Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout07.a. (Handout) Lettuce RestaurantBOWIE & SCHAFFER Attorneys at Law 2255 CONTRA COSTA BLVD., SUITE 305 PLEASANT HILL, CA 94523 DAVID J. BOWIE ERIC C. SCHAFFER August 15, 2017 Via Hand Delivery Members of the Board of Directors Contra Costa County Central Sanitary District 1500 Imhoff Drive Martinez, CA Item 7.a. (Handout) Telephone (925) 939-5300 Facsimile (925) 609-9670 Dave@bowieschafferlaw.com Eric a,bowieschafferlaw.com Re: Lettuce Restaurant - 1632 Locust Street Walnut Creek, CA Dear Members of the Board of Directors: This office represents Lettuce Restaurant of Walnut Creek. I am also personally the principal owner of the building at the intersection of Locust Street and Civic Drive in which the Restaurant is located. The Restaurant address is 1632 Locust Street. Lettuce Restaurant is owned and operated by Bahman Tehrani. The Restaurant has operated from the subject building at the same address for approximately the last 8 years. Throughout its existence, the Restaurant has offered a wide variety of salads, coupled with sandwiches. It supplements that basic menu with soups, a variety of soft and fruit drinks, and an occasional hot dish. The Restaurant has proven to be very popular - to the point that Mr. Tehrani approached me for additional space from which to operate. The existing Restaurant from inception has occupied approximately 2,500 square feet at the Northwest corner of the building. The proposed expansion space represents a bit more than 1,400 square feet. A principal purpose of the expansion is to accommodate a catering service, with some expansion seating. It is noteworthy that the expanded space will not result in an increase in the Restaurant kitchen size or the number and/or variety of fixtures; the expansion space is already fully equipped with ADA complaint restrooms. The expansion space will only add a "prep" sink and a hand sink. Obviously, the menu will not change. I have owned the subject building since 1991. It was totally reconstructed during 1992 and the current Lettuce Restaurant space was then placed in service as a restaurant. The original tenant was Strings, the pasta restaurant. It was originally a company store, converted ultimately to a franchise. A grease trap was installed as a part of the original tenant improvement package - and that still exists and operates today. It would be fair to say that Strings had a greater impact on sewer facilities than does Lettuce at present - or even as expanded. Mr. Tehrani has submitted for a building permit to build out the proposed expansion space. The City of Walnut Creek has suspended processing pending CCCSD approvals. CCCSD staff has advised Mr. Tehrani that he must pay a "one-time" sewer impact fee of approximately $40,000 - and install a 1,000 gallon capacity grease trap. The impact fee is far too expensive to be borne by this modest restaurant expansion; more importantly, it would appear to bear no relationship to any real impact caused by an expansion in space with no correlative expansion in facilities requiring sewer hook-ups. Additionally, the grease trap requirement could never be met without tearing up the property parking lot - which is not leased to Mr. Tehrani; would require a closure of the Restaurant for a substantial period of time during construction; would be inordinately expensive; and certainly cannot be actually required by operations since there have been no problems with the existing grease trap for more than 20 years - to my best knowledge. I have reviewed the applicable standards for the District grease interceptor program. That program appears (properly) to require a case-by-case analysis of requirements evaluated under a series of objective criteria. It would appear rather clear that Lettuce Restaurant has operated without difficulty under the existing conditions of a grease trap and a regular pick-up and maintenance program for many years. A much more intensive restaurant use from the standpoint of sewer impact existed on site with the same facility and monitoring program for more than 15 years. There is literally no reason to impose additional requirements for grease interception when the existing use with no material additional impact has finctioned properly. I understand that the District believes an impact fee to be appropriate to reimburse costs associated with real demands on sewer facilities. A flat fee based upon expansion space is completely unjustified, however. As with the case involving grease interception, any fee must bear a relationship to actual impacts based on objective criteria. Lettuce Restaurant operations have a modest impact on sewer facilities when compared with other types of restaurants. The expansion has no increase in the kitchen area or facilities for food preparation. Two small sinks - only one of which is for "prep" related to salads - hardly justify a $40,000 charge. To put this in perspective, the Restaurant would have to set aside the gross proceeds from 10 lunches a day for a year simply to pay the impact fee - with no monies to pay for the labor and materials involved, general overhead, rent, and other sewer and utilities fees as well as the myriad of other costs that must be paid by any small business operation. One would assume that the regular rates charged by the District and payable by its customers already compensate for the "impact" in any case. I am certain that you all understand how competitive the restaurant business is. Restaurant operators work very long hours and are the quintessential "small business". Restaurants such as Lettuce employ staff, provide a service, and are hardly the scale of business that can easily pass through costs to customers and patrons. Charges such as the one-time impact fee can literally prevent a small business from ever getting underway. In the case of Lettuce, it simply cannot afford the expansion space that it truly needs. I would request that no additional requirement relative to a grease trap be imposed on Lettuce. The existing grease trap is adequate and the monitoring and removal of grease is managed regularly and successfully. There is literally no objective need for any change or increase in capacity. I would further suggest that the impact fee is grossly unfair in application. While it is conceivable that some minor increase in sewer usage may occur by reason of the addition of small "prep" and hand sinks, the kitchen size and facilities - and even the restroom facilities -will remain unchanged. A waiver of the fee in this instance is appropriate. Thank you for your consideration of this matter. Very truly your , David J. Bow FACT SHEET ON LETTUCE RESTAURANT 1. History/Ownership: Bahman Tehrani has owned and operated Lettuce Restaurant at its current location for approximately 9 years. The prior tenant was Strings, a Pasta Restaurant - for approximately 15 years. 2. Restaurant Concept: Lettuce currently rates approximately 40% of patrons as "take-out". This is significant because the added expansion space is designed for catering and "take-out" - hence the ongoing use of existing facilities with essentially no material addition which might otherwise impact sewer usage. 3. Materials Used: There has never been a fryer in the restaurant. Main ingredients are Boneless, skinless Chicken, Tuna and Shrimp. All Dressings are proprietary and served on the side. Only vegetable oil is used. 4. Grease Trap: Since 1991, it is believed that no problems have existed with respect to the existing grease trap capacity. Lettuce certainly has had no issues in 9 years of operation. A contracted restaurant service routinely pumps out and removes grease from the trap. There is no reason whatsoever to require any change in existing conditions or capacity. 5. Prior Usage of the Expansion Space: The expansion space previously served a retail use. With no new cooking facilities placed either in the expansion space or the original restaurant space, the impact of the expansion is no greater than the pre- existing use of the same premises. 6. "Buy -in" to System: The Building is existing and fees of all kinds have been paid for many years. There is no justification for a "buy -in" to the existing system since there is also no material increase in use.