceed. Is there just two or is a third person that needs to speak? Please line up. Please. Mr. Goodhue, are you in line? Okay. So, Mr. Good, he was the last speaker. Thank you. Please proceed. Hi. Warmed Lisowski along with Citizens for Fair Development. Just as a point of order, I wanted to read your agenda here at the top. It says Ordinance C, 7594 provides that hearing shall be set at 5 p.m. each Tuesday. Such hearing shall be held at a specific time for which they are set regardless of otherwise order of business. This hearing should happen at 5:00. Anyways, getting back to the SO Lobby Citizens for Fair Development. I would like to offer our support, our moral and ethical support to the appellant. Let's be honest, Bell Bonds is not an insurance business. Bell Bonds is a predatory industry. In fact, the California legislature is moving to basically abolish the bail bond system. If we look at the July 13th, 2017 Los Angeles Times headline from George Skelton, it says Our current bail system is indefensible. The bill that aims it needs work. Okay, the bill that aims to fix it needs work. But point taken that the current bail system's indefensible. So the way that the city issues conditional use permits it's suspect it's unfair in this situation you've got a resident small business owner versus a multimillion dollar self-professed the largest bail bonds company in the country in front of this council. Who's going to win that battle every time? Of course, the multimillion dollar company is going to and the small business owner resident will lose this issue. So we just wanted to point out the fact that we're supporting this opponents and the way that conditional use permits are issued by the Planning Commission and this council are clearly unfair and weighted towards larger business. Thank you. Thank you. Next week, please. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Chris Goshen, and I'm the owner of the car wash that's on the same shopping center as the alarm bell bond. And I'm here to give my 100% support to the bail bond. As you heard from the bail bond, they are the their reputation is great. They've been a great, great standing in the city of Long Beach. They've been here for 20 years. And I think it's it's a great business for the area. They have a great structure. And when they come. In, they do things right and. They do things clean. And and it's great for the neighborhood. Also, I believe that they are open very late or 24 hours a day. And I think it's good to have somebody there 24 hours a day because it's not a high crime area, but sometimes the homeless people at night in the area. And it's good to have somebody there that monitors. The area and there's. You know, some things going on. They can call the police. Also, the business before this bail bond was the hair salon and they had ten chairs there, about seven or eight for four barber shop and four or five as a hair salon for ladies. And sometimes on weekends or Friday, Saturday, Sunday, the place was really busy and there was no other parking for anybody else, nobody else for the carwash or the subway or anybody else. So I know that bail bonds usually do two or three. Transactions a day. So it's a. It's a it's good for the other businesses that people can come in and park in that shopping center. So 100% support the Aladdin Barber Thank you. Thank you. Seeing no further help Mr. Good you come forward. Very good. You quickly. It occurred to me that there might be a conflict of interest. A little conduct conundrum, if that's the word. While we're fortunate and having on this council and employed by this city, an overwhelming majority of people are overwhelmingly honest, straightforward, and would never need a bail bondsman. However, that cannot be said for all that work in this building, some of which are not here tonight. So I'm wondering whether or not there's a conflict of interest in this city, in this form. Voting one way or another on this. And that just struck me as I sat here. Overwhelming majority of people are honest. Obviously, as referenced earlier, we have a mayor that. Takes it gave the middle finger last week on national broadcast nationwide that he doesn't believe. That the people of this city are entitled to a corruption free government. So I suggest this measure puts the city in a position of facing somewhat of a conundrum and whether or not it should even be dealing with this or how to deal with it. Thank you. Thank you. So that concludes public comment. So at this point, members, please cast your vote. Right now, I'd just like to correct for the record. The recommendation that I earlier indicated misspoke. The project number. The project number. The correct project number is C up 17 dash 006. Thank you, Linda. Motion carries. Thank you. I'll take a moment just to do some housekeeping. First, I want to. Mr. City Attorney, do we need to report out from the closed session earlier? There was no reportable action. Closed session? Fantastic. Thank you. Secondly, I'd like to just acknowledge that our mayor is not with us tonight. He's he's in New York City with 40 mayors as a part of our Bloomberg and Harvard Leadership Institute. And I'm excited to see what great ideas comes back for our city. So he's not with us tonight. So you've got me tonight. So we'll move forward with so the next hearing, let's open up hearing number two and it will be continued. So that motion will just be to continue to date certain.