Another Rancorous Marathon Council Meeting

EIGHT HOURS, TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES!

That's how long the Costa Mesa City Council dragged out it's meeting Tuesday/Wednesday!  And, even worse - they didn't even cover their entire agenda!  I knew we'd have a long meeting when I saw the agenda published last week.  It included a combination of many items and some I knew would take awhile to discuss.  But, I never thought it would take until after 2 a.m. for them to finally wrap things up.  I apologize in advance for the length of this report, so, let's get to it...

A VERY SLOW START
I knew we were in big trouble when the council finally got to the Consent Calendar after 8 p.m. - normally, that segment of the agenda would be addressed before 7:00.  Before that, though, the foundation for the marathon meeting was laid when eighteen (18) people stepped up to speak during Public Comments.  I'm not going to begin to cover every word spoken during that time, but I will give you a few highlights.

DOGS, HOMELESS AND DOUBLE STANDARDS
Several speakers complained about the recently-implemented resident-only parking rules implemented adjacent to 939 W. 19th Street.  Director of Public Services Ernesto Munoz will investigate.  Laurene Keane mentioned an outbreak of Parvo at the Dog Park.  Janet Krochman complained about the proliferation of homeless people in business areas around town, and related recent personal experiences.  Mary Spadoni wondered why the Solid Landings facility on 19th Street is still allowed to operate when both the Planning Commission and City Council upheld the appeal of the Zoning Administrators ruling.  Wendy Leece also addressed that issue, and implied that there may be a double standard at work.

TOUTING SOCIAL MEDIA
Another resident - he didn't give his name - spoke of a Facebook thread of more than 600 entries addressing homelessness... those in the know realized he was speaking of the Costa Mesa Not-So-Public-Square site, which is touted as "the place to be", but refuse to admit individuals who don't share their views on issues.  Interestingly, Mayor Steve Mensinger also addressed that thread... he's a frequent participant on the site.  A coincidental note - one of the people responsible for the iron-handed administration of that site, Julie Mercurio, was in the audience during that part of the discussion, then left.  Seemed to be an interesting bit of timing.

MORE HOMELESS COMMENTS
The pastor of the Lighthouse church addressed their efforts on the homeless issue and others also chimed in on the subject.  They were told that CEO Tom Hatch would address it during his comments.  Public Comments ended at 6:38.

MENSINGER
During his comments Mensinger addressed the homelessness issue, spoke of the Homeless Task Force and of well-intentioned people feeding homeless in our parks.  At one point he said, "There's nothing nice about people sleeping outdoors in our city."  Odd comment.  Later, when addressing the parking issue on 19th Street, he told us that all new projects are properly parked.  He also reminded us of the Cattle Drive next Saturday

FOLEY
Katrina Foley expressed concern about the Dog Park situation.  She also, once again, asked when information about the Westside Overlays would be coming to the council, per her repeated requests.  She also complained that her request for specifics about fireworks sales by each of the groups was quashed by Mayor Mensinger in a behind-the-scenes maneuver.  She volunteered that the Costa Mesa High School Football Boosters made only $14,000 for the five days they sold fireworks, but that they made over $8,000 selling parking spaces for the Fair at CMHS.  She said the council needs the full picture.  She also wondered about a progress report from Mesa Water on conservation efforts.  She also expressed concern about the Homelessness issue and crime that might be associated with it.

GENIS
Sandra Genis thanked the Costa Mesa Foundation for the latest series of Concerts In The Park.  She also commented on the Eastside Picnic, which she described as a nice event.  She addressed the Bark Park issue and suggested keeping inoculations up to date.  She also addressed homelessness, citing an increase in folks with chemical dependency and the lack of transitional housing.  She spoke about the pending availability of the Fairview Developmental Center property, the apparent proliferation of marauding youths along 17th Street snatching purses and the shortage of police officers.  She also expressed concern about the overlays and that her understanding was that there was to be a report back as to how the process was proceeding, but instead, new projects were moving forward at break-neck speed.

MONAHAN
Gary Monahan, for a change, actually had something to say!  He made a passing comment about the Eastside picnic - he didn't attend, then touted the Hi Time Liquor Chili Cook-off, which he said was attended by a couple thousand people and it was a huge success.  He said it raised money for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Orange County and "some of that money" would be used at our local clubs.  He also addressed the Fairview Developmental Center, indicating that the State was moving forward.  He spoke about homelessness, then went off for a few minutes about Fireworks, and what a "huge fundraiser" it was for youth groups.  He also said how much money they made was nobody's business.  He said the overlays were doing exactly what we want them to do.  He said they were "phenomenal" - that's the latest buzz word up on the dais these days.  Everything is phenomenal.  Oh, yes.. thanks for the shout-out, Gary... yes, we knew you had a lot to say last night.

RIGHEIMER

Then came Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer's turn - it was now 7:05 p.m - past the time Public Hearings were supposed to begin by policy.  Twenty minutes later Righeimer finally stopped talking!   He spoke about motels and group homes, and said "we're just not here to help everybody."  He talked about crime and mentioned AB 109 and motels.  He then said the next General Plan update is going to address motels by rezoning properties to make it easier for owners to sell them.  Again, for a guy who gripes about attracting businesses, he's sure eager to force some of them out of business.


He addressed Fireworks, and asked Hatch for a report on the gross revenue from all 36 booths.  He wanted to know how that money Foley mentioned from the CMHS Fair parking would be split up.  He addressed the overlays, and mentioned the millions developers were spending to clean up former industrial properties so they could build on them.  He addressed parking, reminding folks that the first place they should be looking for parking is in their garages - giving a backhand to those folks from West 19th Street who took the time to speak in that important issue.  He addressed homelessness.  At one point he mentioned having read enough about fancy fundraisers put on by wealthy folks from south county who then just go home.  He said they "should take the people with you."  Ever the class act.

HATCH
At 7:22 Hatch took over and spoke about the National Night Out, which was being held at that time.  He spoke about the good work done by all on the Special Olympics and showed a video created by the folks at CMTV.  He briefly addressed parking, then deferred to Gary Armstrong, Director of Economic and Development Services on a few issues.  He asked about the Solid Landings situation and we were told that Code Enforcement was working now on citations.  He asked about the overlays and we were told that there will be a workshop with the Planning Commission on September 8th.  On the issue of the Fairview Developmental Center he said the State is generating an RFP for something called Shannon's Mountain, that might occupy the south corner of the center property, and that the closure of the center is a long process - probably taking until 2018.  It was suggested that a General Plan designation for that area needs to be addressed.

BARK PARK
Hatch then addressed the Bark Park, indicating it was one of the most heavily-used in the county and that we probably need a second one somewhere in the city.  Foley chimed in that we just needed some maintenance done - tree and bench replacement, etc., to which Mensinger said we could do interim improvements and suggested to Hatch that it be fast-tracked.

HOMELESS/FRANCIS
Hatch addressed the homeless issue by giving a brief history, spoke about the new Park Ranger position on the agenda and bike patrols, then turned it over to Assistant CEO Rick Francis and Police Chief Rob Sharpnack to address specifics.  Francis expanded the history lesson, spoke of the Homeless Task Force and how evolved into the Network for Homeless Solutions.  He mentioned that more than 5,000 hours had been spent by that group working on solutions, including finding housing for 88 people and relocating others.  He estimated that there may be 150 homeless in the City - some might argue that number is too low.  He spoke about the proliferation of drugs on the street, including heroin most recently.  He spoke about a program to train mentors for the homeless and expressed disappointment in the County for it's inability to make more progress.  He also said there are "a whole ton" of homeless who don't want any help.

SHARPNACK
Sharpnack gave a summary from a policing standpoint, mentioned that the CMPD is a proactive department, not a reactive department.  That doesn't really coincide with what has been the most recent understanding of their operations.  He said they are working hard to get back to full staff, and that they are now at 111, with 25 vacancies.  I'm not sure that number is actual boots on the ground, since we have more than 10 officers out with injuries.  The actual number of officers ready for duty is closer to 100.  He told us we recently hired three more bodies - all headed to the police academy, so they won't be available for duty for several months.  He told us we have 15 Field Training Officers so we can't overload them, but that we're moving full steam ahead.  He said his immediate goals are to rebuild the department; address crime statistics and maintain superb service.  He went on to give is a long, long list of things the department is doing, including making sure officers are visible in high crime areas.  He spoke of the bike patrols, overtime, park rangers, overtime for undercover purposes, the Westside police substation restoration, Prop. 47 and AB 109 impacts and much more.

MICRO-MANAGING
In response to that presentation Mensinger thanked Sharpnack for taking his "early morning texts", which we presume means that he's texting the chief during his walks around town in the early hours, reporting perceived crime issues.  Yet another example of the micro-managing of this city by Mensinger and Righeimer.  It's no wonder cops have left in droves!

MONAHAN-MENTAL HEALTH
Monahan wondered about mental health training for the police and was told that a social worker frequently rides with our officers to provide insights.  He also thanked Francis and the entire team who has been working on the homelessness issue for several years.  Francis suggested using the Costa Mesa Connect App, which will soon be enhanced to make reporting that kind of thing easier.  On that issue, Foley urged GREAT caution about taking photos of homeless folks with the app.  Righeimer told Francis and Sharpnack that they have "our support 1000%".  And that ended Hatch's report - at 8:12 p.m.!!!

CONSENT CALENDAR
Nobody pulled anything from the Consent Calendar, so it passed in one vote, then Mensinger called for a short break.  It's a good thing, because as it was going to turn out, we still had SIX HOURS to go!

FINALLY!
Public Hearing #1, the discussion of the new policy on Park Impact In Lieu Fees for Apartment developments began at 8:20 - 100 minutes later than it should have.  The council approved a modification of the staff recommendation.  In the interest of saving some time, please read Bradley Zint's excellent coverage of this issue in the Daily Pilot, HERE.  This discussion took 90 minutes and saw eight people speak to it, including representatives of developers and Apartment Associations.

PAWN SHOP APPEAL REJECTED
Public Hearing #2, the appeal of the Planning Commission decision on a Pawn Shop on Newport Boulevard, began at 9:52 p.m.  The smooth-talking owners made the same pitch they made to the Planning Commission.  After an hour of discussion and hearing from five people on the issue, Righeimer moved to uphold the Planning Commission decision, with Mensinger seconding it.  Monahan made a substitute motion to grant the appellants request except for the signage issue. Foley seconded it.  The vote failed, 2-3, and the original vote passed, 3-2, with Monahan and Foley voting no.

THE FARMER'S MARKET - THE BIGGIE!
At 11:00 we began Public Hearing #3, the appeal of the Planning Commission decision on a Farmer's Market at the St. John the Divine Episcopal Church on Bay Street at Orange Avenue.  This promised to be a long one... and it was.  Planner Antonio Gardea gave the history of the issue, then appellant, resident Carrie Renfro, took over and began her lengthy, detailed presentation.  She avoided the emotional side of the argument, pointing out that the approval of the request as made would violate the original conditions of approval for St. John's Manor - the Senior Housing project contiguous with the Church.  She and her team had done an exhaustive investigation and provided impressive details to make their points.  The issues were the park that was created as an open space for the development plus parking issues.

"I PAID 1200 BUCKS FOR THIS TIME, BABY!"
During her presentation, despite the fact that she had asked the council to permit her to make her entire presentation before asking questions, Righeimer interrupted her not once, not twice but three times!  This is a tactic we've seen him use many times.  He interrupts a speaker to throw them off their pace and, more often than not, he succeeds.  He did so last night.  The last time he interrupted her was at 11:53, when he said, "How much longer is this going to go on?", to which a frustrated Renfro barked back, "As long as it takes - I paid $1200 bucks for this time, baby!"

POUTING RIGHEIMER
At that point, because midnight was rapidly approaching, the council moved to extend the discussion past midnight, which passed, 4-1 - Righeimer, in a fit of pique, voted NO.  They also agreed to "continue" several items that remained on the agenda - those that were not time-sensitive.  Then they continued.

PASTOR PHIL AND 30 SPEAKERS!
Pastor Phil DeVaul made his pitch for the project, covering many of the issues Renfro had made.  Then began the parade of thirty (30) speakers on this issue.  I'm not going to begin to cover all their statements, but sixteen (16) were in favor of the project and fourteen (14) were opposed.  The public comments stopped at 12:55 a.m.

AND A BIG SURPRISE!
After about twenty minutes of discussion Righeimer moved to uphold the Planning Commission's decision and, after a very long pause, Mensinger finally seconded it.  In order, Monahan, Foley and Genis indicated they would not be supporting the issue.  They agreed it was a nice idea, but in the wrong place.  There were complicating issues for each of them.  Genis, for example, was apparently swayed by the opinions of nearby neighbors - those most impacted by the perceived traffic that would be part of this project.  Foley's decision was affected by the new revelation that there was an expansion of the entire facility in the works and she felt this project should be considered as part of the larger project and not handled piecemeal.  Mensinger then withdrew his second and, after some stumbling around, moved to overturn the Planning Commission decision, which passed, 5-0.

A QUICKIE!
At 1:35 the council quickly dispatched Old Business #1, the re-zoning of the church property on Mesa Verde Drive East to make way for a 10-unit residential development.  It took about 20 seconds.

SCREENING REQUEST
The final item they heard was New Business #1, the screening plan for a development at 527/531 Bernard Street, in an overlay zone.  Three people spoke to this issue, including Jay Humphrey, who noted that this would be one more underparked project in the city.  They finished this issue at 2:04 and adjourned at 2:05.

NOT HEARD...
The items NOT heard last night/this morning were Public Hearing #4, the first reading of the Capital Asset Needs Ordinance; New Business #2, Council Direction for the Allocation of the Matt Leinart Flag Football payback fees; New Business #3, the refund request for Ann Parker's appeal of the Solid Landings issue and New Business #4, designation of a voting delegate and alternate for the 2015 League of California Cities Annual Conference.

HE'S A BULLY!
An observation... the biggest culprit in this marathon meeting was Jim Righeimer.  He just cannot resist yapping away, saying the same thing over and over again, meeting after meeting.  If he was an member of the public he could be tossed out because he helped create a rule that prohibits serial commenting!  And his arrogant rudeness was on display for all to see last night as he continued to interrupt Carrie Renfro - a person clearly not experienced speaking to an official body in a formal setting.  His actions were those of a bully and certainly unbecoming any elected official.  We deserve much, much better from him.

THAT'S IT FOR AWHILE!
There are no more council meetings scheduled this month.  The next one is scheduled right after the Labor Day holiday.  Perhaps I will sleep right through until then!

A Full Schedule Awaits The City Council Tuesday

ONLY AUGUST MEETING NEXT TUESDAY
The Costa Mesa City Council will meet for it's only meeting of the month on Tuesday, August 4, 2015 beginning in Council Chambers at City Hall at 5:45 p.m.  You can read the full agenda, which includes a half dozen items on the Consent Calendar, four (4) Public Hearings, one (1) item of Old Business and four (4) New Business items, HERE.

CONSENT CALENDAR
As has been my practice, I'll take a quick peek at the Consent Calendar - those items that are presumed to be routine in nature and would be voted upon in one vote unless a member of the public, staff or council pulls it for separate discussion and vote.

THE WARRANT
Item #3, Warrant 2540, HERE, includes a few interesting items in the roster of checks used to disburse more than $4 million of your tax dollars.  I'll list a few that caught my interest:

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co - $428,620.02 - City Insurance Premium 15-16
Costa Mesa Conference & Visitor Bureau - $207,031.35 - BIA Receipts for May 2015
Wigmore Insurance Agency Inc - $120,923.00 - Excess Wrkrs Comp Ins Rnwl
CSAC Excess Insurance Authority - $4,612.00 - 15/16 Pollution Liability Ins.
Government Staffing Services Inc - $3,960.00 - Proj. Mgt. Temp Svc 6/15-6/28/15
Quickstart Intelligence - $12,726.50 - In House Training
Randstad Technologies LP - $12,707.50 - Temp IT Support Staff
AssetWorks Inc - $17,988.00 - Fleet Focus Software Upgrade
Clean Street - $58, 524.98 - Street Sweeping Svcs 5/15+Pressure Wash Sidewalk 6/15
G4S Secure Solutions Inc - $61,038.51 - Gail Svcs, 6/15
LINA - $20,041.47 - Premium, 7/15 + Admin Fee 6/15
Moore Iacofano Goltsman Inc - $69,506.15 - GP Update & Environmental Report
Bank of America - Account Analysis - $3,059.65 - Acct Analysis Fee Apr-Jun 15
Liebert Cassidy Whitmore - $2,437.50 - Legal various
Pacific Municipal Consultants - $5,400.00 - Consulting Svcs for Group Home
Quickstart Intelligence - $1,416.00 - In House Training
Scientia Consulting Group Inc - $6,880.00 - On-Site Technical Support
Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth - $6,208.00 - Legal, Various
Trauma Intervention Program - $14,061.00 - 2015-16 Annual TIP Service Fee

And, of course, there's much, much more.

DEFERRED COMP. PROGRAM MONITORING
Item #4, HERE, is the award of a contract for deferred compensation plan monitoring services. The awarding of the contract seems straightforward, but I'd like to know who among the city staff is a participant in the deferred compensation plan.

SWAPPING CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER FOR A PARK RANGER
Item #6, HERE, is an interesting item.  During the recent budget deliberations/approvals - just a month ago - there was a new Code Enforcement Officer position created for the Police Department.  THIS item is a plan to shift that position from a Code Enforcement Officer to an additional Park Ranger slot.  If you read the staff report you may get the impression that this whole issue didn't get a very thorough vetting before the budget process, particularly since there has been such a high-visibility effort to manage the homelessness issue in our city.  This is curious, at least.

PARK FEES FOR APARTMENTS
The first Public Hearing, HERE, is a proposed change in the park in-lieu impact fees to fold in apartments and to adjust other fees presently being collected.  The comprehensive staff report includes several charts and other visual displays to explain the methodology and comparisons to other cities.  I find it interesting that the Building Industry Association (BIA) has written to support this plan.

PAWN SHOP APPEAL
Public Hearing #2, HERE, is an appeal of the Planning Commission's recent decision modifying a Conditional Use Permit for a Jewelry Store with ancillary pawn services at 1872 Newport Boulevard.  This is a "de novo" hearing, which means we start from scratch on this one.  Could take awhile and it will be interesting to watch the appellants - they are pretty smooth operators, who described in great detail how they sweet-talked the previous owner into selling the business to them.

ST. JOHN THE DIVINE EPISCOPAL CHURCH FARMERS MARKET APPEAL
Public Hearing #3, HERE, should fill the house.  This is the appeal by nearby neighbors of the Planning Commission's recent Conditional Use Permit for a farmers market at an existing church - St. john the Divine Episcopal Church - smack dab in the middle of a residential neighborhood on the Eastside.  This is another de novo hearing, so the entire project will be heard anew.  Again, this one could take awhile.

CODIFYING CAPITAL BUDGET PERCENTAGE
Public Hearing #4, HERE, is an ordinance as a result of the Financial and Budget Policies adopted by the City Council in March, 2015 that requires an allocation of a minimum of five percent (5%) of the General Fund budget to capital expenditures and plan a goal of an additional one and one-half percent (1.5%) to a Capital Facilities account annually.  This is in response to the seven-year capital improvement program that totals over $230 million.

SECOND READING OF A GOOD PROJECT
The only Old Business item, #1, HERE, should take very little time.  This is the second reading on a project for 10 residential units at the site of the old Church of Christ Scientist on Mesa Verde Drive East.

ANOTHER SMALL LOT DEVELOPMENT
New Business #1, HERE, is a Master Plan Screening request for a 10-unit 2 and 3 story Small Lot Residential development at 527 and 531 Bernard Street.  The council will provide feedback so this project may move forward.

ALLOCATING MATT LEINART FLAG FOOTBALL FEES
New Business #2, HERE, is the Council Direction for Allocation of Field Use Fees for the Matt Leinart Flag Football repayment as a result of the incorrect fee payment due to misinformation provided to the city more than a year ago.  This one was requested by council member Katrina Foley, who wished to have these funds - around $25,000 - allocated to sports uses at the two high schools.  Normally, such fees would be deposited into the General Fund and used for normal municipal purposes.  This discussion is going to be fun, particularly since the news media has been full of news that the Matt Leinart Flag Football program similarly misled our friends in Irvine and will be required to pay the ENTIRE amount back, not a portion, as is the case with Costa Mesa.  I don't think anything can be done at this point - particularly when it appears that at least a couple of our council members are star-struck by the fact that Matt Leinart is a USC  football hero and Heisman Trophy winner.  As I said, it will be interesting.

APPEAL FEE REFUND REQUEST
New Business #3, HERE, is the request by resident Ann Parker for a refund of $690.00 fee charged for her appeal of the recent Solid Landings decision.  Based on her appeal the Planning Commission overturned the Zoning Administrator's approval, which was subsequently upheld by the City Council.

SELECTING VOTING DELEGATES
The final item on the agenda, New Business #4, HERE, is the designation of a "voting delegate" and a "voting delegate alternate" for the 2015 League of California Cities Annual Conference in San Jose this fall.  Currently Mayor Steve Mensinger, Councilwoman Sandra Genis and Councilman Gary Monahan are registered to attend the conference.  The City Council must designate the above positions.

NEXT MEETING ON SEPTEMBER 8TH
The council meeting scheduled for August 18, 2015 has been cancelled, but the first full week of September is going to be a whopper, with a council meeting AND a joint study session with the Planning Commission plus a Senior Commission meeting, too.

Long Night - Loaded With Drama

LONG, ACTION-PACKED MEETING
The Costa Mesa Planning Commission meeting "only" ran until 1:40 a.m. this morning, but it was certainly worth the wait.  What a night!  And, because it ran very long and I actually hope to get my head on my pillow before dawn, you're going to get an abbreviated report on this one.

CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS PULLED, AS EXPECTED
Because there were several hot button items on the agenda, the City Council Chambers had more than 100 people in it as the meeting began.  As anticipated, three items were pulled from the Consent Calendar for separate discussion - numbers 3, 4 and 5.  Wendy Leece pulled #3, the drainage easement in Fairview Park at Pacific Avenue and cautioned about the possible environmental impact.  Jay Humphrey and Cindy Black expressed their concerns, too.  City Engineer Fariba Faseli explained that this project just formalizes an existing drainage and the item passed on a 5-0 vote.

CONFUSION ON THE REPORT
Barrie Fisher pulled #4, the update from the Community Improvement Division, which should have been more accurately named.  It covers the history and current status of group homes in the city.  The discussion took about 35 minutes.  Community Improvement Division Assistant Director Jerry Guarancino explained the difficulty getting good information from The State and spoke about a trip he and other staffers made to Sacramento to specifically meet with the appropriate parties - and they still didn't get good information.  They explained their concerns about over-concentration of group homes in Costa Mesa and Orange County, but got no satisfaction.  We were left thinking that only pressure directly from the City to Sacramento MIGHT influence how many such facilities can open up here.... the numbers have increased dramatically in the past couple years.  The commission voted 5-0 to receive and file but expressed the hope that this information might be made available on the city web site soon.

DENSITY REPORT
#5, the Summary Matrix of High Density Residential Districts in Orange County Cities was pulled by Jay Humphrey.  It shows Costa Mesa's position relative to other cities and could be interpreted to reflect that we don't have as dense a designation than others.    Another 5-0 vote to receive and file.

APPEAL OF SOLID LANDINGS PERMIT
At 6:45 Public Hearing #1, the appeal of the Zoning Administrators approval of a minor conditional use permit on parking requirements for 657 W. 19th Street at a rehabilitation facility operated by Solid Landings, commenced.  Resident Ann Parker, who has her teeth firmly into the issue of rehab homes city-wide, had paid the fees to appeal this decision and made her presentation assisted by former councilwoman Wendy Leece and activist Teresa Drain, and they nailed it!

The discussion went far-afield of the actual issue, with the lawyer for Solid Landings attempting to smooth things over, but after a half dozen speakers addressed the issue and the discussion went back and forth among the commissioners, after nearly two and half hours the commission voted, 5-0, to grant the appeal. That means Solid Landings cannot operate counseling meetings at that site because they were NOT fulfilling the requirements to which they had agreed.  This may be appealed to the City Council.

ORANGE AVENUE DEVELOPMENT APPROVED QUICKLY
After a short break the commission took on Public Hearing #2, the two-unit small lot development at 1620 Orange Avenue.  This one only took about 15 minutes - the developer had tweaked the project since it was first heard a month ago -  and the commission passed it, 5-0.

MAISON NIXED
Next up was another of the BIG items on the agenda.  At 9:35 the commission began hearing #3, conditional use permit for additional requests for an existing bar/lounge at 719 W. 19th Street.  This is Roland Barrera's operation that used to be called the Lion's Den, but will now be known as Maison.  You will recall that Barrera began renovating this property and also presenting live music without a single permit of any kind - no business license, no building permits, no fire inspections - nothing, zip, nada!  When caught his place was red-tagged and he's been forbidden to do business until all the problems were addressed satisfactorily.  Barrera's interests were represented by Lisa Salisbury, who guided the presentation, supported by Barrera - who made a pitiful, pathetic attempt at an apology to the commission and the community for his transgressions earlier. It clearly was contrived and was not effective.  Architect Bill Mason gave an overview of the progress being made.

DENIED ON A 3-2 VOTE
Twenty-two people spoke to this issue, 5 of which supported it.  The remainder cited noise, smoke, wrong hours, precedent and more.  After a long discussion in which the pros and cons of giving the permit for live music or denying it, which would still allow recorded music and a disk jockey, the commission votes at 11:30 to deny it on a 3-2 vote.  Chairman Rob Dickson and Vice Chair Jeff Mathews voted NO.  I suspect we'll see this one appealed.

CHURCH FARMER'S MARKET
Finally, at 11:45, the commission began considering Public Hearing #4, the proposed Farmer's Market in the parking lot of St. John The Divine Episcopal Church at the corner of Bay Street and Orange on the Eastside of the city.  Commissioner Tim Sesler recused himself because it's his home church - and went home to bed.  This was another contentious item, with many people on both sides of the issue speaking out.  Several modifications had been made late in the day amending the original plan.  For example, no alcohol nor electronics or other non-food items will be sold at this Farmer's Market - only produce, locally grown. 

MIXED SUPPORT
The commission had received 26 letters - 14 for and 12 against - on this project.  29 people spoke to it - 9 against and the other 20 for it.  Concerns were expressed about food-borne diseases, traffic in the immediate neighborhood and the frequency of these events - every Saturday of the year.  Most of those in favor were members of the church and stressed what a great community-building opportunity this would be, and the convenience for shoppers in the neighborhood.

THIN APPROVAL
Pastor Phil DeVaul made the presentations and answered questions.  In the end - at 1:40 a.m. today - the commission voted 3-1 to approve the item, with new commissioner Stephan Andranian voting NO.  The approval made several modifications to the proposal, including a sunset clause that requires this conditional use permit be reviewed before it is renewed two years from the date of approval, which will be June of 2017, which should provide plenty of time to see if this is going to work.