3:15pm | Here are a couple of small items set to be discussed during the City Council meeting Tuesday that may other wise get lost in the normal news coverage.
2010 Green Festival Expects 3,000 Attendees
The City Council members will receive a presentation on the 2nd Annual Green Long Beach Festival, which is set to take place May 22 in the East Village Arts District. The theme of this year’s festival is ‘Turning the Tide’, which the event’s publicity material states will celebrate Long Beach’s “transition into becoming a more eco-friendly and sustainable city.”
“The purpose of the festival is to create awareness of the many resources available to help us make this transition,” says the event website. “This public event will also serve as a place of commerce, arts and entertainment, networking, and education.”
The event is expected to draw 3,000 people, similar to last year’s numbers.
K.C. Branaghans Liquor License Up Again
The Council is set to take action on an application filed earlier this year by K.C. Branaghans to amend their wine and beer license to permit the sale of liquor. Back in January, this item came before the Council, as did eight to ten members of the restaurant’s neighborhood to oppose the move.
Despite the fact that state agency in charge of liquor licenses had never found any violation at the establishment, that the police had not had a single complaint about the establishment, and that even Gary DeLong, the Councilmember for the area, didn’t think the establishment was any kind of a problem–the city refused the request.
Not only refused it, but actually recommended to the state that the requested license not be granted.
Why? Because this group of Naples residents came to the podium and said that they thought that the establishment MIGHT be a problem once the pub had the full liquor license.
Now the item is up again and the Council now appears ready to vote in favor of the license change–kind of.
You see, back on March 4, the city planning commission approved the change of the liquor license, with caveats from the city regarding safety requirements and hours of operation.
The neighbors appealed the planning commission decision on March 15, claiming that the city-defined hours of liquor service for the restaurant, 11 p.m. during the week and 11:30 p.m. on the weekends, was unacceptable.
This Tuesday the Council motion calls for City Hall to withdraw its letter recommending refusal of the license change to the Alcoholic Beverage Control–but only if the appeal against the Long Beach Planning Commission decision is denied.
Public Use of Council Chambers’ A/V Equip
The final vote on an agenda item seeking to allow the public to use the City Council chamber’s audio/visual equipment during their allotted time at the podium is also set for Tuesday. As pointed in a CityBeat column last week, the new rules would require citizens to provide any electronic material for use during their presentations to City Hall tech staff at least five (5) days before a Council Meeting.
This requirement would restrict presenters from creating or using presentations to argue or make their points at the podium on any Council motion that appears on the agenda within the five days before a meeting. As pointed out in the previous column, it is not uncommon for agenda items at City Council, often times in the case of major items that are being worked on to the last moment by city staff, to be placed on the agenda just prior to the state-mandated 72-hour inclusion deadline.
Restrictions on Sidewalk Business Use
Lastly, Councilmember Gary DeLong will introduce a motion to further restrict the use of public walkways in front of businesses, for example those restaurants on Second Street with seating in front of the business. The City regulations for such uses are already very strict, covering required permitting by City Hall, hours and days of operations, use of proper barriers, noise pollution, and responsibility for cleaning up the used public walkway area.
DeLong is asking that an additional subsection be placed in the Municipal Code that would allow the permits for such public walkway uses, “contain conditions or restrictions to insure that the proposed dining or entertainment occupancy, or the establishment to which said occupancy is related is operated in such a manner that it will not adversely affect the character, livability or appropriate development of the surrounding area or other uses, including residential uses, if applicable.”
If passed, the language appears to offer an easy way for nearby businesses or residents to protest the use of the public walkway by the permittee through City Hall.