The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About0125.093i 1 I -I j 1 j -' " " j :j j 1 I • ~staff t 8 w :181;+01----------, I , .. "''' ", .. " I HOHORABlE Ciil COUNCIL P.l0 Alto~ California ~Ca1ifcrnit Aytnve. The Ed9~, Conditional US~ Permit Ap~eai Members of t~e Council: Report 1 n Sri ef This is an ippeil of the Zoning Administratorls decision to modify the conditions of Conditional Use Pennit 73-UP-36, granted to a pr~·,ious restaurant use at 260 California Avenue~ now occupied by The Edge. The or;qina'~ existing use permit allows, without a time limit, lj~e entertainment and dancing assocl~ted with on site SiTe and consumpt;Q~ of 1 iqoor, beer and wine, a~cess~ry to the operation of a bona fiG'e restaurant. !he Zoning Admirdstrator's det;SlOfl to impose a 2:00 a.m~ closing time, alon9 with otner conditions, was appealed by the operators of The Edg~. lhe Planning tommission recommends a 3:00 a .•. closing timej no entrac! of patrons after 1:30 a.m .• and Planning Commission review of the ~difi~d ~se permit within six months. Backgroynd On September 10, 1992. the Zoning Administrator held a public hearing on the propos~d conditional use permit modi ficatiolis, and on September 24. 1992 recommended a 2:00 a.m. closing tlme, where previously the use permit contained no mandatory closing time. The 2:00 a.rr.. closing time corresponds with the Alcoholi~ Beverage Control time limit on the sa1e of alcoho1ic beverages and is consistent witn tne closing time for the majority of simi1ar ~ses in Palo Alto. The Po1ice Department representatives polnted out that a 12:00 midnight closing tima wo~ld eliminate the majority of calls for service attributed to The Edge, but s.ettled Of! 2:00 a.rn. beta.use an earl;e., closure would creilte i. financ1il nardsh i p on the bus; nes.s. Based on thei r exper i ence, the Pol ice Department believed that a 2:00 l.m. closure w~uld il11o~ them to monitor patrons and sp~ed their dispersa~, th~s reducing calls for service related to noise and vandalism. Additiorial t.onditicni were aha imposed. A detailed description of the .use perait ItIQdifications. is included in the attached Planning Ccrrrnission staff report. CMR:125:93 I ) On October 2, 1992, Ouf Sundheim, attorne'y for The Edge, appea1ed the Zening Administratgr's decislcm, partlcularly as it related to the required closing time. The app~~l is included in the ~lan~in9 Commission stGff report. Planning Comrojssipn ~ On Oecemb.r 9, 1992, the Planning CommisSion voted 6-0-0-1 (Schmidt absent) to recomend that the Cit,)' Coullcil uphold the de-:iSion of the Zoning Administrator, with iii lIlOdification of condition one to al1c.w a 3:00 a.m. c.l'Osure and an additional condition requiring til six~month rev;ew of the use permit. The Commission's discu~~ion focused on the mandatory closing time and the ~esulting impacts it would have on the nelghborhood and the business. Tne appellar.t proposed a 3;00 a.m. closing time in conjunction with ngt a11Clwil"lg patron! to enter the establ ishment after ] :30 a .m. Tne Plann ing Conmi ssion concurred with the app~'lant's assertign that a Tater clOsing time would al1~ patrons to Wtrickle~ out, th~refcre reducing noise and commotfon that might be associated with a one-time dosure. The Corrrnission felt that a 3:00 a.m. closure, in conjuncUon with the 1 Hter control and securit) guard programs. wr.ich have already been instituted by tl'le appellant, win significantlj reduce Tn~ Edge's impact on neighboring uses. RecQmmended Findings and Conditigns The Planning Commission recommends that the (1ty Council th~ ZDning Administrator to modify the conditigns of Use on the following findings and modified cgnditions. modifications to conditions appear in italiCS.) Findings uphold the deciSion ~f Permit 73-UP-36, b.sed ,Planning Conmission 1. The proposed use at the proposed location will not be detrimental or injurious to property or improvements in the vicinity. and will not be detrimental to the public health. safety. general welfare or conven12nce f~ that, through this amended use permit the existfng eating and drinking facility has been conditioned to address complaints from adjacent business owners and residents, and to mitjgate litter, vandalism, {ll(essi'{e noise, and parking problems re1ated to the nperatiOl"l of the existing facil!ty. fn addition, the Council specifically finds that a 3:00 i.m. closing time is appropr~ate for t~e following reasons: I) the neighborhood would be assured that noise generated or associated with The Edge wouTd terminate at a predetermined paint each nfght; 2) a 3:00 a.m. clnsing time is relatively consistent with the closing time of otfl,ei businesses providing simnar services thr-oughout the CitYi 3} although a closing time of 12;00 midnight would more signif,cantly reduce the calls fer service attributed to The Edge, the Council CMR:125:93 1/14/93 Page 2 -~---. j 'oj ~1 I '.,. 2, finds that iI clDsing time earliar than J:OO i.m. wOI...:ld significantly affect their business; and 4) il1thoug~ Police Department records show that only IS ,percent of the total c.a11s for S€I' .... lce and d1 stlirba"ces between July and October 1992, occurred after 3: 00 I . .e., these numbers stUl exceeded any other Single '..ise in the Cay during the same time pericd. The proposed ~se .il1 be located and conducted in il ~anner in accord with the Palo Alto Compreh~nsive Plan anc the purposes of Tftle 18 of U.e Palo Alto Municipal C,de, ;, tnat the Retail Shopping Cnmbining District of the (omunity COrmlereiaT lone, and the "eg'ional C01lil1un1ty COl'!ITIerc:hl land use designation specifically permit eating and drinking uses in conjunction with the on-site sale ind consurJlpthn of liquot", beer and wine. subject to the ipproyal of a conditional use permit. Cgnditions 1. There shall be nr.. <I~erati<lns of any kind between the h<lurs of 3:()() a.m, and 9:00 l.rJl. daily. except for cleaning the premises, O~ for compliance with the provisions of the litter removal p1an established in condit,on 6. Pdrons sha1J not be .11c>wed to enter the buiJding between 1 :30 ...... and 9:00 a .•. The serving of .11 alcoholic beverages shall terminate at 1:30 a.M. dally, and sha; 1 not be allowed to cOlTlTlence until the reopening of business later t~at day, but in no event prior to 9:00 a_~. All patrons sn all be vacated from the bu 11 di"9 by 3; 00 a. m. at tho end of every business day. 2. The business operator shall submit a plan which addresses line control, and the processing iiilnd dispersal of patrons waiting to enter H.e hcil it)'. Th. plan shall be reviewed and approved by both the Police Depart~nt and Zoning Administrator. The plan ~st identify methods for controlling ind d1spersing the crowd waiting to enter the establisr,~nt and will include Quantitative objectives sllch as the maximum allowable length [)f an outdoor waiting l1ne before and during eyents~ and a time limit for achieving the objective or.~e a crowd forms. The plan sha1l be submitted no later tnan IS days after the issuance of tnjs u~e permit a.nd impTemer,ted ir:r.iediately upon approval unless otherwise specified, 3. Th business operator shall submit a p1an for the utilization of :r.ecurity guards in directing patr<lns to designahd public parking lots, for th~ purpose of reducing noise levels and vandalism in the CalifOrnia Avenue di strict. Thi s pl an shall be reviewed a.r.:d approved by both the Police Department and Zoning Administrator. The p1an shall identify the number of guards ne-ce$sary for s.pec; f1 c ~vent types and days of the week, the boundaries lnd specifk areas the guards will patrol, specific public parking lots to which patrons will be directed, and the manner in which tne guards iiilre to approach and direct motorists. The Zoning Administrator may require the opera.tor to make changes in the security plan. upon • 4. s. 6. 7. 8. detenaination that the apprcved plan is not effectiY~ in reducing complaints. The Zoning Adillin1strator may also require changes to the bour.daries ~f the security area, and in the number, location and acti~ns of t",e security guards, upon a determlnat10rr that sucn d.anges ~re necessary to redlJc~ corr.plaints. All seturity guards used to implement this p1an sha11 be licensed by the State of California and uh1fcrmed in a man~er that satisfies tRe Police Department an~ also clearly identifies them iiII.S guards for the facility and not Palo ",1to Po11ce Off1cer5. The pl~" shall be su~itted no later than IS days after the issuance of this use pennit and implemented ill'll"H!dhtely upon approval unle'i:s otherwi se speci fled. The bu!=iness {Iperator shall slIbmit a te-mpor'ary sign pre>gram for the California Avp.~~e diStrict that effectively directs patrons of the facility to the specific public parking lots identifIed in the approved security guard plan r!qu1red by condition 3. The placement 3nd ~orQing of the signs, and events and/or days for which they will be ~t11;zed, shall be reviewed and appro¥ed by the Transportation Di~ision. The plan shall be submitt€d no later than 15 days after the issuance of this use pe~it and implement!d irrmedi ately upon approval unless otherwise specified. Tne serving of alcoholic beverages shill only be al1jWed only in conjunction with the operation of a bona fide restaurant~ The restaurant shall be in operation and easily accessible to and fro~ the entert~in~nt irea during the times in which alcohol is sold and consumed on ~ite. The business sha" remove all 1 Hter associated with it:; operation in th~ area patrolled by the security gUirds~ as defined in condition 3. Litter removal stlall cOlTITIence no earlier ttlan 8:00 a.m. and shall be completed by 10:00 a ••. the morning after eyery business day. The b~5iness operator shall allow all patrons waiting in line to hi~e full access and use of bathroom facilities within the building, whether or n~t that patron has paid the required co¥er charge. This service shall be adyertized in conj~nctiDn with the education program specified in condition 8. The business operator shall submit a pian to educate pitrons that the use of the property is permitted only under c~rtair. conditi~ns, particularly respect for the surrounding busin~ss and reside~tial neighborhood. The educ.ation program Shill direct patrons to park in designated public parkir,g lots, to reduce noise in the Ciitfornii Avenue district, to el iminate 1; tter and vilndal ism, and to be rEspectful of property and residents in ttle California Avenue district. The ,plin shall irlclude wording for handbills, to be distributed upon ~ntry t~ the facility, and signs witnin the building. The education program shall be reviewed and a~proved by both the Polic~ D~pirtment and the Zoning Admi~istrator. The plan shall be su~itted no later than lS days after the issuance of this use perm1t and implemented inrnediate1,y upon .a:ppro ..... al unless otherwise specifl ed. CItR: 125:93 1/14/93 Page 4 -----_.,,....---_. --------. ;; ~. 9. CompHance shan be required with arl applicable codes and ordinances, lncludi,.g Titles 9 (Peace, Morals and Safety) and IS (Uniform fire COde) of the ~alo Alto Municipal Code* 10. The sale of alcoholic b&verages under this use permit shall be deemed an agref'ment on He part of the applicant, the: owner, their heirs. successors and assigns to com~ly .ith a11 terms aDd conditions of t~fs use permit. 11. Thl! P1anning CQ.fssirtr. sl'lll1 hold i pIJb1fc hearing within six IICnths of the appro va 1 IJf this pennit for the purpose of determining the condft1ons' effectiveness in redt:cfng noise Inri other nt.'isances riC/sed by the operation of the bl.:s;ness. In deter=fning whether to i)(tend the pe,..it ",ith.ut e"'nges or to reccmmend that the Cily Co.nciT modify the c!Jndftions~ the PTanning Commission sh • ., 1 consider the findings set ffJrth In section 18.90.080 II) and (b), of the Palo Alto Zoning Ordinance. RtcnlllMndltion The Planning Commission recommends that tns Cit~ C~uncil the Zoning Ac!mir.istrator til MOdify the cor,ditions of Use on the findings and modifi~d conditions ab~v~. modifications to conditions appear i~ it~lics.J uphold the decision of Pe~it 73-UP-36~ bastd (Planning Commission Respectfully submitted, '-flo UJ.t '-f!v.~~(&... ~~~ckk KENNETH R. SCHREIBER ~ NANCY MAD'60x LYTLE Cnief Planning Offi,i.l ~u 1I1.::\ Im\u~ ~"';:-;: City Hanage-r DirectoT of Planning and Communit~ Environment Attachments: 1. Planning CQrnmission Staff Report dated 12/(/92 2. Police Department Record:; Showing Calls For Senite Attributed to The Edge 3* E~cerpt Minutes of the ]2/9/92 Planning Commission Meeting 4. Infol"'ll'lation Presented by Staff at PTanning Conm;ssion 14eeting 5, letter from Appellant dated l1/4/92 6. Public Correspondence cc: Jacek Ras;cki. 260 Californla Avenue. Palo Alto, CA 94306 Du~ Sundheim, 420 Flor!nce Street, Suite 200, PaTo Alto, LA 9430] B~rnBrd L3zansky, 691 Mills Road, Sacramento, CA 95864 CMR:125:93 p:~.c:nw 1/14/93 Page 5 • -n • , ~ ! • • ~~ ee <wit~out attach .. nts): CAAOA, P.O. Box 60583, Palo Alto, CA 94306 Theodore Daldon, )23 Millwood Drive, Millbr.e, CA 940)0 William Stankovie, 526 Bryan! Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301 Premier Prcperties l 532 Emerson Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301 E~rscn Associates c/~ Biagini Properties, 104 Park Center Plaza, San Jose, CA 95113 Brad Adams, 350 Call Ege A ... ·eoue, 'S, .oal 0 A1to~ CA 94306 5",y S'9rO, P.O. Box 60S55, Palo Alto, CA 94306 ~icole Israel, 1961 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA 94301 Ric~ W1ngarten, 469 Grant Avenue, Apart~nt T. Palo Alto, CA 94306 Todd _,y, 285 College A,enue, Apart"",nt E, Palo Alto, CA 94306 Andrea Corney, 360 College Avenue, #6, Palo Alto~ CA 94306 Hackner, 355 College Avenue, Palo Alto, C~ 94306 Kerry McNeill, 2115 Park Boulevard, Palo Alto. CA 94306 Jay L. PaCKard, 315 Oxford Aver.ue, Palo Alto, CA 94306 De Tran, 2570 El Camino Real ~est •• 216, Mountain View. CA 940~0 Julie Ma~inen, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94306 Scott Pray, 1200 Pine Street, P.lo Alto, CA 94301 Mark Burton, 427 Oa~ {~urt. Menlo Park, CA 94025 Eugene McKenney, 304 a.ford Avenue, Palo Alto. CA 94306 Yvette S. Rudolph. 120 East Creek Drive, #8, Menlo Park, CA 94015 Stefanie Pompon1, 1179 Noel Drive, Menlo Park, CA 94025 Ber~ard LJzansky, 691 Mills Road, Sacra~~nto, CA 9SB64 Carlos Bimes, P.o. Box 390873, Mountain Yiew~ CA 9~039 Steye Goldb<r~, 117 California Ayenue, Apartment 0-400. Palo Alto, CA 94306 Ronna Devincenzi, Grubb and Ellis, 379 Lytton Avenue~ Palo Alto. CA 94301 Terry Snuchat, 290 Ca'ifor~ia Avenue, Paln Alto, CA 94306 Kathryn Sarron, 355 Cllege Avenue, Palo Alto. CA 94306 Warren Wong. 2431 Ash Street. Palo Alto, CA 94306 CMR: 115: 93 1/14/9; Page 6 • \ ~ .. '~ . ATTACHMF..NT 1 DATE: Deceober 4, 1992 10: PALO ALTO PlAHIIlNG CllIIIIlSSIOli PREPARED BI: Nancy Haddox lytle REPORT IN BRIEf: 26Q C.llfornia Avenue: Appeal of the Zoning Administrator's d!ci$~on to modify the conditions of Conditional Use Permit 73-UP-36, granted to a previous restau~ant use at 260 California Aven~e~ now occup;~d by The £dge. T~e use permit allows live enterta;nment ~nd dancing associated vith on-site sale and (onsumption of liq~cr, beer and wine, accessory to tne operatlon of a bona-fije restaurant. 5nvjronlCDtll Assessment: Exempt fr~~ the provis!ons of the Californ;a Environmental Quality Act pursuant to Article 19, Section 15301. Minor Chang~s to and Existing Fatility. 19n" District: CC(2}(R)(P) ~Nos.: 13-UP·36 APPLICATfOH INFQRMATIQt~ Appellant: Type Df Application: Oates: SITE INFORMATlON O~f Sundh~im, att~r~ey for The Edge 260 California Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94306 (415) 324·844) Conditional Use Pfrmit Appe~l Tl'le a.ppl ica.nt requested a l~es.c."'ed\Jl ;'f'o9 of t~e original hearing date and has agre€d to waive the 3D-day lIaximum time limit between Planning Commission recommendation and Cjty (ouncil consideration (~aiyer letter attached). OWner; Bernard t.azansky 691 Mi 11 5 Road Sacramento, CA ~5S&4 Assessorls Parcel Humb€r: 124-28-33 C.omprehensive Plal' Designation.; Regional/Corrmunity COl'!lTlercial Existing Land Use: Eating «nd Drinking EstabTishment P:\PCSR\2.6OCAL.PC 12-4-92 I , , .~ Surrounding land Use: Existing Zc,lng: PRQJECT !NFQRMATION North: [ast: SQuth: West: Public parking lot Office/commercial COrmlercial (on,nerc i a 1 CC(2)(R) (P) Project History; On August 20. 1992 the Zoning Mmirlistrator s.cheduled a revocation/modification l'Iearir.g, prompted b,Y complaints that The Edge .as not operating in compliance with the provisions of Use Permit 73-UP-36 (permit attached) i~d that it was b~ing operated in a manner detriment~l to the public health. safety a~d wElfare; and because of a hi9h n~mber of Police ~partment calls for ser~ice (refer to lette~ from Haney lytle to Jacek Rosfc.ki, dated July 10,1992). This action is al10wed und.er Section 18.90.080 and allows the Z~ning Administrator to hold a public hei!lrinQ in ar.y case where the-conditia-fis of a use permit have net been complied with~ or evidence indicates that tht use is being conducted in a manner detr;menta~1 to the puhl ic health, safety or welfare. Following the public hearing, the Zoning -Administ~itor may either modify or revole the permit , At the August 20, 1991 Zoning Administ~etor's hearing, public testimony was taken from neighbors, patrons, e~loyees and the operators of lhe Edge (minutes attached). The public hearing was left open ~nd continued to i date certain in oroer to allow The Edge operators and neig~bors to de.elop solutions to the concerns related to noise, litter, parking and Police Department calls for service. On September la, 1992, the public hearing was closed after additional public testimony {minutei attached}. The loning Administrator rendered 1 decision modifying the conditions of the use permit. The only modification that was Dejected to by the ep~ellant was the imposition of a mandatory clGsing time of 2;00 a.m., where pre~iously the use permit contained no mandatory clOSing time. On ~tober 2, 1992, Ouf Sundheim, attorney for 1he Edge, appealed the Zoning Administr~tor's decision based up~n the belief that The Edge should be allo.ed to remain open until 4:00 a.m. Through the appea1. The Edge a1 so requested that the IS,day submi ttal period for 1; rle, SEcurity, sign, and educ~tion plans be extended to 30 daY5. They also req~ested a modification of condition 6 to allow a period of 2 hours for 1 Ht(Jr remo~al (apileil l~tter attached). Curre~t Ooeration: T~e Edge c~rrently operates under Use Permit 73-UP-36, granted to a German dance club in 1973. which allows the on-site sale and consumption of liquor, beer and wine accessory to the Gperation of a bona fide restaurant. Ine Edge has a restaurant on~site that ser .... es pizza, pasta, and sal~d5. ~s well as other food and drink. The Edge also pro¥ides a dance floor with beth recorded and live musi~. Th€re is a ~over charge 11-4-91 2 , · .-.•. -.'--""~.~ ..... "" . .. ',,' ::: -"-~- " f , tl) enter the establishment. Upon entry. each patron's "Hnd h stamped to identify the1r age for the purpose of purchasing and drink~ng alcohol. The Edge doe~ not separ~te those patrons who are under age from those who are of legal drinking age, whi en Is an alternate method of control' fl"lg under aged drinkIng. On Sunday nights, The [ege holds youth nlgots for those patrons under 21 years of age. No alcoho1 is sen'ed on youth nights. Currently, 1Me Edge closes between 3:00 a.m. ind 4:00 a.m. on reg~lar nights .nd at 1:00 a.m. on youth n;9ht. ~"!lYSIS/ISSUES Reasons for Modification Hea.rjnq: As explained above, the Zoning Administrator initiated a re~ocatiQnl modlflcation hearing process for Use Permit 73-UP-36 because of numerous cDllphints regarding noise, 1 itter, actions ~f patron~, parlfing and P{ll ice Dep!rtment calis for service. Issues precipitating the ~ea~ing and tnnse discussed at t~e heir1~g are listed below. Hours of Operation The CHy rec:e1'Ved comph.ints tt-:at The Edge re-mai!1ed open as late as 3:00 or 4:00 a.m., liter than any other establishment providing l~ve or recorded ~sic in the C;ty. US! Permit 73-UP-36 does not include prescribed hours of operation. and, therefore, The Edge was not in vl01ation. However, residents in the area complained that patrons la~ving a~ late as 4:00 a.m. awok~ them. Residents have complain~ that patrons have exhibited drunken and rowdy behaVior as w~ll as yelling .~d screaming as the~ walk back to their cars late at night. Vandalism arod litter are asscci.a"ed wit~ this type of rowdy behavior. Recently, tne City ha~ limited hours of op~rition for Similar uses through the use pennit process to avoid complaints from n2ighbors and reduce Polic€ Oepartment calls. Two otner establishments in the City. La Cumbre and f~nny and Alexander's, also night-c1ub type uses, experience sim~lar complaints and a high 1evel of PoTice De-partment can s for ser\'ice. [acn operates under a use permit grar,ted in 1973 which does not include hours of operation. Pudley's and 4,nd Street. -..hich operate iJnaer more recerltly granted use permits in 1991 and 1992 have clOSing times of 2:00 i.m. and ]:00 a.m. respecti~ely. limiting the hours of operation for these types of facilities does two things: it limits the duriti~n of noise generators like amplified music and patrons in residenthl :leighoorhoods, arld it provides the Police [).epilrtment .-an a one-time closure to wtl'TC~ the~ can dedicate an officer to oversee the quiet dispersal of patrons. Dispersal of patrons over a long period of time wahout pol ice supervision car. lead to more complaints ~nd calls for serw1ce throughout th~ night. 12-4-92 3 I I live E"tertainment and Dancing is wAccessory~ Use The CHy does not allow nightclubs as iii. pennitted or conditional use in ally Zl)ne. The entertain'llent associated ..... it~ Uis type of use is al1lJwed accessory to the operation of iii. bcna-flde restaurant. In the ca5~ of the Edge, live music and dancing are not consishnt with staff's normal intprpre'i:.ation of an accessory use. A "rule of thumb· employed by staff in defining atcessory uses is tnat theJ typically occupy 25 percent or less of tne total squiiLr~ footage of iii. business, or comprise 25 percent aT less of the business activity_ The Edge. and its' predecessors, have operated the facility in such iii. .anner that the majority of the fiiL'ility~s squ~re footage and business activity a~e devoted to entertainment. -~~ generi'. the publi~ testimony did not call for closing The Edge. but irstead to limit it through the imposition of cOilditions. In o~~der to put a stron9~r emphasis on the restaurant .portion of the business, condition S was added? requiring easy accessibi1ity b~tween the entertainment arei and the restaurant. and that t~e restaurant to be open during 211 hours of D~er~t1on. The inte~tion is to ~phasize the permitted use, the restaurant, and encourage patrons to eat more food anC drink 1ess a1cohol. t1l1s for Service Poi ice Dep3rtment records show that cal1~ for servi~e directly attributed to The Edge from January 1 tnrough May 31, 1992, totaled 61, more than any other establishment in tne City. During this period, there were 32 calls for disturbances and 20 arrests. The report shows that calls for service in the California Avenue district tnat may aTso be attributed to The Edge, during the same pertGd of time. totaled 43, including 9 disturbances and 16 arrests. In the period between July and October, 1991, the police also responded to 61 calls for service. Police haVE responded to t.he area for other calls for service including fights, noise, burgTar1es~ minors drinking alcohol and damagE to Cirs and other private property. The appe11ant asserts that there is no evidence of complaints of excessive noise or calls for seryjce attributed to The Edge during the 2:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. period. The Polic.e Department recently bro~e down the calTs for service attributed to The Edge for the period between July and October 1992 into particular time periods (refer to letter from Chris Dur~in, Pollce Chief, dated November 23, 1992). The calls for service totaled SS durir.g that period, lD occurring before 12 Mldnight. 17 occurring between 12:00 cidnight and 1:00 i.m., 9 occuring between 1:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. ~ and 3 Dccurrin~ after 2:00 a.m. lhe Police comptTed the same data for disturbances attrlbuted to The Edge and fownd that out of 26, 10 occurred before midnight, 8 occured betW€en 12 midnight and 1:00 a.m., 4 occurred between 1;00 i.m. and 2:00 i.m., and 4 occurred after 2:nO a.m. Althcugh oni), 15 perci!nt of the tetal cills for service and disturbances occurred after 2:00 a.m. ~ these numb~rs still exceeded any other singl! use in the City during the same time period. A 2:00 a.m. closure for The Edge P:\J'CSR\l6OCALPC' 12-4-92 4 , would have eliminated !5 percent ~f th2 Po1ice Department's responses during that p.,riod. But an even more compe11ing reason to impose iilil'! earlier closing time is tne ability to predict the exiting time of patrons in arder to have" higher police presence to oversee a or-e-time c:1<lSirlg of The Edge at 2:00 '.m. Patron Parking and Noise Because of inadequat£ on-site parking, many of The Edge patrons park their yeh;c'e~ on t~e street within the California A~enue neighborhood. Meighbors have ccmp1ained of car sttreos blar;ng~ car horns blowing, car alarms going off, caTS rac1n~ up and down Calirornia and Park Avenues j and other nuisanc~s at late hours. Com?laints allege that patrons often 1inger ~y t~eir cars talking. and sometimes yelling~ after The Edge has closgd. Staff recognizes that parking within residential areas fn combination with the late cTosing time is a fUndamental ,land use issue-that can be detrimental to the public welfare and Quality of life. Tn'is issue is addressed in condition 3 which requi~~s a plan for secur~ty ~ulrds to control pitron parking. litt.r The City re~ef~ed complaints relat~d to litter on i~d around properties in the Califorr.ia Avenue area. Re-sidents have commented that ~n mornings lft~r concel'ts are he'd at Tt,e Edge they find trash in their yuds, including beer bottles and cans~ food wrappers, and broken glass. Muth of t~e litter is alleged to be attributed to off-site drinking. The-use permit allows t~e on-site sale and cons~mption of beer, wine and liq~or; however. patrons ma~ not ta~e open containers off-site. This may also be attributed t~ patrons consuming llcoholic beverages before entering The Edg~. In eitner instinc~, the City re-cognizes off-site drinr.ing and the litter assoc,.ted with it as a serious problem that could lead to physical degradation of the California Avenue area. These problems are addressed ir. conditions land 6, reGJ~Ting 1itter removal and securitf guards to assist in controlling vandalism and to coordinate wiUi police in cc-ntrolling i1lega1 cons~tion of alcohol. Issues Related to t~e Appeal: Hours of Operation With 010 legal atJthorlty to impose administrati¥e f~ne5 Dr penalties through the use permit process, th~ Zoning Administrator determined tn.t reduced hDurs Df operation with a closing ti~ Df 2:00 a.m. was necessary tD reduLe neighborhood c~mplaint5 as well as calls for service. A closing time of 2:00 a.m. would USlJre the neighborhood that noise generated or a!sociated witn Tne fdge would terminate-at a predetermined point each night. Additionally, the 2:00 I.m. closure would al1~w police to r,onitor patrons and speed their dispersal, thus redUCing calls for service related to nOise and vandal ism. 12-4-92 ~ • -j Sevenl neighbors requtshrj , ];00 iII.lII. closure. HIe fdge represenhtivf!s ~11nta1n that business could not c~ntinue under a l:aO l.m. limit and t~at a 2:00 •.•. 11mit .,11 s,bstantl.lly reduce th2ir vi,bllity. Staff settled ~n 2:00 ~"m., since it i$ the latest closing time for sim~lar us~s in t~e O~town. Staff wa~ not p~rsuaded that the prescribec closing time would significantly .ffec1 The £dge1s business. Alco~olic Be~eraQe Control regulations prohibit the sale {If a.lc<lhol after 2:0fJ a.m., and the modrfied use permit prohibits the s~le of alcohol after I:30 a.m. The appellant has indicated that sale of alcaha' currentlY ends at or before 1:30 l.m. At the two previous public ~earings on this item, several pe~ple raised the issue t"lt The fdge should remain open until 4:00 a.m. in order to enable patrons to -dance or ~leep off their intox1cat~on.· This argu~nt_.a5 detenRined to be particurarly nOfl-compelling since it is. the responsibility of The Edge, and every other establishment serving alcohol. to monitor their pa~~onsl drinking and not allow them to drinK ta the point of intoxication. Staff agrees. with the appellant's request.ed change of word1ng in the 5econd s!ntence of cor.ditio~ one. This proposed change is shown in italics in the cond~tions listed below. Extension fDr Submitting Plans The applicant has TRquested that the IS-day mardatory time period for submitting line. security. iign, and education plans be extended to 30 days. Since tn.e appellant is not objecti:ng to thE conditions req'Jiring submittal of these plans, s.taff bElieves the appe1lant ~as ample time to devise and submit these plans within IS days after the City Council decision on this use permit. litter Remova1 Tn! appe11ant has also requested a modification of condition 6 to allow a period itf two hours for 1 itter removal where currentl)' the rnodi fied use permit only ill1ow~ Olle hour. Real ;ziog that The Edge has already 'nstituted an efftct1ye 1,tt~r remo~a1 ?rogr~m, st~ff accepts their assertion that a two-hour period is needed. Staff proposes that condition 6 be ~odified to allow The £dqa to conduct litt!r removal between the nQurs of 8 a.m, ind 10 a.m. Security Plan Staff ;s also proposing a modification to c1arify condltian 3 that requires tn.e submittal and i~plementation of a security guard plan. In light of the discussi~n at a previous public hearing r!garding the !ffect of The Edge on th~ proposed p~blic parking garage at 275 Cambridge Avenue, staff believ~s that the City should cl.,rly have addition,l floxibillty in the .110c,tlon of the security force. As more deve1opmef'1t and red'2velopment occurs, the makeup of tn.e California Avenue district will continue to cha"~e. The City should retain the ability to affect a change in the security plan to match P:\PCSR'26OCAL.PC 12-4-92 6 , tnt distrltt's changing ne~ds. Staff propc~es that cDndlt10n 1 bE clarified t~ allDw the City to require changes to tne boundaries of the security area, and in the number, location and actions of the security guards. Fines and Penalties Commissioner Ojakian has asked a general question as to whether or not the City can impose ~onditions which allow fines or penalties to be the remedy in case of nc-nc:cmpl iance. Currentlj~ the City does net have a mechar.ism which allows us to impose fines or rets related to code enforcement ex~ept thr~ugh 1;t19at1on. ThE Palo A1to Munfcipal Code provides several means of code enforcement: ~dminist~ati~e, criminal and civil. An exa~1e of administrative enforcement would be proceed~ngs to revoke or modify a use per~it, such IS was dene in this case. BECQt!1ENOATIOH Stiff recommends that the Planning Commission uphold the decision of the Zoning Administrator ind recommend that the City Councjl approve the conditional use permit subject to the fol1owing findings and pcroposed modified conditions (pr~pased changes app!ar in italic). f [NPINGS 1. The proposed use at the proposed location wil' not be detrimental or inj~riou~ to propertj or improvements in the vicinity. and will not be detrimental to the public health, safety, general .clfare or convenience in that. through th~s amended use permit the existing eating and drinking facility has bee~ conditioned to address complaints from adjacent business owners and residents, and to mitigate litter, vandalism, excessive noise, and park.ir,g problems related to the operation of the e~isting facility. 2. The proposed use will be located and conducted in a manner in accord with the Palo Alto Comprehensive Plan and the purposes of Title 18 of the Pale Alto Municipal Code, in that the Retail Shopping Combining District of the Community Ccmmercial zone~ and the Regional COllll1unHy Cormnercial land U.5e deSignation specifically permit eating and drinking uses in conjunction with the on-site sale and consumption af liquor, beer and wine, sybject t~ the approval of a conditior.~l use p~rmit. 12-4-91 7 COHplllONS J. There shall be na operations of any kind between the hl)urs of 2:00 I.m. and 9:00 a.m. daily, exce~t for c1eaning the premises, or for compliance with the provisions of the litte~ removal plan established ;n condltion ti. The serving cf all alcoholic beverages snall termjnate at 1:30 a.m. daily, and shall not b! allowed to cOImIence until tr.e reopening of business 1 iter that diY, but i'l na event prior to 9:00 i .• 'JI. All patron;): sha11 be vacated from the bul1dir.g by 2:00 a.m. at the end of every business day. 2. The business operator sha11 submit a plan which addresses line control, and th~processlng and dispersal of patrons wait in; to ~nter tne facility. The plan snall be reviewed and approved oy botn the Polfce Department and Zoning Administrator. The plan must identify methods for controlling and dispersing the tr~wd ~aiting to enter the establishment and will include quantitative objectives such as the mc:·xilQUm allowable length of an outdGor walting line before and during events, and a time limit for achieving the objective once a crowd forms. The plan snall be submitted no lat.r than 15 days after the issuance ~f this use penmlt and implemented immediately up~n approval unless otherwise specified. 3. 4. Tne business operator shall submit a plan for the utilintion of security guards in direct~ng patrons to deSignated public parkir,g lots for the purpGse of reducing noise le .... els and vandllism in the California Avenue district. This plan shall be reviewed and approved by both the Police Department and Zoning Administrator. The plan shall identify the number of guards necessary for speciflc event type1 and days of tne week, the boundaries and sp!cific areas the guards will patrol, specific publ;c parking lots to which patrons _ill be directed~ and the manner in which the guards are to approach and direct motorists. The Zoning Adminjstrator Itay require the operator to .ake changes in the security p1an, upon detemination that the apDroved p1an is not effective in rea'ucing comp1aints. The Zoning Adllinistratar may .1so require changes t~ the boundaries of the security area. and in the number. 1ocatir)n and actions of tile security guards~ upon a determirrlt;on that such chang€s are r;ec!ss~ry to reduce compl'ints. All secur-ity guards used to impl e:nent thi s plan Shill be licensed by the State of California and uniformed in a manner that satisfies the Police Department and also clearly identifies them as guards for the facility and not Palo Alto Police Officers. The pl all shall be submitted no later than 15 days after the issuance of this use permit an~ implemented i~diltely up~n approval unless otherwise specified. The business operator shall submit a temporary sign program for thE California Avenue district that effectlvely directs patrons of the facility to the specific public parking lots identified in the approved si!curity guard plan required by condttl0n 3. The p1acement 12-4-92 8 P \PC':Sk\26OCAL.PC , " '. ~ ~ , , S. 6, . , and 'Wording of the signs, and e't'ents. and/or da,)'s for which they will ~ utilized shall be reyi~wed a~d approved by tr.e Transportat;on D;'V~s1on. The pTan shall be submitted no later than IS days after the issuance of t"iS use pe~it and implemented immediately ~pon apprG~a' unless otherwise specified. The serving of alcohol ~c be\lerC!ges shall only be ill lowed; n conjunction wit~ the operation of iL bona-fide restaurant. The restaurant shall be in opera.Uon and easily accessible to ,and from the entertilnment area during the times in whic~ a1cohol is sold and consumed on site. The b~s;ness sha~' remove a'l litter ~ssociated with its operation in the area patrolled by t~e security guards, as d!fined in condition 3. L;tter remov.1 shall commence no !arlier tnan 8;00 i.m. and shall be completed by 10:00 a.m. tn! morning after eve.y business day. 7. The business operator shal'l allow all pitl"'ons waiting in line to have full access and ~se of bithroom facilities within tne building, whether or not that patron has paid the required COver charge. This service shall be advertized in conjunction with the educatin~ program specified in condition S. 8. Tn~ business operator shall submit a plan to educate patrons that the use of the property is only permitted under certain cond;tions~ particu?arly respect f~r th~ surroundi~g business and residential neighborhood. The education prograJ'!1 shal1 direct pati~ons to park in designated public parking lots, to reduc! noise in the Califcrnia Avenue district, to eliminate 1 itter and ~andalism, Gnd to be respectful of property and residents in the Cali fornia Avenue district. The plan s~all include w~rd1ng for handbills, to be distributed upon entry to the facility. and signs with1n the huilding. The education program shall be reviewed and approved by bot~ the Police Department and the Zoning Administrator. The plan shall be submitted no later tnan 15 days after t~e issuance of this use pe~it and fmplement!d 1mmediately upon approval unless otherwise specified. g. Compliance shall be required with a11 applicable codes and ordinances. inc1uding Tltles 9 {Peace, Morals and Safety} and 15 (UnifOrM Fire Code) of the Palo Alto Hunicipa1 Code+ 10+ The sale of alcoholic beverages under this use permit shall be deemed an agreement on the part of the applicant, the o~ner, their heirs, successors and assigns to comply with all terms and conditions of this use permjt~ 12-4-92 9 • Location Map Use Permit 13-UP·36, as modified on 9/24/92 Use Permit 73-UP-36, as issued on 10./30/92 Appellant's waiver letter dated 11/4/92 Appeal ap~lication and letter Excerpt minutes of the 9/10/92 Zoning Administrator's hearing Excerpt minutes of the 8/20/S2 Zoning Administrator's hearing letter from Nancy lytle dated 1/10/92 letto-' from O>r; s Durkin dated 11/23/92 City's c.orrespondence Appellant's correspondence Publ ic correspondence Appellant's petition of Edge patrons Copies Sent To: JaceK Rosicki. 260 California Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94306 Duf Sundheim, 420 Florence Street, Suite 200, Palo Alto, CA 94301 C.~A, P.O. Box &0583, Palo Alto, CA 94306 Bp.rnard lalansky, 691 Mills ROad, Sacramento, CA 95864 Theodore Daldcn, 323 Millwood Drive, Millbrae, CA 94030 Willia. Stankovic, 526 Bryant Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301 Premier Properties, 532 Emerson Street, Palo A1to, CA 94301 Emerson Ass~ciates c/o Biagini Properties, 104 Park Center Plaza, San Jose, CA 95113 Brad Adams, 3~C College Avenue, '8, P.lo .lto, CA 94306 Susy Sagre, ~.O. Box 60555, Pilo Alto, CA 94306 Nicole Isr.el, 1961 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA 94301 Rich Wingarten, 469 Grant Avenue, Apartment T, Palo Alto, CA 94306 Todd ~owry, 285 COllege Aver-ue, Apartment E, Palo Alto, C_ 9430e Andrea COP"ney, 360 College Avenue, 16, Palo Alto, (A 94306 Hackner. 355 College Avenue, Pi10 Alto, CA 94306 Kerry Kc~eill, 2115 Park 8ou 'eyard, P.lo Alto, CA 94306 Jay l_ Packard, 315 Oxford Ayenue, Palo Alto, CA 94306 [I", Tran, 2570 n Camino Rea' West. 1216. Mcuntain Yit!w, CA 94040 Julie Makinen, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 9430& Scott Pray, 1200 Pine Str.et, Palo Alto, CA 94301 Mark Burton, 427 Oak Court, MenTo Park, CA 94025 Eugene McKenney, 304 O~ford Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94306 Yvette S. Rudolph, 12~ East Creek Drive, t8, Henlo Park, CA 94025 Stefanie Pomponi, 1179 Noel Drive, Menlo ParK, (A 94025 Bernard Lazansky, 691 Mills Road, Sacramento, CA 95864 Car10s Barnes~ P.O. Box 39GB73, Mourltain View, CA 94039 Steve Goldberg, 117 California Avenue, Apartment D-400, Pale Alto, CA 94306 R~nna O!vincenzi? Grubb and Eilis. 379 Lytton Avenue, Palo A1to, CA 94301 Terry Shuchat. 290 California Avenue, Palo Alto, (A 94306 Kathryn Barrll.l, 3:55 Cllege Avenue, Palo Alto, C.6. 94306 Warren Wong, 2431 Ash Street, Palo Alto, CA 94306 P:\PCSRl16OCltL.PC 12·4-9? 10 >~-.--------.--,~. , , . " ~' ~. ' I (D GR,o,PI1IC ATTA\:HMENT DATE: O":l€'l1b\'!r 4. 19"n TO STAFF P.[PORT f ILE r'm~:-.--;7;:-'-;U;:-P-;'-;6~::'-----------------I t-~P~R0~J~£~C~T~:--~-,~,:,'~'Cl-;'~'~Z~':'~iC:'~A2d~'~i"~i~;:~,:'.t~,~,:-,,-;O~'~"~,=<p;,=====---------------------I .. ~, .. ----------------- ,-OCATlON MAP: 260 C~1ifCirMja Avenue Application No. 73-UP-36: ~LlFORNIA AVENUE Use Permit 73-UP-36 is hereby amended to al1o~ dancing and t~e playing of live and rec:~rded music, in combination with the on-site sale and COi1slimption of liQuor, beer and wine in conjunction with the operation of a bona 4 fide restau"ant, at 260 Cal Horn ia Avenue, Zone 01 s t ri ct CC( 2)( R)( P), Pil 0 Alto, California. and is subject tQ conditi~ns listed below. F1NlJINGS 1. The proposed USE: at the proposed location 'Will not be detrimental or injurious to ~roperty or improvements in the vicinity. and ~ill not be detrimental to the public health, safety~ general welfar! or convenience in that, through this amended use permit the ex~sting eating and drinking facility has been conditioned tJ address complaints from idjacent business owners ~,nd residents, and to mitigilte 1 itter. vandalism, ucess;ve noise. and parking problems related to the operation of the existing facility. 2. The proposed use will be located and conducted in a manner in accord with the Pall Alto Comprehens;""e Plan and the purposes cf Title 18 of the Palo Al to Municipal Code, in that the Retail Shopping C.ombining District of the COllll'lunity (orTlllercial zone, and the R~ional COlTlTlunity C::ol'lltlerc1al land use designation speciflcal1y permit eating and drinking uses in conjunction with the on·site sale and consumption of liquor, beer and w1ne~ subject to the appro~al of i conditional us~ permit. CONDITIONS 2. UP7136 nl/dsk There shall be no operations of any kind between the hours of 2:00 a.m, and 9;00 a.m. daily, except for cleaning the premises, or for compliance 'With the p':"ov;sions of tne lttter removal plan established in condition 6. Th~ serving of all alcohOlic beyerages shall terminate at 1:30 a.m. daily, Ind shall not be allowed to tor,mence until the fonowing business day. All patrons shall be vacated frLoin the building by 2:00 a..m. at the end of ever~ bUsiness day_ The business operatQr shall submlt a p1an which addresses line control, and the processing and dispersal of patrons waiting to enter the faci1ity. The pl an shal] be re~iewed and appro\led by the Poi ice Department and Zoning Administrator. The plan must jd~ntify methods for controll1ng and dlspersing the crowd waiting to enter the establishment and wt11 includ€ quantitative objectives such as the ~aximum allowable length of an outdoor ~alting line before and during events, and a tfme limit for achieving the 9/24/92 Page I • 3. 4. s. 6. 7. s. UP7335 r.l/dsk objecti .... e once .a crowd forns. The pl an shall be 5ubmi tted no 1 atEr thilrl IS cays after the issuance of t~is use permit and implernent€a' irnmcdiately upon approval unless otherwise specified. The busff'iess operator s;,all subm~t a plan for the utilization of se(urity guards in directing patrons to des1gnate.;j public parking lots for the purpose of reducing no'se le ... els and ... anddli'5m in the California fi.venue dtstrict. T~is plan stlall be reviewed and iJpproved by bvth the Police Departme~t and Zonin9 ~dmlnistrat~r. lhe plan shall identify the number of guards necessary for sp!dflc event types and days of the week, thE bOIJodaries and s1)ecific areas. th~ guards ~ill patrol. sp':cific publ ic parking lots to which patrons will be dire~ted, and the manner in w~ich the guards are to approach and dinct motorTsts. All guards used to implement this :>1an shall be licensed by ttle State of Calitor-nia al'!d unifc-rmed in a manMr that satisfies the Police Department and also clearly identifies them is guards for the facility ar;d not Palo Alto Police Officers. The p1an shall ~e submitted no later than 15 days after tne issuance of th1s use permit and implemented immediately upon approval unless otherwise speclfied. The business operator shall submit a temporary !:;gn program for the California p.llenu! distric.t that -affectilJelj -directs patrons of tfie facility to tne specific public parking lots identified in condition 3. The placement and wording of the signs, and events and/or days for which they will be utilized shall be reviewfd and approved by tne Transportatior. Division. The pian shall be submitted M 1ater tnan 1S days after the issuance of this use permit and irnp1ementeo' immed; ately upcn approvaT unless Dtherwise specified. TMe serving of alc.oholic beverages sh.all only be anowed in conjunction with the opefit~on of i bona-fide re~tau~ant. The restaurant shall be in operation and e~sily accessible to and from the entertainment area during the tlme~ in wh,ch alcch~' is sold an~ consumed en Site. The bUsiness shall remOlt£;' a.ll litter a.Ss~ciited ltIIitn its operation in the area patrolled by the security guards, as defin9-d in condition-3." litter remcn'al shall c'Ommence no earlier than 8:DO a.m. and shan be completed by 9:0n a.m. the morning after every busin~is day. The bUsiness operator shall allow all patrons waitir,g in iine to ~Ia-.,e fun iccess and use of bathrJom facilities within tne buflding, whether or not that patron has pai.:' the required cover charge. Th1$. service shall be advertize,d in conjunction with the education program specified in condition S. The bUsiness operator shall submit a plan tu educate patrons that the use of the property is only permitted under certair: conditions, particularh respect for the surrounding business and residential neighborhood. The education program shall direct patrons to park in deSignated public parking lots, to reduce noise in the Califcrnia Avenue distrir:t, to el iminate 1 itter and vandal ism, and to be re::;pectful of property and 9/14/91 Page 2 • residents in the California Avenue district. The plan shall include wording f~r handbills, to be distributed up~n e~try to the facility, and signs withir. the butld.ing. The education program shall ~e r~l{iewed and appr~v~d by the Police Department and the Zoning AdMinistrator. The pian s~al' be submitted no later than lS days after the issuance of tr.i~ use permit and implemented immediately upon approva1 u~iess ct~erwise specified. 5:. Compliance shall be reqlOired with all app1icable-codes and ordinances, including Titles 9 (Peace, Morals and Safety) and 15 (Unifon Fire Code) of the Palo Alto Muoicipal Code. H)' The sale of alcoholic beverages under this u~e permit shall be deamed an igreeJne,Tit Oil the part of the applicant, th~ O'Jlner, tI~~ir heirs, successors and assigns to comply with all terms and condition$ of this use pe~~it. fJ~M...ut~J~ KAHC~OOX LYTLE Zoning Administrator September 24, 1992 TIIis fOri! does not constit-Jte the use penr.it for which appl ication was made. If the application is approv!d and if no appeal from this ~ecision is filed by ~ny person~ firm DT corporation affected by the deCision on or by October 4, 1992, you will receive a copy of your permit in the mail. ff this applicaticn is not decided to your satisfaction, the decision may be appealed to the Phnning Commission by filin~ an appeal application with the Planning Department and City Clerk on or before the above-mentioned date. cc: City Council P1anning Commission Sue Case, Senior ASSistant City Attorney Lyn~e Johnson, Assistant Police Chief Capt. Tom Merson. Police Departme~t Mark ~enable, Pollee Department ~;ch Cabrera, Ordinance Comp1iance Inspector Joseph M. Colonna, Planner Jacek Ras;cki, 260 Ca1ifornia Av£nue, Palo Alto, CA 9430Q Duf Sundheim, 420 Florence Street, Suite 200, Palo Alto, CA 94301 Br,d Adams, 360 College A,enue, ~8, Palo Alto, CA 94306 Susy Sagr., P.O. Box 60555, Palo Alto, CA 94306 Nicole Isr •• l, 1961 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA 94301 UP7336 9/24/91 ~/dsk 'age 3 UP7336 nl/dsk Ri~h Wingarten, 4651 Grant Avellue, Apartment TI Palo AHa, CA 94306 Toad Mowry. ZBS College Avenue, Apartment E. P210 Alto, CA 94306 Andrea Corney, 360 College Avenu~. #6, Palo Alta, CA 94306 CAAOA, P.O. Box 605B3, Palr, Alto, CA 94306 Hackner, 355 CD11eg~ Avenu!, Pa10 Alto, CA 94306 Kerry McNenl, 2llS Pari< Boul,vard, Palo Alto, CA 94306 Jay l. Pack.rd, 3iS Oxford Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94306 Oe Tran, 2S70 El (amin~ Real West~ 'ZI6, ~ountaln View, CA 94040 Julie Makin,n, P.O. Box 1510, Palo Alto, CA 94305 Scott Pray, 1200 Pin. Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301 Mark Burton, 427 Oak Court, Menlo Park, CA 9~025 Eugene ,",cKenney t 304 Oxford Al,lenue. P<llo A H 0, CA 94306 Yvette S. Rudolph, 120 East Creek Drive, ,a, ~enlo Park, (,1 94025 Stefanie Pomponi, 1179 Hoel Dri"" Menlo Park, C~. 94025 Sernard lazansky. 691 Mills Road, Sacramer,to, CA 95864 Car1~s Barnes t P.O. Box 390873, Mountain ~je~, CA 94039 Steve Goldb .. g, 117 California Avenue, Apartment 0-400, Palo Alto, CA 94306 John Woolfo", 24S lytton Avenue, Palo ~.lto. CA 94301 9/24/92 Page 4 -. J Ci'Y Of P~LU AU tp'.' P U~~~H;) t S E PER MIT OCT 301973 INSPEcnONAL SERVICES _ -.: ',.._38 '-berab7 t....s to _n.l. -.rIta.. _idee. U.'_-l CIllo filii M. Iae •• few CM 0&1. ,.f &1aIoolk ____ od. IU- _ tba _.f CallfonlU .~ 2(jC) CalUonoSa ,,_. _ Dt.uict C:-2:cn. _joct h .... foIlowlzIoI CODI1U ..... " 1. _ .......... f alecItIoltc -...-oIaall be '"""....,. to tbc ...,atloa of • _fWo _U ... ~ 2. -... .. U be DO __ • _t-plea.... "" __ _ de,h •• Dr ecU..uWI __ U .. __ Ie _ en- 4lts-l _ -lIOI _ Ill" _ be, _ Vl21 _ • "= _ _ c11,lt'-o _ vlll "" de .. 7 "1 t<t .. jaceat _'7 01' tbo polIU ...... !anl ... VUli priOI' ",'0,01 '" .... IU ... ~ tJo. Cit, of Palo Alto ~ ,. ... afoenew. ). CoOIfls-.o _ all _I!cable -. _ ~_ ""'1l1li"" 'r1t1ee, ("",,Uc _. _ola _ 1&-" _ 15 (IJDI._ P1n CDoItt) of .... h10 Uh .uclpol 0-. _ nel .. 4 (A~,," ..... __ .. a.pLoUOIMO) .. It ( ..... 11e lef." of tbe _ .f CaltforUa '_""hUho Code. 4. tile .... of al_1e be ............ tb'-U .. ~ oIaall too ..... .. ... oa. dire put of tile eppl1caBt. the GIIiIaa', tIIol., 1Ie1ro. __ • __ ipo t<t _1, _ all t.be ce... ad _ns-o of ebb _ ~. Ibis Use Permi~ is granted in accordance with a~d subject to the provisions of Chapter 18.90 of the City of p,glc ALto Mt:nicipa1 Code. In any case in which the conditions to the grantir.g of a ~S~ Permit have n~t been or are not complied with, the lotting-Adt!l.inistnH:or shall give notice to tne permittee of intention to revoke such permit at l€ast ten (10) d~ys prinr t~ a hearing th~re~n. Following such n2aring s,d if good cause existE there~ fere. the l~ning Administrator may revoke the Cse P~rmit. A Use Pen:lit 'Which has not been used within one (1.) yeal: sfter the date of granting becorr.es void, although the Zoning Admir.istrator may. ~.rithout a hear~ l.ng, extend the tirr.e for an additional year if an application to this effect is filed with him before tbe expir<ltion of the first year. • '\ . -- , • . ... _. DOTY & SUNDHEThI -I r~' . , . i November 4, 1992 D:.=;,.. .. ~ Cn·y C:: :'-J··--~.·l TO Joe Colonna Departaent of Planning and Community Environaent city of Palo Alto P.O. Box 10250 Palo Alto, CA 94303 Dear Joo: This is to confirm the Flanning Commission will hear our appeal December 9, 1992. Also, we agree to have the issue addressed by the city Council on Tuesday, January 19 and specifically waive the re~irement that the City Council hear the issue within thirty days of the date tbe matter is addressed by the Planning commission. If any of the information set forth in this letter is incorrect or if I can be of any furth2r assistance, please let me know. Sincer-ely, OOTY %.~UNDHEn{ ,/;~; Ii George M undheim GMS: lmw: IDII0492.;~ cc: Jacek Rosicki '. , CITY OF PAL..O A"'TO Oll;("e of the Cily CIP:fk APPEAL FROM THE DECISION OF ZONING Am.HNrSTRArO~ D l 2 ;, 'f':Qb()fjled in dllplio:e within len cays Iro:n date 0( decision of ZOl1'rl.g Adrninis:rator ;1 :..-.....:...:..:.,;.:.f"~::.::J': _________________ _ CilY {:~itariQI'1"No~~~36 ____ _ Receipl No. _____ _ Name o~ Appellant __ 'l'be F>lge p, I j;v_ """ k"., \ . M Phone (-415) 324-8445 Address 260 a.lifocnia Avenue .. P.alom_Alto. california 9_4JQ_6, ___ ~=_ Street City ZiP U4·28-o32 LOCAnON OF PROP~RTY; Assessor"s Perce-! No. 124-28-G33 Street Address 2® Califiynia Apefup Zone Dls1ricl CC11IBI£.l Name of Property o..-.rner flf otr..er tt-.an appeI1a'il!) -'Be""marI!O""'d.'''a"'m'''''n'''.'''''''''-_________ _ Property OWner's Address 691 foiilis !bad, Sacramento. CalifOC'l}ia 95864 Sfreet Crt'{ Th9 decisfor. or the Zoning Administramr dated ___ Seotedber 24 whereby [he application of City of Palo Alto~=c::-:=:::-,:;;-___ . _______ for a (original appiicant) cxnHtiCOjJl use nerp,i t (variance/use permit) "laS IlI:}dified (approved/denied) reasons stated i:<lhe t3nache-d letter (In dupl'icate). , is hereby appeaIed for lhe Sign<:l!ure of Appe\!ant '!be Blge. G~- PW-J"Ntt..:G COMMISSiON R[COMMfNDATION TO "THE ClT'( COUNCIL> Date Del'1:ed _______ _ CiTY COUNCiL DECISION, Date Approved ___ _ D~nied Remarks and/or Condf11ons: SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS SAllSFlED 1. 2. 3. 4. 5 f'jans Labels Appe",l A~plicat\{)r1 Forms Lerrer fee N/A . Bj .. ~. " O(~.. ~.'I.(,6y. ......... . •.• ____ 325...... __ fr-!~ 6y._ _~ ey, .. _. . _______ E.y: • _. -- . , ....... ____ -l-_________ _ ocr " =DITION'S 1. w~ appeal the "requirement that no operations of ~nY"". kind shall be conductea between 2 a.m. and 9 a.m. daily. The"-···- purported reason given by the City for this restriction is the disturbcnce c~used by dance club patrons during the 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. ~in~ow. We re~lest the permit state that ther~ shall be no c,perations bet'Veen the hours of 4. a.m. and '9 a.m. There wa5 110 evic!ence submittea at tbe hearing that the Edge, or patrons from the Edqe, were causing a significant disturbance between the hours of 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. There were no calls for service for the Police during the last month that can be linked to the fact the dance club was open until 4 a.m. The noise studies show that th~ noise level between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. averaged only 3 db over the ambient noise level. All but one of the citizen's noise complaints made at the hearing sti~l vould have been made if the dance club had been closed at 2 a~m. Detailed information Tegarding the above and the public health and safety concer~s raised by this proposed change will be addres.sed in greater detail in documents we will deliver at a later date. We believe their is an ambiguity in th2 second sentence of the first codition that could be corrected by amending the second sentence to reaj as follows: ~~e serving af all alchoholic beverages shall terminate at 1:30 a.m. daily and shall not be allowed tc commence until the reopening of bUsiness later that day, but in no event priur to 9:00 a.m. The. cond.ition is ot.."'lerwise acceptable. 2. We appeal the provision the line plan r.ust be submitted within fifteen days. We request thirty days. The con!:1it.ion is otherwise acceptable. 3. We appeal the provision the security plan must be submitted within fifteen days. We request thirty~days. The condition is ctherwise acceptable. 4. ioI'e appeal the provision tr.at the sign program must be submitt.:!d "Wi thin fifteen days. We re.quest thirty days ~ The condition is otherwise acceptable. ------- 5. Condition 5 is acceptable in its current form. 6. We requ,~st Section 6 be amended either to be from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. or 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. to give us Gufficient time to ~eet our obligation under tnis ccndition. The condition is otherwise acceptable. 1. condition 7 is acceptable in its cu~rent form. s. We -appeal the provision that the education program must be submitted within fifteen days. We ~equest thirty days. The condition is otherwise acceptable. 9. condition 9 is acceptable in its current form. INN-n.APL , " . ..-. ZONING ADMINISTP~TOR HEARING 260 Califarnia Avenue Pale Alto, California S~ptember 10, 1992 Ms. lytle: Good afternoon. T!lis is iii. special continued hearing of the zoning administrator for the City of Palo Alto in order to take up ~~ item that was pre~iously on our August 20 agenda. That item is 250 California AvenjJe~ p'JTSuant to Section 18.90.080 of the Municipal Code. A hearing has been tet to consider modification or revocation of Condit10nal Use Permit 73-UP-36 granted to iii. pre~ious restaurant use of this property at 260 California A~enue and now occupied by The Edge. The use penmit allows li¥e er.tertainment and dancing associ~te~ with the on-site ~a1~and consumption of liquor, beer and wine accessory to the operation of a bona fide restaurant. This is in zone distr~ct CC(2)(R;(P)Community COlTIni!rcial with a Retail and Pedest~ian overlay. At the last hearing, we took public testimony o~ this application, and we heard many concerns and issues raised by a w1de variety of speakers. At the conclusion of that hearing, I requested that we continue it for the purp~se of coming up with some ideas for potential conditions thit would ass;;;t .he Edge in becoming alore compatible with its surroundings. We can be constructive in developing some idea; of operating conditions that mfght go further toward making this use more compatible and in resolving some of the problems we have heard addr~ss€d. We have gotten a memo from the police department. I would l:ke to begi ~ the hearing by allowing the police to present their memo, which I thlnk will be ~aluab1e. I am Nancy lytle 1 zoning administrator. We also nave Jo~ Colonna, a planner, Sue tase, from the (;t1 Attorney's Office. Mark Venable, Police Department, Tom Merson, Police Department and John Hernandez, Pol;ce Departme'nt. Hark Venable. Pol ice Department: I will surrrn"rile the merna. Jt discusses some of the issues brought up in our previous hearing. and also summarizes some of the isslJeS tnat \IIere bro:..Jght up in letters and correspondence from residents and businp.-ss owners around The Edge. One of the CO:1cerns was ~ith long 1ines outside the club. frc~ the pol;c~ department standpOint, one of our biggest goals 1S to see the lines reduced substantially. especial1y when the dub gets to full capacit,)' inside. How is that going to be done? There are a variety of thir.gs t~Gt could be proposed, but we would like to see those lines red~ced. The patrons who are waiting in lines for long periods of time do not have adequate restroom facilities~ and that quite often is the cause of disturbances. \rI~ talke~ at trle last meet'ing a little about valet parking. From a police department standpOint, we do not think this is such a good idea. We feel th.at th; s might ellen create more problems. \l/hether The Edge has the ability to hire enough staff to adequately park everyone's vehicles if there is a specific pvent that is going to o~cur at a particular time. It is like1y that all of the patrons are g~ing to show up at the Seme time, and there would be a 10ng line of cars ~aiting tD be parked. At the end of the event, €lIeryone w01Jld be lealling at the same time, causing i: long 09/1C/92 -1- • '~-------,~,~--....-"--" -- line of people ~ajting to get the~r cars bacK. So ou~ recommendalion would be to not do that. As far as debris left in th~ area, ~e think that the ~ffort The Edge 1s making now by having personnel pick up trash, not only in the intTiediate area but in the surrounding area, has been great. It appears tnat it nas bee~ working, and we would like to see that continue. The security guards "'ere a recommendation from the pol ice department, and that has been fo1lo~ed through by Edge staff. That has worked out very well. Our police personnel who work the mjdni9nt shift and regular!,)' patrol the area and deal wit~ tho!..e prob1ems (In a regular basis ha .... e told us that the security guards have helped. Their visibility and presenr.~ hopefu11y tell people to go somewhere else and cause croblems. That is also something we would like to see continued. Tom M_erson. PQlice Department: A,JOther .... ery cont,oversial issue, particularly for the owners of The (dge, is the earTy tlosure issue. Tnat is an isSUE for us because it causes us concern regarding floW' many calls for service that we get. It causes citizen conce~ns fDr the residents li¥ing in tn~ area, ~bviously because 4 a'cluck in the morning, ~hich is the closing t;~J at least or. some nights, is a very quiet time of night. When peop1e leave at that hour of the morning, tfle sound r€ally travels, causing a lot of disturbance. From our perspective, what a good closing tlme ~ould be is uncertain. When we look at this, an ideal closing time would be midnight, but we understand the difficlJlty that that imposes for The £d.ge owners. We ~jQuld propose that we try a test peri~ of three months, or thereabouts, of 2 D'clock~ to see how tnat ~orks out. lhen after a three-month perioG, see how we feel about that closing time. We feel that the 2 o'clock c10sing time is fair, because other establishments of a sim11a~ sort also close at 2 orclock. Also, there is a spe<:ial situation existing here in that The Edge is in close proximity to a resi~ential are~ and ;s not a typical bar, as such. ]t commands a large attendance, 1arge crowds, has waiting lines, whiTe other establishments are not like that. So we want to see an earlier cTosing time. Four o'clock in the morning is not re~sonable, as far as we are concerned. Two 0'c1ocK is something tnat we would like to see as an experiment for a three-month period. ML~f1ab1e: I .... ould just add that I ..... ent and spoke with all of the pers'JnneT \-iho have workt:'d lIIi tn the oift!ners over all the years that The Edge has been there. They have been very cooperatl~e and eager to imple~ent the suggestions we have made and to try them out. This has be-en very positi~e in <!ealing wiU1 some of the probTems and has probabl". avoided some problems that ltoIould have been there otherwise. Of course, we are here today as a result of ql1ite a few letters arid calls for service arlO disturb~nces. So t~ere does need to be a more perman~nt solution tnan the band-aid approaches we have been taking OVEr the years to resolve the~e p!'"oblems. lots .. ...1.Y1l.g,: Thank yO'u. Irfe will go to ths public noltol. We wi 11 begin with Mr. Sundheim. First I want to explain the rules of the hearing. You need to wait to be r~cognized, you need to introduce yourself for the record, and I aSK that you address your comments tv me. If you tould be aware of nDt repeating pre'.deus testimony, III€ took a fun afternoon of testimony at 09/l0/92 -2- ----.~--.- • , I the last hearing_ The main focus of today~s meeting ;s to try and ~ome up with constrtlcti .... e ideas is to what might be done to improve the operation of this facility. I ~ill also take testimony from speakers wno have nat yet ~ad a chance to ~resent issues of conce~n or positioni or evidence Hat would b~ relevant to the decisioJl. The decision will not be made here today_ We ~ill cio~e the hearing after we have heard from everyone, and within 10 w~rking days, the deci~ior. .ill be issued in writing. If you are not the app1icant or the permit holder or the owner of the property. y~u do not automatica11y get a copy of the cecision. You need to fil1 out iI form in orde-r to receive 11. The decision will be final, if it is nJt appealed within 10 calendar days. If it is appeaied j the decision will be forw~rded on to the planning commission for their recor:mendation, and finally to the city council for tneir action. Duff Sundheim. 67 -IlJlip tane Pale Alt..Q: First of all, I have had se',leral conversations with Mr. Y~r.able. and he has been very cooperative. That is the spirit witn which \oJe nal,le all beef'1 tryi!1g to mO',le ahead'. A. couple of things that surprised me is that I thought we were going to· use this period to try and communicate with each other. I don't mean to sound negatil,le, but I am goin9 to be negative for a fe.· seconds. I never saw the ~emo. I tr~ed to hav~ i meeting several times with the police, and they refused to meet with me. So I tnink there a~e sume creative solutions. 1 am concerned about their costs, and we want ta meet their needs if tney are nav)ng increased calls for ser~ice, and Mark was great over the phone and to1d me that a11 these alternatives just weren't ~iable to them. It seems to me that if we can spend tens {)f thousands of dol lars to provide free strvices for a Stanford footba11 game, and we are willing to pay for these additional calls for services and the additional t:me tnat is requ1red by them, it just seems to me that there has to be some creative solution tnat can hopefully be reso1ved by our working with the po1;ce and lol1th whoever else is necessar.'I. 1 am sensith'e to their concerns. 1hay a.re overworked as it is. If we are making them spend a disproportionate amount of time ~ith r~spect to our facility, ~e are more than glad to accommodate that. With respect to the lines, we would be glad to meet with the polite to talk about ways to reduce those lines. If the place is full, we could shut the line down. If it is too long. ~e can let people in to use the bathrooms. if that is a problem. If tnat doesn't solve tne problem, maybe put scme tempDrary outhouses out there. That i$ a solvable prob~em. Mr. Merson: ~ho was it that refused to meet with you? Hr. Su~dheim; when I talked ~ith Mark yesterday. r had called th~ chief 1ast ~eek and asked if I could ~G~~ a m~eting ~ith him to diSCUSS some creat;~e alternatives. Mark was nice eno~9h to call me back. I (;mM'olJr'lictted all roy concerM to h.im. He sa',d he discussed. it with you and with the chief and yot back to me and said, no, this is just the way it is. Again, I was ne~er told about a memQ or its contents. Mr. Merson: Sut who ..,as it that refu$~d to !'\',eet v.:i th 'y0\1? Mr. SY.,ndtleim: When I ctllea t<l meet with the chief las.t week, ~ark ctl1ed me back and communicated the information to me that was requested. s3'id , isn't there some way that we can sit <doltOn at'd c.ome up .. ith an alternative. Mark's position was that th~re were no alternatives to 09/l0/92 -3- --_._,--....... discuss. together. negative, T~is is the way it is, an~ there is no Len~flt from gett1ng We think you guys are doi ng great, I am being a lltt1e but I dCr\'t .."ant to be o\l£rl,y negatille. Mr. ~erson: I just war.t to make sure that ycu accur2tely portray exactly what it is tnat took plac~, I cannot believe that intone refused to meet with you, and I don't tl'1inlt that ~ark said. there is nothir,g to discuss. Jf you ta1~ed to him yesterday. I think it would be reasonable for him to say, let's talk about it at the meeting, because that is what the me~ting is for. Is that an accurat& portraya1? Mr. Sundheim: No, frankly, it w~uldn't ba. L~~t week when I c~lled, r talked with Mark and he said, well, these are ideas that I cannot so1ve. (all tne chief. I ca1led the chi-ef and said, r want to dist:uss these issues. Mark called me back and said, I have dist:Jssed this with the chief. lIhat is jour position? We had a good cr-rwersation. My position W'lS, in fact, I told Mark that unfort~nately r am going to have to rai SI! this at the meeting thot these aiternatives are not being di5cussed, or tnat you feel that yo~ have consideied them and that there is nothing further to discuss, because you don't want to do it for all these reasons. I stil1 feel that whether it is with you guys or whether it is with anybGdy else~ there is some benefit of us all sittfng down and talking together. Again, Mark was very cooperative and very positi'ie with me, hut my f~eling was that he was relating to me the position that was established by the police, and r felt that the decisionmakers, the people who had the l~i 1;, t)' t'1 make thos~ dec is' ens, when I asked to me@t wi th them, r got handed back off to Mark, and that I was working through people. Ms. lytle: 5 o·clack. suggestions tile publ ic. Mr. Sundheim, 1 'ffould like to conclude this hearing at The purpose of this meeting ;s to get some constructive and that is what I am looking for from you ar.d from members of Mr. Sundheim: J am sorry. I did nat mean to get off on that. With respect to the hours, again, the calls for service, since we have had thp. security guards, are down SO percent. ~ith respect to the numb~r of (alls the police are being required to make after 2 o'clock, there .."as only o~e call. MS~rtle: So you would not be at a11 reluctant for the city t~ add a security guard requirement ~s a condition. !tiT. Sundheim: At certain times {If the year lIthen there is a perception by the (ity that that is necessary. 1 think you will find that starting in October, the amount of nOise level will go down significantlY, and we will maintain the security guards as long as the police request them. But if they feel, hey, it's November. it's raining, nobody ;s out i~ their cars ~nd it is no problem, if it is mutua11y agreeabl~. But ~€ w{11 agree to have them there as long as the police feel that is appropriate. The second thing is about the noise le~el. WE went out and did a nOise st~~y to see when the noise wa~ occurr1ng. The a~erage decibel level wa~ only four decibeTs above the ambient noi!;e le ... el during these periods, There ~re two areas wh~re it is somewhat of a problem, but after 2 o'clock, it is n~t a problem at any of the eight sites .."her~ we did this 09/10/92 -4 . • examination. There \li3S one guy yelling, and that wa.s. the only tn'fng that was la~d. One lunatic. Other than that. it is four decibels oyer, and it drops. off aftel'" 2 o'c1ocic. under CErta1n situations. So again, we .. auTo' like to work with you to fir,1 a solution to the line 'probl~l~s. He debris in the streets, that s~ems to be working out pretty welt, hut the hours. just from the data cf Salter and Company and the pnTice reports themselves do not seem to indicate that ne;se after Z o'clock ;s a significant preblem. 115. lytle: Is the debr-i:i a c{lndition that would require you to do what e-s.se~tiai1y you are doing. maybe with l little more consideration for the hours? We have h.eard some camp' aints about that. ~r. Sur.dheim: Yes. if they wanted it late or in the mornin9~ or w~enever, that is fine. Ms. lvtTe: 50 that is not a problem. Regarding the reduction of l1~es~ ar~ you willing to live with a condition that the lines be reduced, in whatever way is worked out? Mr. Sundheim: The only problem is, ~hat if a Tot of people sho~ up at once. What we will do is to make sure that we have e~tra peopl~ to Ch~CK people in. Ms. Case: 1 would liKe to have you say something about that. is also the opportunity fOf the pol~ce to enforce conditions, bett.er to occLtr in this process than b"t-!. idl2' of it. T!1is permit so it ; s Ms. lytle~ Regarding the 1ine reduction, ~ have heard that the problem is not so much check~n9 ].D. as it is that once the club fills to capacity, people wait to get io+ A line f~i~s waiting to get into the club. How can we eliminate that excess? Jacek RDSicki. Manager and Pa~t Owner of The Edge; It;s a learning process for us. Once we learned that tnere are Q lot of people showing up, and we reach 90 perc~nt of capacity? in the summertime, we began to 5e~d the rest home~ So essentially, by 10;30 p.m., only during the summer an Tuesday nights, ~y 10:30 or 11 o'clock, most of the people were 5ent at home. At ten a"clock, which was one of tne nights that Of1e of the officers came down and took pictures, there was a huge line, and a half hour later the line disappeared because we sent the rEst home. There were In or 30 people hanging out in the parking lot, hoping they might be able to get il\~ but SO or 90 percent of the 1 ine \lias. dispersed by u-s, and :.lie have not had any incident during the entire 5ummer on Tuesday nights. T~e only time during certain events, a co~ple of hundred pecple might show up at the same time. What we ~ill do is to get a couple of peop1e checking I.D.s to mo~e the line quickly, and we wiJl make sure that it is done c.arefully so t.i'lat riO one "Will get "in ... ith a fake r.0. We "Mill be happy to hire an extra person or two to check the I.D.s. Because there is i line of a 100 or 200 ?eople outs1de doe~ not mean the p1ace is full inside. It could mean we have just opened the doors. We will be very happy to .. ork with the po1ite depa.rtment. Ou.dng the summer on "Tuesday nights, the line was very w~ll contr01led and there was no misbehavior on the part of any of the patrons. If there are people ~ho need to use the r~stroom~ we are very happy to 1 et them do so. We have al ready fixed tile O~/10/92 -5- • • ·,-----~,- problem and even ..,ashed a couple of the-neighbors' carpEts and we believe the proble~ has been s~l~ed. Mr. Syndheim: Pre..,.iously, we would not let people in t.o use the bathroom. and no .. we are letting them '-:'1. If there is a show and the"'e is stili a prc'blem, we will be glad to put out som~ portables. Ms. lytil: Let me confer with the city attorney. If a condition read that line reduction needs to occur according to a method acceptable to the police departm€nt, would that be a good way of wording it? They could propose a plan, but we would want that phil for line reduction to Wieet with the sitisfa~tion of the police ~epartment. Ms. Case: 1 do not have ililythihg against giving contriJl to the ;I"lice department, but r would prefer to ha..,.e it brought back to the z~ning adm1rdstrator. Mr. Sundheim: In conjunction with the police department. Ms. lytl e: let's turn to members of the publlc. Since there are so many of you, let's try and keep your comments to f;ye minutes. Jay Pac.kard. 315 Oxford A\leru!a.~B_lo Alt.Q: [li..,.e approximately three blocks from The Edge. Ttlese coments represent far more than myself. They 3re from the residents of Evergreen Park. (1) The club should ClOSE at 1 a.m. (2) The servlng of alcohol sho\1'id end one hour before closing. This will result in the m~re gradual flow of patrons leaving, instead of the existing mass exodus. This requirement was imposed on a club in the City of Capitola due to similar problems. (3) Reduce the oi.cupancy le ... el insid~ the building to 500. (4) lim~t the r.umber of patrons waiting outside. (5) Restrict parking in the E\lergreen Park. area after )0 p.m. to only residents and their guests. {6) Insist an full compliance with thEir type 47 1 iquor 1 icense whi eh requi res a bona fide r'?staurant under Section 23038 of th! BUSiness and Profess;~ns Code. They are currently in ~iolation of this. A neighbor went there just to eat. and was told that he could not. ~hen the neighbor protested, how could this be a restaurant if you don't serve food, they ~..,.entua11y got a key to let the neighbor into a locked back door to serve a small piece of pizza. So much for a bona fide resta~rant. (7) R~sp~nsible ~uards a~d cleanup crews to be required. A popular neighborh~od bench at the corner of (allege and Birch used regularly at night by Edge employees and patrons was recently defaced with graffiti, includ~ng ~All niggers must die. KKK is 0"1 the 'Way." Fou1 language was also scrawled on it. It was 50 Dffensive that it has been unded off by the resident who lives nearby. If The Edge is unfaithfUl in complying with the above. or if full compliance does not remedy the neighborhood disturbances, then we recommend that The Edge b~ closed down. Its location is wrong, next to sleeping Evergreen Park. Ms. lytle: Thank you very much, Mr. Packard. 1 appreciate your conCise presentation. A good model for the next speaker. Joan Cartell . __ J47 (1.]jforr.ia A .... enue. Palo Alto: I am He owner of Joannie's Cafe. I came here today because. as a business owner in the area, ! have a dUferent perspective tha" a resident of the area. I have certain conc~rns about the climate far businesses in the California A~enue area, which has always been secondary to the University Avenue area. Some 09/10/92 -6- ,II .. , , ( ! of my concerns are b~5ed primarily C~ the fget that Paio Alto is very fond of restaurants, which is good! but California Avenue ;:<; somewhat dying off as far as its ability to serY'ce a night tims crowd in the restaurant business. Sinca the beater closed down several years. back.~ il lot of He nighttime crowds have diminished. It has become a very youn~ crowd, whic!'l ;s good, tal), but as J bUsiMSS owner, I would like to see something that would cont;n~e to have fifght life in that area. rt is p~imarily a residential are~ around there, but it i~ important for us to also have a tertilln type of secondary environment to University Avenue, as far as drawing people in the eve~ing, Another concern r have is that it is nfee to have a club in th€ aru where children do not have to ddve 30 miles cne way, perhaps uTider the inf1u~nce of alcohol and take that risk on their own lives and the liVes of th~ir friends in the car. ";y nwn childl'"en are still small. blJt ~ concern is basically as a parent and as a business owner. I think we need to encourage businesses even into He evening in the main areas of Palo Alto, which includes California Avenue. Ms. l~tle: So you are essentially supportive of The Edg€. Ms. Carte'l: I am supporti~e. r am not saying they don't have problems tnat need to be regul~ted, but I am supportive of having a business climate in that area. Something in the ever:iTl9 is appropri .. te. l:iichael Redmond. ~250 £1 Cam.ino ~€al. Palo Alto: I am an employee of The Edge arid have been tnere for-six years. I would like to address tl"le 'issue of closing at an earlier time. Obvious1y Z a.m. lIIould be mud'! better than I a.m., yet I have some concer~s about that. If we were to close at J i.m., I don't think th2 club c{)uTd survive financia1ly. We ... ould lose too much mGney. I derive about 20 perc~nt of my annual income from The Edge, and without that, I don't think I cou1d make my ~ort9age payment. That is n~t the nei9hbornood's concern or the community's concern. rnat is just my wife's and mine. But we also employ 30 emp10yees at The Edge. With the current r~cessionarj' period, I don't think we can afford to put any more people out of business. Also, closing earlier at 1 a.m. or 2 a.m., you are going to force a few hundred people all at once into their cars after ha\ling c.onsumed some a1coho'iic beverages. I am sure more than one of them win be over the 1egal limit of intoxication. 1f YO;J keep it operJ until 4 a.m., they can then danc~ off their intoxication and be sober enough to driVE hom€. I am also concerned about some issues that have not been brought up. Being an employee, I \!las pri\ly to one of th€ neigl'lborhood meet ings early on. It was said that we play the devil '5 music. and serve tJ,~ devilrs drink. Another comment was made. I don't know why thes€ young kids need to go out at night. My children never went out at night. Famil1 values may be somet~ing for a political platform, but I don't believe they are a rea~on to shut down a nightclub. I think we car. work together in a peaceful coexistence b€tween the neighborhood and the working cOr!ll1unitjl. Possibly give an incentive to those in the line to leave earlier~ perhaps offer passes for a fU'~ure performance or a future date to come back. Obvious?y the management would ha\le to okay that, but it could offer an incentive for people to leave earlier. But J beg of you. do not cTose The Edge earl ier. It will not survive. Thanks.. 09/10/92 -i-_ ....... -... _--_ .. - ~e ~cNal1y. 304 Oxford Avenue. Pal~: r ha~e to agree ~ith t~e recoITWnendations they had with regard to closure. I look .at t~is from the legal aspect of it, and you are very particular w~en JOU open a business toda~. You have to ablde by the laws. You have to ha~e this. You have to ~avithat. I ~2ppened to flip to the yelJow pages. Under Restaurants, I saw The Edge. )rlhen they are open. can I go in there, sit down and ha\le dinner, one has to ask thems~lves? The rumor is that they serve pflza. There is :mcHer fine 1ine here anou·t tI'1€ State Alcohol Board that you p€oplc-ought to iook into. I wrote a letter in regard to this. Tr.ey a"te il"i ~io1ation of their per-mit, allowing Go business to stand and the liquor la~ of California states ~crJ clearly it should ha~e to have other than just p..izza. $0 for that T(~ason, r think you ougH to ll:lok into that matter ~ery c10sely. People have told me that it is true. Ther. We have what tr.ey cali the bathroom problem. For the amount of pEo;Jle in there, I don't know ho!ol maO'1,Y outhouses you ha~e, one or two or three, but if you were opening a new estab1ishment, you would be required to have 10 or 15 bathrooms for tha~_ amount of people. You have to blte the bullet. This is 90iog to go on and on and cn. The tragedy is, somebody is goir9 to get hurt. Whoever said things were perfect. The trash, the property damage:, you"ve got people in here who have the right to speak, tut r~member, 3 lot of them aren't paying the bill in terms of ta~es. They run a business, they pay taxes, too, but when you are a resident, and for the police to be bothered with noise, they ha'ole plenty of things to do, what bothers me rrore than anything. once it is accepted, it will be back to t~ings 11 usual. Thank you. Rich Blinkerslv, 469 GraJrLStr(!.Iaj:. Palo Alto: I live on the opposite side fro[ these other neighbors, both figuratively and litera11j. Since J live in the area, one of the things I like about it is tnat there are a lot of people there. ! would like to not see The Edge ~1ose earlier. J have heard some of the problems today, but fra~kly, I have been out in these neighborhoods at various times, and I often walk downtown on Fridays or Saturdays and other nights of the week. I was down there last Friday a~d pass~d through these neighborhoods. Since I walk past The [dge in order to go do~ntown, I was able to take a look at what _as actually happening there. There were a lot of people at The Edge. rt was about 1~30 when I lI!Ient through t~ere. As: saon as J passed by and got {Iut of the c{llTIT1ercial area and into the actual neighborhoods, it was quiet. The major noise was the crickets. I went d~wntown and returred tnrough that same neighborhood about 1:30 a.m. and the situation really had not changed, T~e streets were empty a10ng Park Boulevard. Once I got near T~e Edg~, there certainly were people there. and I realize there ha~e been problems, but a~parent1y~ those ?(obl~ms are being ta~e~ care of~ in part, I wou1d like to saj a lit~le something abo~t the r~staurant issue. It has been alllh;le~ but r ha .... <'! ea.ten at The Edge. I had pizza when I was there, and I am not. sure what else they had. At the time I went in, ytlu could go in and get that fo; lun~n. J t~ink that is fiot true anymore, but probably. if somebody wanted to pay the cover (harge, they could go in at whatever t lmes they were open and buy something. I would not expect a normal restaurant to be open ~t the hours they were open. So if I went to the area at midni~ht to Joannie's place, for instance. 1 would n~t expect her bUSiness to bE' open. So as near as I can tell. that is an i s.sue that rea11y should have no impact O~ the zoning. 1hat is something for the 1iquor liCensing board to t~ke up. As far as I am c~ncerned, any place 09/10/92 -s- --~"'I"' l1li1 ••• that ser~es food is a restaurant. r car.not speak for w~at ;s currently g~ing on as I have not been there recently. You co~ld ask tnem what the situation is? but r would assume they are serving food dur~ng whatever huurc; they are ooerating, and tIOt at 50mB other p .... irlt in the day_ T~e one thing I would like to have addressed, however, is tr.e security guard issue. Halling guards out there as they i:tre C\.JrrentTy is, 1 wouTd say, a problem, and I would not like to nave that go O~ 25 a permanent kind of solution. 1 believe that th2t has been dene mainly to address some of these issues, and as a temporary solution, it ;s okay, but with the seclJrity guards who a:re out there conflOsingly similar to the pol ice. I nappen-to know a 10t of the po1ice by face, but nevertheless, I have to go up and act{Jiiil1), see those p~opl e to see who they WE're. I feel tnat that creates kind of a bad atmosphere. J have siven a list of possible $olutions to the o·.,."ers of The Edge for tn@.m to take a look aL I think tnere are some ways that that can be addressed. In particl:lar, I thirlk people could be rewarded for parklng in the right places by giYing them some kind of a di scount on the COV~T cnarge. That should not cost a lot of money. Whatever could be done to move those people away from the areas witho(Jt security guards I think shou1d be done, [thin~ the city has a responsibility here to help out. r own a business. I am a computfr consultant. I work out of my home here in PaTo ~lto. I ha~e a business here in PaT a A1to, and I am conc~rned about the business climate here in Palo Alto. From talking to other people that I know that are busines:s owners, Palo AHa is "_at known as being a busines£-friendly place, necessarily. So J tnlnk that the city definitely has room to grow in t~at particular area. I especlaliy want to know what could be done about the parking. I know t~at the city coultl zone, for example, the parking along Park Boulevard as a no-parking zone a! certain times of night. Th~t should not effe:t any of the people who live in the apartments there, because they already have their own parking spaces. On the other side of Cambridge from The Edge, that area would certainly be a good place to have resfdent-only parking at certain times of the night. So if the city did some of those t~ings, worked with The Edge in putting up signs to direct traffic to the proper places, there is something that could be done on t"'at side. r would also like to ____ ,Su the city think about perhaps putting i~ some public r€strooms so that pe~ple would not have to go into The £dge if th€y were outside. I donlt feel that this is entirely The Edge's p)~oblem. We also have a lot of homel€ss people 10 the ci ty and other p.eople who are out on tne streets who have a reasonable n~ed to use a restroom. Certainiy ha~in9 sometni1g li«e that in tne Caiifornia Avenue area would benefit e~erybodl. I think that is so~tning the C1ty ought to take a look at. Perhaps they could work with The Edge on that, as far as costs are concerned. But regardless of whether The Edge is th€re or not, there is a definite problem the~e t~at needs to be solved, and the city ougnt to a~dress that problem. I hope things can be worked out here. r like having The Edge there. fe~l tnat ha~lng those people there is yery important in terms of s~curity for the people who live in the area. HaYing people in that area protects me. There is security in numb€rs, and I ~ould like to see those ~~op1e conti"ue to be there. It does not bother me that they are there until 4 a.m. I cons'der it an advantage. Sometimes J am there until 4 a.m. I dG not consioer that to be too late. Thank you. 09/10/91 -9- 4 1 , , , i , i \ ---- G.eorge Hennis. 110 Mi;;sion Dri¥e: I wClj1d llke to mak~ this re-al Quick. Mr. Packard and Qther local neighbors have made some ~ery good points about problems and noise. However, I dG believe something realistic Cin be worked out. Concerning the restaurant, 1 ha¥e eaten at T~e Edge many tim~s. They do ser\l€' during the hours they are ope~, a ... d Hey do have a full ~nu. I talked to the cook just last night, complimenting him on being such a good one. Hm,,'eller, conct'rning The Edge closing at earlier ,",ours, the police ... ad some very valid points alsQ. Th2 gentleman ill the center here mentioned the number of calls he was concerned about. I am not sure they woul d actually roletrease, but I do have a feel ing that if you closed at that early hour, the types of calls JOU would be getting would be a little different. I am against driving while a person is drunk~ but some people do drh.a very far to get to T:,e Edge. There are a lot of lOCils, as ~e'l. One paragraph I wrote ir. my 1e:ter I would like to reiterate. There hav! been some statements about people going to The Edge who shouldn't be going to The Edge and should be partying at home or staying how.~ and reading books. 1 tnink statements like that are ~ery unfair. Also the parents of The Edge patron~ should be grateful to the management of The Edge. I have been going there si~ce it was The Key~ton€~ and The Edge has really b~en the toughest on under-age drinking, tne toughest on any kind of pro~lems. Anything that has happened is dealt ~i th. As far as soluti{lns to thlE' parking problems, I belie ... e that the parking areas that are r.eer the residents should be completely restricted from Edge patrons. There are three huge parking lots, one right behind The Edge, one behind Antonio's and the one right behind Keeble and Shuchat. This is plenty of parking. 1 usually ~ark on the other side. and Here is never any problem in finding a place. There is mare than enolJgh to go around. So the residents shouldn't have to be involved in people wheeling about in their are-a. I believe that any person who is caught disobeying or causing any disturbance i~ a neighbor~d shculd not be a11o~ed to patrcnize The Edge for a given period of time. As far as just being able to enter the restaurant ~ithout paying a cover charge~ I don't know of any bar where you can do that. There is a place in Fremont that has a full restaurant also. If you want to go and eat there, you have to pay the coyer as we1l. However, that restaurant does have iii. separate door. If a1"lY of the residents want to go in there, I am not s~re how The Edge management feels about it, but I don't think it would be a problem letting thew. in ther~ to eat, but if you want to go in to darlc2~ you have to pay the cover. The idea of ha .... ing a restC!urant is a1 so benefici al. Tf you go and dri nk an 31"1 empty stomach, you ne a5king for a lot of trouble if you are going to be driving. So the ~estaurant serves a benefH in that regard. That is all I have to say. r would like you to consider leaving The Edge's hours as they are. I would say to make them even longer. After 2 a.m., a lot of people start leaving, and after that, it is just a trirkle. Tnen there are just a few diehards who end up there at 4 a.m. I don't think that is much of a noise problem. By then, you are pretty well reserved and can decide whether you need a cab or not. Thank you. Steve Glikbar.9....... ____ 285 ColTege Avenue, Palo AU_Q: 1 li\ie a block away from The Edge and hav~ lived there for six years. want to address the parking issue. During the day, I am unable to park on my street due to people shopping on California Avenue. I ha~e never had a prOblem in the evening. So I know there must be ad~quate parking near The Edge in the 09/10,/92 -10- . -----___ "~'~·k''>'' ~ evening. Avenue. adequate As you mEntioned, there is not a It is beginning to 9ro~ at night, parking. I just don't Experience lot Gf actlvity on California but it seems like there must be a Pdrking problem. As far as noise goes, ~ccasjonally I can hear T~e Edge. I certainly hear the train a lot louder. I have never heard tne;n after, say? 11 at night. 1 w~uld guess that th~ trickle effect of stayir.g open until 4 a.m., arlowing people to leave, is an advantage, just as when you have a show that starts at 8 and !¥eryone arrives at B~ and it ~nds, people want to stay. If everyone has tc go at the same time, it might end up being louder than staying op~n until ~ o'ciock. Bob TOdd. 31.LFulton Street. Pal...Q....AHo: have been going to that bui1di~g for a number of years when it was the New Age Natura! Foods. After that it was Sophie's, The Keystone, The Vortex, and now, The Edge. I th1~k dancing is a gre2t exercise, a fun thing to do. We seem to poppycock cJose. Homtr's Warehouse and The Varsity is gone. What are we going to do if The Edge closes? There will be no place to go. r would ad~ocate business conditions where they can survjve and thrive and not be so restricted thzt tney will have to go out of business. They ha..,-e fixed costs, and have to have a certain amount of irocome to stay in b~siness. If we restrict them too much, that won't be possible. Todd Mown. 285 College Avenye. Palo AHa: One thing I would like to talk about is. I have been a Stanford student for five years. When I first came to St.1in ford , r li¥ed on campus. I "auld drive over to Kinko's at night to make snme copies ..... llat I noticed was that I did not real lIe there were residents anywhere arOl'nd the California Avenue area. Ellen one block off California in every direction. it is a bUSiness zone. It looks like a business zone. Many peopie who come to The Edge probably do not realize that there are neighbors anywhere around, like the gentleman who was belng disturbed who lives on California A .... enue. I live on College Avenue new, but I had no idea that people lived so close to the Brea. In t~e past several ~eeks, they have been blocking off California Avenue and they have put up a little sawhorse to block off Birch Avenue. I haVE dr;~en through there many times in the late evening, and that seems to work ~ery effective1y. 1 have s~en cars lined up, and everyone ;s turning and foll~ing the arrows. No one is going past them. ] go past there, since I live t~ere, and e¥en feel a little g~ilty about that. I ~nderstand that the security guards bother some people. Personally, tney do not bother me at all. I adually feel better having tt.e security peopl! there, because I know I can wa1k around the neighborhood at night anc! find someone standing there. So I feel v~ry safe. So e'.len just tne signs and the sawhorse alone telling you that ther~ is Edge parking in this d1rectio" reaily works. In fact, there is a comedy club in Sunnyvale. Rooster T. Feathers, that I once went to, a.r.d when you pull into Rooster T. Feathers, there is a side street and you think, oh good, I'll park right here. There is a large sign on the street but there is no one there, saying. residential parking only on this street. Do not par( here or you will be ticket~d. It seems to work very well. I just parked some~here else. So I think ~hat just a little education in letting people know there are residents in the area or that you shouldn't park there would be very effective. Mr. Rosicki: I am one of the managers of The Edge. r would like to make 09/10/91 - 1 1 - ~;: a snort statement. This is not just a mJneymakii1g machine. That is not what it is. This is about mo"'e thafl a bwsiness. This is about entertainment and our empioyees' jobs. We employ 30 people. bringin9 in over $800,000 in sales taxabl-= income to the loc.al economy, and we pay very large assessments for parking on California Avenue. We pay close to $9,000 per year, which we don't ever. use dur1ng the reall! busy hours. Besides that, this is home for us and for our employees and our family. We provide a great phce for entertainment for ,)IDU1'l9 adults. What;:; there for young ad lJlts to do these days? Hey can elther stay home and read books. or they can go to frat house$~ to parties, they can cruise on E1 Camino, t~ey can go to the movies, they car. go to San Francisco or to San Jose. You~g adults w~ll drink and drive. Young adults unfGrtunately will be killed. The Edge does a ~ery good jab in helping to minimize these problems. We are one of the top places as faT as recogn1zin9 fake 1.D.s. We are ver~ well trained in it. Young aduHs go to a ~iqu{lr store and ~an buy l1quor anytime with any lOUSY fake f.O. We actually have a test. We can take two minutes, five mi~utes, ten minutes, and we ca11 the pol ice if we have to. Half af the poTice cal1s made to the pol ice department by The Edge were du~ to fake 1.0.5. lf we are nat around. do you think )'oung aduHs will stoD drinking? No, they ... dll go somewhere else. They will drive to San Jose and some of them will get killed because The Edge is not around. It is a very safe place to go. Sure there might be a couple of problems, but we are learning about the problems. The longer we are in business, the more problems we will learn about, and we "ill sclYe them. This one major issue that we have not solved and will not be able to solve is the parking. lie have asked the (ity during several meetings if they ca~ possiblj restrict tne parking in the residentitl area. We have been told, no, ~e cannot do this for a b~slness. Fine. A coupl~ of weeks later? we have done research and find they ha~e done restricted parking for other blJsinesses five blocks away. There used to be a realth spa five blocks away. Between 4 and 8 p.m. there was no parkin~. Too many people went to the healtn spa after work, and the residents could not find parking. Why is it that when .e asked the city to do it, they could not? They said, okay. yes it is very expensive to do it. So we offer~d to pay for all the expenses to restrict parking --for the ~igns, for the ~nforcement, and maybe the city co~ld even make some money by enforcing. So far, we canMt guarantee that there won't be one or two people who are no~ very bright and cannot read sign5. By placing a sign that says Residellt Parking Only betwet'rI 10 p.m. and 3:30 a.m. and by pro"jding the re~idents WiLh little h~nging signs and gi~'ng them a few extra signs so they can gi~e it to their friends and visitors, that will solve the problem. If there is still parking in residential areas, they should be cited and be fined SlO, $40, S50. I can guarantee you, no one in a sane mind would park in a restricted area if they haye alternativEs. There are plenty ~f alternatives. We _ere e~en asked informally by the city not to get a petition goi~g about restricted parking. ~hy is it? Is The Edge any different from tne heaith spa? We are also a bUSiness. :-Ie are a small business. 1 understand we are not H-P and ~e are not ~arian, but we are a very important part of this commur.ity. ~ith 700 people per week: yes~ i lot of th~m come from outside of Palo Alto, such as Menlo Park, Los Altos, but there are a lot of people from Palo Alto. \lie have people from 14 years old to a 76-year-{I1d gentleman who comes and enjoys himself very muc~. We 09/10/92 -12 - trt; ii,. ca,,'t s~lye all the prot:le-ms. It is unfalr for ,People to say, why dCif'J't you stay nome and read books. Ou~ generation does not get cut until 100'cloc •.. All.e .re .,king the city to do is to help with the b~reaucracy. police the restricted parking in residential areas. Yes, it is a bt of h'ork:. We will be happy to pay fo~' a11 the signs. Don't pus\,; uS nut. If we have to ,lose before the current hours~ it ~ill be a gr2at ecol1omi c los s . Ms. ~ytle: let me c1arify on€ issue. In ear1ier meetiJ1gs. I think In: explained to you t~e di;tinction betweeri the European HeaHh Spa situation. The pa~king permlt system that was imposerl at that time ~as over the obje-ct ions of the health spa at the request of the neignb{lrhocx:L "'5 we ha\le explained to you in p.-evious. meetin9s~ if the neighbo'rhocd we~'e to come in to the city, to ask for this inconvenience to be imposed on th~m. where they haNe to go thr~ugh a perm~t parking system to ailow guests and themsflves to park on the street, city staff woul1 be much more wil1)ng to t~ke that on is an issue. But it has never be~n done. Without council direction f~r one single business, for tne city to inconvenience a nei9~borhaod with a permit ~ar~in9 system is unprtcedente~. If the neighborhood we-re to Isk ~s to do so, ~r if tne council were to direct ~s to do that~ 9b~iously that would be a measure we would taK~. But it has not been done before. Tne precedent tnat you mentioned was done over the objections of t~e bUSiness at the request of the neighborhood. That 1S to r.lari fy th.t. Mr. Sundneim: The reason that is of some vahJe to us is that the cans for service are primarily noise complaints from people in tne reSidential areas. Our feeling is that if we got th! people out of that area, there would be f€wer calls to the pel ice. ~.H~ I llndel"5tand compl2'tely you!'" !'"ationale for-desiring that. The problem is that the nelqhbors ha¥e not come forward to mak2 that request. ~s. Case: would like to have you talk a little abotlt the food sendee. Mr. Rosicki: We have a full service restaurant with soups, salads, main courses. If anybody wants to come i~ at 10 o'clock or 11 o~clocK, the restaurant is 0pen. Ms. Cas~: Ten a.m.? ~osicki: If any~ody wa~ts food servlce during hours of operatlon, ~e would let them if they pay a cover charge. Ms. Casp; A~d what are the hours of operation? Mr. Bosicki: The nigntclub is epen from 9 p.m. to 4 !.m. ~e serve food until about 3 a.m. and we take about 45 m1nutes to clean up the kitchen. ~s. tise: And when does the ~itchen open up? ~r. ~osicki: It is open anytime during our huurs of operat1on. Ms. Case: $0 it is a nighttime operation. And it goes a10ng with the nightclub? 09/10/92 -13- -... ---->-~-,,--.«-.. --_ .. _--- ~r. Rosidj: Yes, ma'am. HOlffe .... er~ if JOU lrI'ould like to aSK oJS to dO somethin9 ~15e, W~ ~'ll be happ~ to fulfill th~ requifements~ ma'am. Ms. Case: So you ha .... e ~oup, salad, and of course, pizza. Mr. Roslc'1d: Pizza is. one of the most popu1ar items among the young people, and we also have hamburgers and steaks. A gentleman came in one time, and r was the one who opene~ the door5 to him. He asked me if he cou~d -get some food sen-ice, .and I Hid, you need to pay a cover charge:. He said, J just want to eat. I was ~ic~ enougn and J didn't have to do it. r said. fi~e. 1et me open t~e door fQr you, sir~ and go ahead and ha~e something to eat. ~nie kair, 726 Torr~ Cour.1_._~Palo_ P!1to: Basically,! wlnt tfj emphasize ~hat jacek said before about the drinking tni~g and about people doing damage and graffiti after 4 a.m. It is not fair to blame The Edge, e~?ecia)ly For the graffiti. If people are go;ng to drink, tney are gOing to drink. There is a let of drin~ing in Palo Alto among kids and young adults. It is better for them to be in The Edge at whatever tlme of night they ara there. It is just better for them to be in The Edge if they are drunk or under the influence. They could be out dri .... ing. or hanging around on the streets. r know that on Sunday they have their youth nights. That is a vp.ry good place to go for my friends and I. We really like to go th~re. "the h.ours are restricted on regular n;,ghts, but The Edge will probably ha .... e to (lase down, and I donIt want to see it cl~se do~n because r look forward to those Sunday nights. So I beg of you, don't re~trict the hours. There ar~nJt that many cO,lIp1a.ints aftt-r four. It is earlier 111 the night. But with the drinking thing, if kids go out and do dam3ge, they are going to de it anyway. They are g01ng to be out on the streets more because they can't go to T~e Edge. Steffanie Pompon1. 1179 Noel Dri .... e. Menlo Park: I am a responsible, young adult klthQ works. f am a1so a memb~r of the Arts COITm",\Ss.1on fer the CHy of Menlo Park. and I am a patron of The Edge. I would 1ike to speak to tne safety issue of The Edge. One of the most noticeable things about this establishment is the feeling of safety t~at you get from the moment you step out of your car until the mInute you leave 1he Edge. 1 have been on my way into tr,e cl ubi and I have seen tt1e security staff patroll ing the side streets and parkhig lots, encouraging people to hurry on ihto the club, and i~ some cases, even wal~ing people io the door. You step into the ciub, and I don't know if you have e .... er been to The Edge. but it is really not that btg. But I would say, every ten fleet, y'J.'.J see a security staff member. They are always observant. They are never grouped together $oc1,1'l'"9. They are rea11y loo~ing out for the safety of the patrQ~s. To address the 1.0. and line issue, I think it i$ really gocd they way they scrutinize 1.0. the ~ay they do. 1 frequent 1he Edge at least once a week, and it is just a great place to go. E .... ery time I go there, e~en though they may recognize me at the door, my 1.0. is checked just the same, and the attention is paid to it just as thoug~ it .as the first time. When you lea .... e the club, if you want to have somebody to walk you to your car. somebody is a .... ailable. I have left the club at 2:30 and 3 and ha .... e seen staff members, probably tired fram their snift, pushing a shopping 09/10/92 -14- "' --_ .. 101." __ _ -i , -I cart up and do~n the surrounding area col1~ctfng bottles. cans, trash and debris, and they don't stop doing 1t. It is not just a one-time thing. They are-doing that throughout the e'ienlng. So! am very much against nav;n9 the restricted hours. I 1 ike knowiilg there is som'i!phce so clese to where I li~e where I can go and stay late if I wa~t to. Sometimes r leave at 3:30 anc! 100k at my wa.tch and wonder where the tjrr.e wt'nL You just don't realize you are in there for hours and hours because it is such a great place to go. So I really think. The Edge :sJ"lould be i!illowed to do business as usual .. ~ott Pqy: I spoke at the last meeting. I am an ex-employ~1i!' of The Edge. They all know me. They all know t10w oTd I am. 1 frequent thE' club twice a week. They still card me. tven the guys I have known who work there still card me. They are very strict on fake 1.0.5. I hi!ve watched them night after night, haul ing them from the 1 fne because they had a fake 1.0. As far as the parking probl~m they naVE, the best idea J have heard is from Jacek. That is to put up signs saying Residential Parking Onlj. That is the best way to do it. I can probably guarantee you that it would probab1y stop the problem. The city would also make some mon~y off of it~ too. from citations. It is so simple. Thank. you. Mr~ Molihari.L 959 Terrace Or{ve. los Altos: J live in los Altos, and it is my hobby to go around to all of these nigiltclubs, b~caus~ I lO\l! to dam:e. We fiave always efljoyed The Edge. It is so we1l managed and patrolled. and we have a lot of fun there. We hear all this talk about young people being bad, but we have wonderful people in this country. ~e talk to everybody the~e, and we have ne~er had any unpleasant experiences at all. I have never seer anything: that I didn't like. As far as the noise is concerned, we don't even hear any when we are outside and close to it. All th~ businesses .r~ closed at night. Th~ op1y business that is open is on the corner, the Syh'ester Hotel. A lo~~ of things ha .... e been said. but I think it is a great place, well managed, and I would like to see it continue. Mike Abbot, 572 MiddlebY.rg .... J'ri ... e. Sunnyvale: I am not a resident of Palo .Alto and I do not llve in PaTo AHo. I am the operations supervisor of tnannel 30 in Mountain View. I do a lot of videotaping in Palo Alto~ and one of the pl aces ; s The Edge. When you are in a camera crew, 1'OIJ do a lot of observing of other people. We have taped a lot of clubs in the area. It 1S interesting to see how people react to security and how security ~eacts to people. No other club in the bay area, from what [ have seen, responds in such a positi .... e way to the patrons. r know it has all been said abcut checking I.O. but I stand in ljne waiting to get the crew in. and we are checked, e .... en though the crew is over 21. [ven though they know that we are all over 21, we ~r~ ch~cked every time an~iy. Even if someone is running a camera, the sec~rity comes around and checks tneir hand, just to make sure everyt.hing is okay. 1 thought it was interesting that the Mercury ran an articTe on th~ cruising in Sunny~ale and Santa Clara. The kids in those areas don't have anyplace to go. It is rather important for people under 25 to have a place to go. I don't know if restricting the hours or clOSing The Edge would bring cruising to Palo Alt~. and I am sure the police would have something to say about that, but ] know that those two cities are ha .... ing a lot of trouble because kids don't have a place to go. I think it is a positive place~ just from what I have seen. 09/JO/92 ·15· -, " Yvette Rudo12h. 120 East Cree~ Drlve, Menlo Park' ! do wQrk frequently in Palo Alto, and from San Jose to San Franclsco. I have worked many hours in Palo Alto on California Avenue ~'th four bus~nesses there as an accountant. I work Qutte late, sometimes until I o'clock in the morning. [ have never myself experienc~d exc~s~i~e noise. The type of ~ork I do requires s.i~e",ce, p.\Jsl"lir.'3 numbers. I have r1£'.IH had any probl€ms theHL I have been observing The Edge for appro~imately six years now, and I have seer. it evohe from an establishment to what it is now. It is 'tIery organized. 1 always feel preteetec. If I happen to be gOing tnl3're myself tc meet friends, 1 never feel insecure that something might happen to me whlle walkin9 to my car~ whether J am in the immediate parkir,g lot or ol.ttside of it. I notice now that this past surrmer, they even haVE can blOCKing the public parking space acros~ th2 street. It has prevented peop1e from parb n9 there. Everyon:;. parks in the immediate area or up and down the street. I alSo ha??e~ to de worl f~r the serurit~ cGrnpany that is used by The Edge. [know that they are very professional. These people are not just in the immediate area. They cover a wide area to make sure that things are kept under control. I al so know that from gal ng t~ere. I hav~ been asked for 1.0. every single time. No one has ever let me go in ~ithout it. These people know me. Ttley recognize lT1e. I think it would be an awful shame if The Edge were closed. LH,e this young lady was saying, they have a youth night for pecple und~r 18, and th~re realTy is no oth~r plaCE' for them to go for entertainment. If you ciose it down or c.hange the "ours~ tn&re will be a trickle-down effect and The Edge will e.~ntuclly cTose, because bUSiness cannot be sustained witn clOSing at 1 orcloc~ in the morn'ng. P@ople will just go SO~@pl1ce else, and unfortunately, it will be much farther away. The Palo Alto cOfmlunHy will lose the money. Also, someone else said that they nevpr even knew there was a residential area nearby. i myself did not, either. It is rea-il), C;jJite far. at least five blocks or so.· .Ii.t tha end of the street, there are like some poles there. S{I you can't aven drii;e through if you "ere going to The Edge at the end of the street. You cannot park there, and at one point, it is ona·way. So it would really be a loss to our community and to the young adults and older adults, too. There is no other place for people to go. Ther~ jl..lst i~nJt Qne. Jay Pack'iJ::L~15 Oxford Avenue. Palo AJ.tg: I feel it is unfair for any bUSiness ~n Palo Alto to require more taxes, more police time~ to satisfy that particular busine~s's need~ and perhaps, most of all, the remaining bUSinesses in PalJ Alto. It is also unfair to compare the daytime needs of a fco!bali gam2 at Stanford from the police department to the almost-a1l-night needs of a loca1 bu)iness from the police depiitment. Mr. R.Q.sicki: One final statement. Granted, as Mr. Packard said, a Stanford football game is during the day. and granted there were quite a lot of phone calls to th~ pol~ce depart~ent fram T~e Edge, many of which could have been avoided. We have been asked by the police department to call if we hcve a problem. There t'1ave bean young 1 adies ItIIho have gotten fake I.D.s and when we take the i.D. al'lay. they were very upset and beat up on the security pEople. let's not forget, we are a private business. We do not ask the city to pay for our servicf!~. II1 the c.ity of Palo ,Alto, an1 alarm user ~ho has more than two servic~ ca~ls in a six-mont~ period 09/10/92 -16 - 'I , gets c.harged. The first time it is $50 ind after that, it is SIOO. We have paid for this before when someone tried to break in. W~y not charge us for service cans? Please tak.e my fiord for H. We will sttll call you on fake 1.0.5. ~e ~il1 do as good a job as always. We understand that times are hard. Money is scarce these days, and we don't want the city to pay for our services. ~E want to pay fDr tnew. That 15 only fair to the taxpayers. Don't kill us. Don't shut us down. Don't lim,t cur operation:, becatJse we won't be able to s:.ur'llive. Thank you. Michael Redmon, 425 E1 Caminh_Pi!!la Alto; This is a rebuttal as a taxpayer and mortgage payer. 1f you haven't purc~ased your home in the last te~ years, char.ces are your prOpErty taxes are a heck of lot less than mine are. If you are a ritired ~ndjv1dual, chances are that your fedara1 and state in~ome taxes are a heck of a lot less than mine. So don~t see any objections to ~y taxes going for tne benefit of the community and paying for such services that might be needed by The Edge. Ms. lvt7e: fs there any new information? New information o~ly. John Hernandez. Pollee Department: I do have one thing. The issue of the taxable revenue keeps comiilg up. The $800,000. It couid be more based en the amount of services that the management is willil':9 to pay f"or~ When soeaklng of the state, the most the city can make on any taxable fncome is one percent of whatever figure is given. All the rest of it goes either to the Department of Transportation. the state general fund, or the Department of Transit, ~hich is a separate dep~rtment. So the maximum return the City of Palo Alto will gain is 58,000. So the question is, what is the taxab1e income from The Edge? T~at is an issue that should ~~cessariTy be put in the race here. We definitely are in a crush between urban and suburban life. Geor9.e Hennis: One Uing I w{luld like to re-iterat€! 15 that I know Jacek. personally. He has been really trying ~ard to cooperate. I do belfeve it wou1d be fair to ask the neighbors in the sur-rounding (onmlJnHy to not on1) voice their opinions but also try to come up ~ith a creative solution and not just (lose it down and forget it existed. Just work it out as neighbors. ~s. Lytle: That; s the po~nt of this f"fe-a':"ing. Scott Thompson, 40 Newell Boaq' .. Palo Alto: I am aTso one of the employees at Tne Edge. I have a comment about something that no one has brlJught up. f heard it come up p.arlier about ~.p and Varian and all the taxes they help put into the city. One of the things we hear daily on the news is abDut App1e shutting a complex, or I.B.M. is moving to Texas. ~hat happens if H~P or Varian closes. All that taxable income is gone. You have nothing left but smaller businesses to contribllte. So by damaging a bUSiness like ourselves ,f we close, and then something else happens, and the city is riot ..... i11ing to work, I mean, here we want park.ing restrictions. The neighbors have not asked for 1t y~t. I am sure we could all sit do~n and work something out. If H~P and Varian aren't there someday, it is going ta be places llke ourselves, and the little restaurants and the bookshcp on the corner ana" the photo shop across the street that are gOing to support Palo Alto. Mr. Merson: I have ;,eard a lot about clOSing HIe Edge tonight. We, by 09/10/92 -17 - I ~irtue of a process. 1 ~ke this, find ourselves in an adve~sary position, beciuse here we are, with calls f~r service and problems of our o~n in the conrnunity, and we ~ave a special role here. Our role 15 not to clt1se The Edge. I want you to undentand that. This lady spok.e c;bout the v"ibrancjI of the Cal Horn; 5. A:.renlJe area, We appreciate that. and we support; t. The city wants to encourage the vibrancy of t~e ared. This is one of the most vibrant cities ar.~here betwe~n San Francisco and los Angeles, and as a point of fact. clos! to being one of the mGst economically v; brant cities between S~n Francisco and L.A. ~e are not out to close Th~ Edge. What we are out to seek ;s some kind of reasonable business relationship. It ~hould be clear that if The Edge had oper~ted in many ether c1t;es, those cHies 'tIIould not have been as cooperative as the City of Palo Alto has been for ~ number of years. That has not come out at all this eve~ing. !f you were one of the pclice officers who has been respondfng to The Edge ov~r the ccurse of the y~ars, in whatever guise it has been The Vortex, The Keystone, etc., yeu w~uld experience things from a different per!pactive than would you, ~ho are responsible Edge patrons. There are i lot of irresponsible E~_ge patro~s, and those are the people we have to deal wHh, not you who are present. Se,. we do have to deal with a lot of people that you probably do not come in contact with. They do cause us some probl~ms, and they caUse the residents in the area some probiems. So please appreciate that other perspective. I am sure you probably do, but I did feel the need to say 50. Ms. lytle; With that, ] am closing the public hearing. Thank you to everyone who came. I appreci3te all the constr~ctive comments that have been made. 09/10/91 -18- ZONING ADMINISTRATOR HfARING 260 Cal iforrria ,!l;l,IenlJe Pale Alto, Ca1jfornia August 20, J992 Ms. Lytle: I wi 11 introduce t~e staff present. I am Nancy Lytle, and we also have Sue Case, City Attorney's Office, Joe Colonna, PlcH1ner, Jim Bonander, Police Department, Mark Venable, Poiice Depart~ent and John Hernandez, Police Department. Pursuant to Section 18.90.080 of the Palo Alto Municipal ~ode. tne zoning aamfni$trator has set a public hearing to consider modification or revocation cf Conditional Use Permit 7J-UP-36 granted to a pre.]ous restaurant use of this property at 260 Ca1ifornia Avenue ~nd now occupied by The Edge. The use permit allows live enti!rtainment and dancin9 aSsoclat~d with on-site sale and consumption of iiquor, beer and wine accessory to the operation of a bona fide restaurant. This is in lone district CC(2)(R)(P), w~ich is our commercial California Avenue district with retail and pedestrian overlays. In this case, we are going to let the respondent speak first. Then we will hear from the public, a~d we wil', also allow the respondent to conc1ude at tne end of the hearin9. D~ff Sundheim, 67 Tyrip Lane, Palo Altc: I reallj appreCiate the opportunity to be ~eard today. I think there are some misconceptions. ] talked to many of you when we came in, and some people said they had h~ard reports of gangs at The Edge. That obviously is not what is going on. Otner peopTe were saying that we were serving alcoho1 on thos~ nights when we had sixteen·year-olds in the facility. We definitely are not doing that, $0 we really appreciate the opport~ity to talk abo~t tne noise issue, which we ~re concerned about? as well~ and to increase the 1evel of communication b!tween us. We feel there are solutions to problems~ and we are here to try and soh'e those with yov. We feel that th'2 potefitia1 s~Tutions are in p1ace, We have just spent close to $50~OOO on the faciTity to try and reduce the noise emanating from the facility. We have built extra walls; we have encased the speakers. We have just spent a 10t of money on this, and we feel that it is a good first step. You may nave noticed lights and s-eciJl"'ity ;:;eople at key intersections. What we are dOing is telling the patY'o~s comil)g to The Edge that we reaiTy lIIoulc:t like them to park away f~om the residential area 4nd that there is pl~nty of parking in the cOrmlercial zone. il.'e think that oller time, this will significantly reduce the problem in th1s --area. We also have proposed other things~ j~st to let you k~ow how anxious we are to try ~nd solve these problems. I-!e offered to ~ire off·duty policemen at 560 an hour to work in your resldentia1 area and keep Uje problem out of that area. The pOTice, for reasons of their own, w~ich made sense to us, do not feel that is appropriate. We also have offered the pcssibilTty of issuing permits to the reSidents, so that anybody who is not a resident who is parking in yc~r area would get a ticket. We would like to pursue that. as well. So we are very committed to trying to salve the problems, trying to reduce the noise. With the thi~gs we have done in the ~lub and with the secilrity guards outside the club which were just recently placed there, we think it wilT signHicantly reduce the problem. One of the things that has been proposed is to reduce cur operating 08/20/92 -I- ,. hours. I can understand why some people may think. that may help sohe the problem. The only thing is, when r get the police report given to me by the PQlice d~partme~t of the call! they havE received, 100 ~ercent of them are before I a. m. in the morn; ng. So the camp' aints that ha',e been fned are not during the hours that they would like to see reduced nn account of the nois~, Maybe there is-different information, but I a~ just going by the poUce report give!1 to m~ yesterday. SO III-=: don't think that is. going to have a major impact. Tile other one was reducing the occu~ancy. We have beer. working with the city for the 1ast year to ;ncr~ase the occupancy and try to reduce the lines outside the club, reduce the problem of people drinking or sitting in their cars and making noise ana' to get the people into the club and out of the area. ~e feel that by reducing the occupancy. that would just ha¥E us go back in the other direction. With the increased occupancy. if yau gille it time to establish itself, it will sigr.if~cantly reduce the amol.!nt of noise that is occurring in the surrounding areas. Finally, I know it is nct a very popular issue in Palo ."'lto and that we nave a very st rang res i dent; alb i as. but as a res i dent of Palo Alto R'lyself, 1, to.a am concerned about tt1is. So .... ·hen we are talking about p03sible solutions, we are willing to sp~nd tens of thousands of dollars on a regular basis to tr)! and reduce the problem. This is a business that generates close to $800,000 per year of taxable revenue for tne programs that all of us, as residents of Palo Alto? want to see in place. It a1so pro¥ides employment fer 30 young people in the toughest age bracket that there is to find jobs. 50 we u~d~rstand th2re is a no:se issue. we understand that we m1lst try and find a ~olution. Our goal is to attempt to find a solution that has the least amount of impact on the business and on the programs that you want to have funded in the City of Palo Alto, and jobs for yOUrlg people in the City of Palo Alto. Thank you. David Segal. 273:LRamot1~_Street, Palo Alto: While I am speaking at tne same time as the respondent. I really do not consider myself on either Side of this issue. r consider myself actually here as a borderl i ne expert in this area, as I was tne former owner of the property you are discussing known as The Vortex. I h~ve li¥ed in Palo Alto for the last year, and in tne area for ten years befcre that, and am a graduate af Stanford Business 5c~ool. We sold the cl~b to this group about three years ago, and ~e had our 5hare of prablem5, but to a let lesser degree, becalJse nothing EVer quite got this far during that time. There are a coup1e of key issues I would like to speak to at this hearing~ and afterward, I will make myself available to you for input. First of an~ let me talk. about the hours. We were open until t .. o o'clock in tl1e morning when we first opened the club. The belief that the problems will go dawn in c10sing ear11er is totally unfounded. The problems would go up significantly. We oursellles found that the problems went do-wn when we incredsed the hours. ljk~ it or not, with a high-energy dance environment like there is at The Edge, people are Vlere to blow off steam in a eonstru,tive way dancing, and an adult nights 1 some are there for drink'ng 1 as well. There l s a 10t (If pent-up energy there. S1 nee most of the es;tilblishments close at 2 a,m .• you nave a mass exodus at that hour? whether you hire off-duty patrolmen in uniforms or their o-wn security peop1e. You are tal~;ng about hundreds of people ~xiting at one time like you would see at the end of a sporting ellent, such as a Stanford football 08/10/92 -1- game. )ou have not seen traffic problems or crowd control issues until you do SOlTl€thing 1ike that. When ,}IeJU have the i!fter hours, wh'ich we initiated about six montns after we opened the club, people stayed inside the club. ~lthoygh we did our be~t to control the drinking and driving and that issue, there w~s a fair bjt of avoidance of the drinking and driv~ng issue in a110wing the club to stay open past two o'cl~ck. and we stopped serving alcohol after 1:45 &.1';1. Pe'Jple r;erC! still out there danCing, dri~k;ng ~onalccholic beverages, and having a cnance to wind down and expend the balance of their energy for those who wanted te stay. For those who want to leave, they leave in a gradual m2thod, a few at a time, rather than like the en~ of a ~ports event. So I ~lieve that in your eyes, that modification should absolutely not be conSidered as a~ option. r feel strongly that it would make t~e problems worse. From firsthand experience, our prot,lems decreased wher we added en the additional hours. Secondiy, when I was there, we instituted t~e youth nigMts. I do not, to my knowledgE, know if they are still going on. (They are.) We consu1ted at the time. We did not just dream this up ourselves. We worked with tne youth council and, if ] remember correctly, £hief Durkln, at the time, and wit~ the city cmmcil in establishing these youtr n1gMs and in work~ng with the youth council in terms of hours, frequency. etc. That is something that they viewed and that we vi eJoied as a very positi\le thing to have in the city that WaS not really being adequately supplied by the nigh schoo1 or the middle schools at the time. It was iI very different fp.el ing for the youth to escape the school eMvironment. That is something tnat if you chose to either cut back er clo~e down altogether would be removed, and it is a service that is utillzed net only by the youth of Pilo Alto but also by so~ of the surrounding communities. A l~t of focus groups felt very comfortable with their children coming ~nto this town, ~nd not S0 comfortable with them going down to San Jose or San Francisco wher~ the other alternatives are iOC2te:d. Th@ third element I want to mention is the o\lerall advantage to th~ c~ty, besides just the dollars, of having a nightclub such as The Edge. Personally, J detest the music that they p1ay. I would never go there. It is not my cup Df tea. But it does S2rve a need in the city that is not being served elsewhere. In my eleven years~ I remember a bi9 to"do, and probabiy rightfully so, about the live music at the New Varsity being clo~ed down. I don't remember ~ny or how it happened, and s~milariy, a place on El Camino that ~ad neighborhood probl~ms. and I think it has had several names, but the most recent one I remember was something liKe Studio Seven. I remember reading the history of problems en El Camino over time. going back to houses of prostitution and things like that, which the city made a major effort to get ria of and have d~ne succes~fully. This is the last place that is really left for t~is kind of music, particularly fo~ younger people, who wourd have tc go eff to oth~r corrrnuriities to have it. So losing that, I feel, is giving l'P an awful lot. [fundament~lly believe in the right of a business to conduct its~lf, and I don't believe in rash measures without taking reasonable. incremental steps to try an~ curb the problems. While I have not had dire~t invol~ement in two years, I did consult wIth th~ owners for a year of tranSition after we sold it about addressing some of these problems, and had a lalindl'Y list of ideas, some of which naVE: been mentioned here. More uniformed police, which I think the club itself should pay fori the ability to perhaps block off streets; signs in residential areas; one I haVE not heard discussed at all is vaTet parking where the club can 08/20/S2 -3- • I • ~ i , t , , conh'ol where the cars go, rather than the dri~'ers of the cars. There are probably t~r. or twelve reasonable ideas fnr getting about what is a11o~ed by the city charter, pragmatic solutions that r believe strong1y should be attempted. Then, if they fail, and there is c.untinued Mi:;€'. pollution, dtrt ir. the neighborhood, fine, impose some drastic measures. But I really believe you have to give the business an opportunity to cerrect the problems at tneir expense, and that you have to be reasonably flexible in allowin9 that to hap~en, because it does offer a lot of positives, I know that when we had some of t~e similar problems, but again, not to the samE extent. \!je did ... ork 'll!itM the people in the neighborhood, iixe trash ci ckup. etc, t hat wer~ a problem, tha t fo r the most part, J be 1 i eve we se1ved. r recognize some of the faces here today, and I remember working with them. $0 I do believe th2':-e are constru..::tive ways to Ma~dle this, ThE biggest thlng tQ k.eep in mind is that the revocation of a permit is a delth penalty. It is a decision that cannot be reversed, pragmatically. Once they are gone, they are gone, You can always pull it if the steps they are proposing do net work. I think you ought to take an incremental approach before essentially giving them; death penalty. Thank you very much. Ms...:...-l...Ylle.: What is the hDur that the YO'Jth nights extend to? Answer: One a,m. Ms. Case: Why did you sell The Edge? Does it have anything to do with the fact that it was hard to control? Mr. Segal: No~ ~t was for purely personal reasons. two-year-old who did oot appreciate Daddy being out than anything else. A f;~e-year-old and a until 2 a.m., more St!sie Saver. 230] Park BouTE!_vard_i _ Pilla Alto: ! am th~ resident manager of the California Park Apartments. PersonalTy, I really like the music and I do not have any problem with the people that are in the cTub. I do have a statement I would liKe to read about what it is like to ltve in the neighborhood where the people are who are net in U:e dub. "Thank you for this opportun:,ty to testify about The Edge on California A .... e-nue in Palo ~lte. I have served as the rEsident manager of the California Par~ ~partments since its opening in December of 1989. Located one block frn~ The Edge, '.-"e have 45 units, five facing California A .... Enue anc 40 along the 2200 and 2300 block of Park BOUlevard. Every unit in our complex is affected by Edg02 patrons, etther through the~r activities on our property or by their beh.vior on the sidewalks and streets. we can always tel, ~hen it is an Edge n'ght. Cars filled with young people begin arr1ving around 11 p,m. just as we are ready to hit the sack. They circle the neighborhood 1oolc.ing for a secltJded plac.~ to drinK before ",,·aiting in lin~ to get into the club. Most are too young to purchase alcohOlic drinks in the c"ub, so they often drink in th{!iT cars parked in our lot or along the curb en Park Boulevard. They ir,~ariably toss their cans and bott-Ies on the grounds. and often relieve themselves befor~ heading dOllln to the club. I have personally witnessed p~opl~ urinating on our patio ~a'IS beneath bedroom windows, and even into a ~hildren's sandbox. On mornings after, I haVE cleaned up every conceivable type of altonoli, beverage container, illong with soiled tampons. \/omit, and discarded c.ondums. It is really a shame to have our award-winning landscaping used as a public toilet. He end of an Edge njght is tJ$ual1y fined with excitement, too. 08/20/92 -4- .. They argue, sometlmes violently. about who is sober enough t~ drive. Sometimes it is just a lOI/er's spat, but genera11y, it is profane and loud enough to dlsturb our sieep. ~e have even been called upon to rescue young women runr.1 n9 from equal1y dnmk young men or to offer our phone ::tfter midnight to kids IIrWho needed t':' call their parents .. hen the family car would r,ot stert. The Edge management has met tal; th me i" the pas~. but seems unable to ease our distress. In fact, the recent hiring of secu~ity guards to direct patrons to park away from residential areas and closer to the cl~b has resulted in a 1ine of cars waiting to find a spot in our parking 10t. which, I might add, is heavily posted a~,d well lighted. Another suggestion to limit the number of patr~ns illo~ed to wait in line outside tne club will only exacerbat~ the problem, for it wou1d cause even more kids t~ cor.gregatE in reSidential areas. y~s, we are living on the edge right here in Pal~ Alto. Our complEX, ~ne of t~e newest in the "ty, has what should be a prime location near p~blfc transit, sh~ps and busintsses. Yet I feel comp~lled to warn prospective tenants about the disturbar.ces they might experience from Edge patrons who party on our property and generally make a nuisance of themselves. I am here to present these facts to you about The Edge. I hopE t"'e zoning ~dministratcr will take them intc account. Thank you." M..L....-Case: 1 have a question fer you. Do you ~Iave a particular time or times in mind that you are ta1king about wh~n you speak of the loud disturbances late at night? Resider.t Manager: We do not hear the mlJsic. It is tne kids plrking around 11 o'clock and ready to go into the club. Then again between two and three a.m. when most of them are Tea'dng. Apparently. there is an insurance liability proble~ with having their emp10yees on o~r property. We have d1scussed that in the past. Kerry McNeill, 2115 Park Boulevard. Pilo AltQ: That explain~ why I smell lIrjpe '1n r,jy front yard occasionally. 1 had no ;de.&. What I am curious to know is why they need to serYe beer and wine. I have noticed that most of the kids who go there appear to be under 21, at least the kids who are intp.rested in going there. [am cu':'";ous to know about wnat yOU !a1d about a bona fide restaura~t. I had no idea there was a restaurant there. How is that connected? Is that connected to the b€er and wine license? Ms. L'r'tl~: 1he s~rving of a',cnho~,ic beverages is done through both the use pennit that yot.,1 heard described and through state 1 ir:ense. So you have the right to serve adults per state Taw. Why does )t say "with a bona fide restaurant"? I think that is becalose the use permit or"iginally was granted to a German dancin;j cl ub and restaurant. It has nGt been adequately ~pdated to reflect the current use. That is one reason why it is here today, ta bring it i~to compl~ance .ith its current use and to try and resolve some of the land use conflicts tnat we have nated occurring. That is the purpose of the hearing, essentially, to bring it into conformance. Nicole Israel, 1961 Middlefield: I think I speak On behalf of .11 the teenagers that The Edge should remain open. It is one of the only safe places for people my age, young teenag~rs 14 throu9h 18, to go in Palo Alto without doing drugs or a1cohol. Tnere really isn't any club cr place where you can meet people from other social groups and can hang out and 08/20/92 -5- dante that ~as security guards. 1t is really safe there, and there ;s no other place in Palo Alto ltke that. Mo~t of my friends go ~owntown on University Allenue to r,ang (Jut at nlght. and that is really not safE'. There are a lot of drugs and alcohoT th~re, I halle a suggestion t~at there should be more youth ~i9hts at The Edge, becaus~ the youth n~ghts end t~ree hout's eal'lier than the cth8r nights, which end at 4 a,m., and tnp youth nights end at 1 a,m., which might reduce some of the noise. A1so, only half of the people ~ho go on youth nights can drj~e, so maybe it would reduce the number of cars in the apartment complex parking lot, Also, there would be no alcohol or. youth nights. Also, slnce YOu prob3.bly make a lot of money from th-e alcoliol sales, on the nights for peQpTe over 18, maybe you could ri.ise the prices a litt1i2 bit. n'~at might ma~e up for the Inoney you lose on youth liig~ts. It;s reany a fun place. r have been there and most of my friends have been there, and it is re~lly the only pla~E in Palo Alto that is really safe. I hope it ;emains open. Ms. ~ase: How often do ycu have youth nights? Mr. Sundheim: They are once a week on Sundays. Stelle Gold~l17 California_ Avenue. Palo Alto: I live about a block~and-a-haH from The Edge. 1 would like to corr~ct some misconceptions. I don't· think this has anything to do with closing down The Edge. It has nothing to do ",i th t aki n'9 away a place wh~re YQUr'lg people can go to dance. It has nothing to do "itl'l vindjctiveness. What it has to do with is getting a decent night's sleep. The reason I say that is I have 1 Tiled there for a cO'Jple o-f years now, and for the gn~at majority of that time, we are constantly and continually awakened late at night by pe~ple yelling and screaming as a result of The Edge. It takes a lot of different forms. A lot of it has to do 'With people who are either coming to The Edge at 11 p.m, or are comi~g back aga~n. Sometimes peoplf leave The Edge and go in and out a couple Qf times. They are going out to their cat·s. lhey are typically very rowdy because that is what going t(] a club is all about. It's having fun, and drinking, etc. lhey are making a lot of noise. They are yelling and screaming. They are in the'fr cars playing music real loud; they ar~ breaking bottles. So~e things I have not known about as I have not seen it myseTf. Generally, what happens is that }'ou are awakened time after time after time. At f;r~t, ! would call the police. The police ~ere IIEry responsive about coming o~t, but once yau are awake, it is too late, It is ~ard to get back to sleep. Sometimes this happen$ two or thre>;! times 11"l one night, nat is a problem. Lately? since ab"ut Jun£>, The Edge has been ... ery responsiv€ and has tried to improve tne situation. In the last couple of months, they have taken steps to put in security and other thi~gs in place to he1p reduce it, and r am really appreciative of what tl'ley have done, but to be quite honest, it has had very 1 ittle impact. In prepar~tion for' coming here, j have started ~eeping a record oller the last two weeks of when I have been waked up. Since I have been taUng notes, on Tuesddy the Ilth, I was. awakenfld at 2 a.m.; Wednescaj the 12th, at 1 a.m., On Tuesday, there was security, but on Jiednesday, I don't tnink there w-as, On Thursday tlte 13th, it ~as at l a.m,; on Saturday the 15th, we we~e awakened at both ]:30 and 2;30 a.m. by someone breaking bottles on the street. I was away fQr a couple of days -- 08/20/91 -6· l Ms. lytle: It felt good when you were on the trip, thoughl Mr. Goldbug: ~'es, it did. Tnen 1ast Tuesday. the 19th. at 1:30 a.m .• thp,e was security and some people out there talking pretty loud, sufficiently enor..gh 1,0 wake \IS up. Wednesday. last night, at 11:30 and ( a.m. there was a lot of noise. last Thursday, th~re was a car parKed on Ca'if~rn;a Avenue about halfway between me and The fdge. A couple of guys had wa1ked back from the edge ([ "aye a birdls eye ~iew of all of this), and they ~ere sitting there a~ though they ~ere waiting for someone. It Is about 2 a.m., and the one guy started yelling, ~Paulj Paull-at the top of his lungs. Tnis went en for about 15 minutes at the top of his lungs. That is just one example. Another example is that a couple of nights later, there was a car in the public parking lot at Sherman and Park Boulevard. T~ere were a couple of guys who had come back from The Edge hanging out there at about 2:30 a.m. They just sat there for about 20 minutes having a conversation, talking loudly. Final}y, I called the police, and I am not sure exactly what nappened, but about ten minutes later, these guys left. In deference to the folks from The fdge, many, many times past 1 a.m., many times past 2 l.m., even 3 a.m. Sometimes I think w~at happens ~hen I call is that I say there is noise in the neighborhood, and maybe it does not get attributed to The Edge. But J have calTed numerous times dtJring those early mornlng hours. In tal!ting about solutions to so1Ye the problem, ! originally thought if ~e could keep open all of the parking around The Edge, that wouTd solve the problem. rt really has not. The reason why that is not really effective is that the penple ~ho do park in the various parking lots co~ in from different areas. Right now they have a sp.curity pe~son who sits at California and Strch, but people come ir from Park BOllleyard off of Oregon Exp:--essway. so they are able ttl park in and around the area. Another thing lS that 1 am not sure how long the security is out there, but peopl~ arrive very late at night. They arrive past midnight, at 1 or Z in the mDrning~ and they do park in those area~. Finally. the other thing that happens is that people exit The Edge and come around California Avenue perhaps to pic/( people up from the cl ub. $0 you ha\.'e peopT'! comi ng up, the .indows go down, and then you have more loud conversations. There is a pubHc telephone by Mollie Stone's that is often used by people calling to get! ride. So you have pecple .... andering down there making a let of noise. One other thing I have noticed is that just because the residents of the neighborhood are so close to Tile Edge that if someone 15 standing in front of The Edge, if they ye11, I can ~ear it, with all of my doors closed and windows Sh~t. Sa that ;s pdrt of the prob1em. We are so close. It is so compQct ~ and noi se t ra vel s we 11 late at n i gnt . There is no other noi se around from buses or cars to coyer it up. The problem is that it is quiet, and when someone yells, it is noisy. So that is another part of the situi.'I.tion. I would also like to point out that the argumer.t is made that by having people come out Q¥er a long period of time, it would ~robabli be quieter than closi~g it down at a certain ~our and having lots of people leaving a t that time. Maybe that is right, but r seri ous 1 y doubt it. Firs t of all, the onl) time! know it is g01ng to be ~uiet is a half hour after The Edge closes. If The Edge closed at II p.m. on weekdays and 12:30 a.m. on weekends, ] know that shortly after t./jat, it is going to be Ql.::iet in the OS/ZO/92 -7 - -...... "",., I. 1II .. ~t: ........... !I. IOPil!.,... ...... "' ... "'fi ....... l .. e ...... r .."".....""'--'" - • - rlelghbo!'hood. If they are open until 4 a.IT'i., there wou1d be a steady st~eam of people coming out, and every 15 minut~5 ! ~ould g~t waked up. have lived there for two-and-a-half years, and h~ve had to endure this all that time. I am reillly sympathetic to ..... ha:t is going on here, and "hat I am ask; ng for is defini tely goi ng to hurt, but ..... e have been hurt for two years nowy and it is really time to fix the situation. So I am ~ery hopeful we can ~ork out some kind of sclution. I don't think there is a sOlution that can i~~rove things short of closing The Edge. ~£.!.ll.: iJid you say that every night but Sunday is IoOr,en you e:--:perience problems? ~r. Goldberg: Oh, no. It can be any night. Sunday nights, too, you bet. Sunday nights, it is open u':ltil 1 a.m., s~ ur1tl1 about 1:30. ~e are people out there making lots of noise. Tne only night it is quiet is th! night they are closed. Warren Wong: 1 own the Hotel California which is a bed and breakfast inn on thc corner of California and Ash. Not only the residential p~ople are affected, but busi~ess owners and co~nercial property ~wners are affected as well. We have simi1ar problems to the apartment complex and such as this gentleman has described. At le~st, for the residents who l;~e here y they know about The Edge and perhaps can get used to it a 1 Ht1e, but for me to have guests coming to my inn from out of town, to get 'llfII'aked ~p in the middle of the night is pretty frightening. 1ne amount of complaints that I get is unacceptable. The only sOlution I see, from my standpOint at least, is to block off Califorria Avenue ,ompletely. I don't sleep there myself, but last Friday, just to see if any progress has been made with the nOise le'.o'el, I slept there. I am a pretty heavy sleeper. but I got awakened at two in the morning and did not get back to s1eep until around three. That is probably because the noise subsided around 2:30 a.m. If the hours were extended even mor~ or there was no time limit as to when patrGns could 1eave the club, then I probably would not be able to fall back asle~p with continuous traffiC. The major prob1em is the traffic noise corning down Califol"nia Avenue or just turning off their remote auto alarms, starting up the cars, looming down the street. stopping at the stop sign and then zuoming down the street again. That is rea11y disruptive to the bUSiness. If there is any oO'jbt as to what kind of neise there is at the hotel, just come for one nig~t and I ~ill offer you a free breakfast ir) the mornir,g! Eugene ~d~al1t! 304 OxfQ.t_d--.Av..gnue. Palo Alto: Thank YOI~ for this opportunity to speak. I woJuld 1 ike to say that what I have heard here today is pretty true for a lot of things concerning th~ residents of the COrrmt.h1it ..... \lie have lived here for 20 y;:ars, and p2!"iodically have pick.ed up beer cans and bottles. It appears to me that we are concerned ~bout th~ younger gener~tion so that they will have somepla~e to go and burn off wnitever energies they have. ] would recom~ler.d goi ng to bed at 12 and reading a good book. You would end up b~ing a healthier person. Also, I am afraid that when tnis is all re:sol~ed, they will say, we ~ill do this, we will do that, and I promise to do that. wben that is all done, the que5tion is, who ~ill do it? A lot of lip s~Tvice. paperwork, etc., the writing of tickets wh:en they park where they don,It belong. Who will write them? To m~, I don't see the purposz at a11 that something like this has to be ope~ until 4 c'clock in the morning. I worked the 08/10/92 -8 - ,-; graveyard shift. and I resented it when I worked there. I would think that so~eone who is in a situation ljke t~is ought to do something for the sa~e of the thildren as well for as the adults~ like havir.g i closing time of 2 a'clock in the morning. I have ~al1ed t~e pol1~e, but they have other things to do as well. There are l1ttle petty things constantly that dlostLJrb people. Driving around in the neighborhood in cars gets to be o1d stuff. I can sympathize with the people who own the business. but they are filling the register. They art::-concerned, but the hcttom ',ine is. when this 1:3 a-'1 done, t'ihat is really going to happen't Ste1e Chan. 301 College Avenue. Palo Alta: I live adjacent to a parki~g let that people frortl The Edge ~Sf:!d to u~e for parking. J would lik.e to say that one of the reasons 1 moved to that area ~as bf:!cause of The Edge and Mollie Stone's and Printers Inc. I really appreciate the fact that it is a l;velj neighborhood. My feeling is that lively neighborhoods aT! generally safer. r have ne~er been thre~tened by ~nybody from The Edge~ p1us my Wife ar.d ] are guardians of two older teenagers, and I am really glad that they have a place that t~ey can wal~ to and enjoy music and party and wnatev~r. Before The Edge put in s~curity guards, I have been wakened up maybe two or three times. I have lived there for a year. I ~as not aw~kened by the music. rt is rather lull1ng and put mE to sl~ep. the thing that really bothered me anc woke me up was the cars. But since they ha~e put in the security guards~ I have ~ad a restful nightrs sleep ever sinte. I think the $2curity guards have Deen working out reaily well. I can understand about the people living on the other side of California Avenue who might have a little more problem. \lte have a lot of tre~s in our neighborhood that might block the noise. I think the hours are ~ery reasonab1e. Now I a.m. is late for me, but r can remember 10 or 15 years ago~ the night ~~s just getting started. So I Cin understand why kids want to hang out that 1 ate-. Cl.osing it at I a.m. would put them DlJt of business. I think it is a gre'30t plaee~ and t'la~e even been there myself. (losing it would be a horrible thing to do to the kids. Ms. Case: VO" sa i d you 1 i ve near a park i ng 10t where the patnm s u sed to park? .Mr. Chan: Yes. That parking lot is now blocked off so r.obody par"ics there anymc.re. I haliE one more thing to ad.a. I think the valet parking idea might be a very good one. First of all, they would not turn on their car alarms anymore, and they couldn't ~arty in their C3rs anymore. KAte Sherwood. 314 college Avenu_~ __ .......£!JJ':l. Alto: hav;; 1 ived at this address for a year now. I am attempting to draw a map for people so people tan see all of these ioeations that are being discussed. I live two blotks from Tne Edge on the second floor of my bUilding, and I live ~ery close to the street. $0 I can hear pretty m~ch everything that goes on in the str2et. 1 ha~e not been disturbed at al' in the year that I have lived there. I greatly val~e having The Edge nearby. I will adm~t that I have not ever gone to T~e Edge s~nce I moved into the neighborhood, but t~at is due, in part, to being a passenger in an auto accident, so I feel somewhat fragiloe nO\ll. I 1ike the opportunity of being able to go there. I .1'0 fe.l that The Edge brings people in who might not otherwise know abowt the California Avenu~ district, so I have the sense t~at there will be more patrons of the California A~enue district, giving me more ser~lces that I can walk to. If they say they are hailing problems, that - 08/10/92 -9- ·~.t~,( - I t - may be absolutel) tru~. I do not want to deny that. I just want to say that in my neighborhood and on my stre€t, it is not i problem. I will say that. I ha',re not e .... er been dw~kened by music, but 1 have been awakened by the man ~ho cvm~$ bJ in the morning and picks ~p the bott1es~ I wor~ l rat~er late scMedule. J also want to say that I rea11y r!a11y dislike having tne security guards at the intersection of Siren and College. The first time I drove by, there was just a bouncer standing on t~e corn~r. I ~er.t out later that evening, and r dressed today to mimic what I ~as wearing at that time. I drove uP. ro1led down the window, and said, excuse me, what are you doing h~re? He said f we are just. trY;"9 to keep Edge patrons from park.ing over here. My c{Jm~ar\ion arid I, ."ho wa'i a. min with long hair, drove on to my apartment, i!'"id r said, you know. that ;s strange. He did not try and stap us. My companion said, mayb~ he thought you looked respectable, a,ld Itrle both started hughing. I am respectable, htit there 15 11O 'Way fGr 'him to k~HJW that. anci i!:t the time, ! had a two-inch cut on my forehead. let's take various possibilities. I am a bad person. 1 am going to break. bott?es, etc. on the la~. I see a security guard. 1 nave one or two choices. I can feel threate~ed and go park s~mewhere else, or r can park there and ign{Jre him. What is he going to do? I don't see that this person has any 1egal right to stop me. Arl he can co is int'mlaate me. Now let's soppose that I am a resident. I can either have the per$cn harass me as a resident, w~ich I do not particularly li~e, or I can haye _ guard who just $tands there and does nothing. Neither of these options see<»s particularly useful. Let's take a third case. Let's say it is the friend of a re~ident. My friend with t~e long hair (omes dr1ving up. Agafn~ the security guard can either harass my friends, which J do not liKe, or he CHI choose not to narass anybody, in which case, he is not being part1cularly effecti~e. One problem ~ith California Avenue is t~at it does not appear to be a r~sidential area. Th~ condos that this gentleman liyes in are in the same complex as retai1 shops. It is not obvious that there might be people living there to ."ake up. I dun't have a solution for that. t10tel Cal,fornia, I believe, ',S the ~nly busln~ss t~at is open that late. So again, the street look:; ceserted. Everything looks Q\Jiet. h'hy shouldn't someone be yelling across the street. It is nat obvious that you should not be doing that at that time of night. That concludes my remarks. J;J.D.Qt Cannon. ]17 CaliforniCl; __ ...mJl.ue. Palo Alto: I do want to say that The Edge has being extremely cooperatiYe. They have tried numerous t~ing5. Some af the ideas you ha~e suggested ~e thought would work, anQ we have tried many of them. r think the issue that it comes down to is a good night's sleep. Whether it is 4 o'clock in the morning or 2 o'clock in the w~rn1ng, waking up is waking up. Some of the issues of control that we talked about and thought would work surprisingly have not. Short of having armed guards statloned on the street, I do not know the answer to this. W~e" you have that many people together, it se~ms like the law of allerages is that there are always. same inesponsible peap1e. Most of the patrons are 'Jery responSible, but there are always thos~ few who are out there breaking bottles. It is being between a rock and a hard place because I was happy 1 sa~ the security goard there. They had ~The Edge" printed nM their uniform and l{Joked very official. lhat was utltil a couple of times when I drove by, and a flash1igl'1t was put in my face so that J co~ld not pass, and I did not like that. Again, J ~ish I had a 08/10/91 -10- solution. From a purely selLst) point of ",iew, I l'1ope it stays open. Terry $~ucl'1at. 290 California Avenu~; 1 l'1ave a business at this address, and also have property across the street, and also down the stre~t from The Edge. So 1 have property all around The Edge. I am one who is not here to complain about noise, because we are ~ot tnere at ni9ht. Two of my buildings are offic~ buildings w~lch are n~t used at night, and the other two are r!tail stores. ~ problems are the mess and vandalism. The managers of The Edge, as people have sitd, are very cocperative and are to be commended. They really have been trjing. They ~re v~ry responsive when there is a problem, but the problems hav! continued. Oller t~e last couple of years, there has been graffiti, and 1 have had to paint over parts cf the buildings I have. Ttle two office bund'ings ~ave ~)astfc signs on the doors indicating who occupies them. Numbt:rs of them have been ripped off by people. rt is a courtyard type ~f building. 1 get r!.any, many complaints about the smell of urine. r hal,'e spoken to the management of The Ed9~~ who hav~ offered to hose dowr. the place about once a week. They are trying to help, but I don't know if they can. I was speaking to them just the oth~r day on the street as 1 see them all the time because they a~e in the ne~ghborhood and 1 am at work all the time. I believ~ they said that they send someon~ out to clean up the neighborhood after a major promotion, but they don't do it after the smaller conr.~rts. What I unaerstood t~em to say the other day was that with a group of 100 or so, they would not send someone out. But I find that on any given night. a hundred people ~an make as much of a mess as 8uD, depending on what sort of mood the patrons are in. I get to work about 8 o'clock, which is usually just before their peQple stut cleaning up tne erea. So as I arri",e at work., and] see the mess that was left over frorn the night, before. So I think. it would be gr€at, since tfo;ey are in the pr{lcess of cleaning up anyway, if they couid do it en a daiTy basiS, and also. lf it would b~ possible to do it after a concert is over rather than in the mooning. Of course, what r ~rn suggesting is going to create more neis!?-, and r see heads shaking back and forth. Also it is a great opportunity for us to stand here and tell people how to run their business, a neat thing to do. ~e aTl have Dur own solutlons to solve this problem. But r don't tike seeing the mess that ;s there in the morning. I t€r.d to clean up a lot of it mjself. Quite often, there w,ll be bee. battles, beer cans, people have thr~wn up on the sidewalk, and again, t~e urine smell is unbe1ievable, particularTy on warm morning~. It is Quite obvious that people a~~ going to reiieYe themselves somewhere. There are a lot of SEcluded areas in t.~ese offices that I have, I really don't know how they can ever really nave enough security people to patrol tne entire area. The occupanC)' is around 700 or 800, so 7f sou are talking about three or fcur people patrolling the neighborhood, that ;s 11. very small proportion in relation lo the number of patrons. They couTd have security guards dOing a fantastic job at one corne! while sOI~thin9 is happening in another corner. It was mentioned that it probably brings new people to California Avenue. Any of us who are ~n 'DlJsiness in that area recognize that these at"e not our customers. They may be very r,ice people, but for t~e most part, they are people coming from out of the ~~ea. Granted there is ~me followup, but for the most part, The Edge advertises over a pretty large area of the peninsula. So a lot of these people are cOl"ing in exclusively for their entertainment. I hope you have a copy of the letter I sent you. (Yes) One thing I ~8/20/92 -11- .-... -"""" .• iil!pL ... ·!IIiIIiI.--·"-·--...... ~-·¥'··-'····-· '7~~;" " ,-",;t:."':-- - ment'ioned in there is the fact that they don't use the plac.e during the day. I do enjoy that, and that is tertain!y an adVantage that we ~a~e additional parking. ~e have a parking s~ortage right now, an~ if T~e Edge WerE lsed during the day, it ~ould bring tnat many ~Gre cars in. r certalnly think they shou'id be allowed to stay in business. I l:now that some people would like to see them eliminated, but they are pro ... ·iding a place for people to go, but I. ton~ would like to see their hours limited. There are too many p€ople milling around there too late. The more ~olirs you give. pe<lpl e to roam the area. the more opportunity they have to litter and vandaliz! the area. Rich Weingart,gD.......-..!Q.9 Grant Street Palo AHo: I 1 iv.e a couple ':If blocks from The Edge. I haye lived in this area for about three years, and chose it bec~use it was clase to a business area. One of the things about The Edge is that it is siilack in the li1~ddle of a commercial area. There really fs no imediate surrounding residential areas that adjoin it. I realize tnere are some problems with patrons going f~rther into that area, but basica11y, one of my concerns is that I like having it there because it brings in people late at night. That. I think, adds to t~e overall security of the area. I would be concerned if The Edge mc-ved or if they shut down earller that it would tend to create a vacuum when we dDn't have crowds of people out in that area. 1 realize that some of those people are rowdy and are dOing things that people don't 1 ike, but 1n general, there is safety in numbers. and having those people there is a con"enience to me, especially since I often go to the post office on the other side of The Edge. So it allows me to walk in that area late at night and feeT rel.atlvely safe. The secord tning is that a number of the businesses in the area do deri~e income from The Edge. It is ali tt 1 eli ke an anchor store in that sense. I k~ow, for example. Homer's Brown Rice Sushi, ~hicn is practically next to The Edge, is open. Their ~ours somewhat corrEspond to The Edge, and there are definite1y people who go there. Printers Inc and probabiy Mollie Stone's. as well, deri"e additional income from The Edge, 1 would say. That is a s-:nlice to me, because it means they will keep their stores open later and there will be more stores in the area. If Hemer's, for example, did not get this particu1ar incone, he might have to close down or move e1sewhere. $0 having those stores open late at night in the area is a sEr~ice to me and is one of the f'easons 'ltjhy I moved there. I realize that the traffic and noise are a consideration, especially dOf'ln in this area, because it is fairly out of the ~ay. So I can understand why people who go to The Edge who are under age and cannot buy drinks there would go to this area in order to have their drink.s, because it is far enough out of the way that people won't s~e them. That particu1ar problem needs to be addressed. Ha\iing those people not being Here ..,i11 not solve the nois~ problem. Tney are next to the railroad tracks. Freight trains go through there late at night. The earliest Southern Pacifi, is around 4:30 a.m. Tnere is also Kinko's Which is open 24 hours a da.". There is the north county jail only a block away, which, I'~ sure. is open all hours. So basically, it is like oil 24-hour business area, so just eliminating the people from The Edge will eliminate some of that traffiC, but there are other saloons. Tnere is Antonio's. tnere is Talbots, which is open fairly late, so what 1 am concerned abo'Jt, prlmarily, is that if T~e Edge closes or if their hours are reduced, that the number of good people who are out i~ tnis area will be reduced and that that will create ·L-.····.· . . . 08/20/92 -12- .", kln-:t of a vacuum where what ~e are left with is bad peop1e in this area. I ~~u~d not 1ike to see that. The other t;'ing i5 that I 1ive right across from -..that used to be tnf! Atapulco Restaurant. There are people out there l~tf! at nig~t causing corrmotion. It is something that if basicall,) you try to get a phce shut down, if there are prob1cms witn noise ~r sOli'etning, you are going to end up reducing the business in this area until there is nothing le~t. 50 it is a def!nite Droblem, but it is something tnat r really feel needs to be addressed in another way other th~n reducing the hours. Richard Na,ygU.n.... 2508 Birch 5t)"eet. PalQ ____ Alto: I am a nom.a(lwner and my piace lO\lls out over this parking lot. It is used b.:r· Edge people through the alleyway. I have lived there eight years, and I t.'owTd say that on an average of once a wee"., I have been a",aker1Ed in the mlddle of the night, lately three or four times, with shouting and people argUing, laughing, etc. Once you are awake, you are awake. It has gone on a Tong time. [ don't feel that The E~ge is necessarily the sale supplier of problems in the area. Possibly Antonio's Nut House has a few motorcyclists that like to race down Birch Street at 2 in the morning. My feeling is that if everybody c10sed at 2 i.m., the Mise would be over and done with by 2:30 a.m., and then we could all sTeep frow then on. I don't want The Edge to leave. I think it is 9\lod to have it. ! like to hear the music and J like the crowd that comes, and 1t adds int&rest to the neighborhood, but the noise is intolerable, and I am going t~ mo\'~ because of ~t. Stephanie Kair 726 Tord Court: I just want to say that I can understarld that people want to get their sleep and that it is important to them, but for a teenager, having a goad time and going to a pl ace where they can have fun is just as important to them as it is for adults to ~ave a good nigntTs sleep. The city does not Drovide any oth~r place for teenagers or young adults on regular ni~hts to go to and find an enjoyable place. I know that if you closed The Edge earlier, I don't think it would be a s01ution, because the night just doesn't end at 11 Dr 12 or even 2 for a si~teen-year oTd or an eighteen·year-01d. The last time I we~t to bed at 12 and read a bO\lk 1 was not in a mood to have a good ti~. I don't know what the solutlon is, but I really don't thi~k t~at closing it any earlier is going to heTp. If _you are eighteen. you are allowed to wandrr Hi:! streets at night. So people would sti11 hang out on the streets and talk and be loud. I wOIJld much rather hang OjJt inside The Edge until 3 or 4. Run Viera._n 217_n California Avenue. Pale:) .<\1JQ: I have-an office at this address. I na',ie probably been on the avenue. longer than most I with the exception of Terry Shuchat. Probably the easiest solution I can see is to just go out there at night. It is pretty easy to see what goes on. T~e vandalism is the most obvious thing that occurs. Terry has had his fence broken at 1east three or four times. Bott1e~ all over the area. That is s{]mewhat better s~nce they ho-le started picking them up. It has somewhat subSided. But there is one thing that was not addre~sed. Why is it that they dc-n't have to serve food? I don't know \If another establishment in Palo Alto that serves alcohol without serving f{lod. They did it for awhile as a concession, and then that sort of dropped off. I really don't know what the solution is, but I tell you, all you have to do is go out there at night. 1 have many times com6 out. 1 know that in one instance in particular, the dry cTeaner w~ich is right next to them was totally 08/20/92 -13-----... c ...... 1 _.-..... '",- .' , - -- .,--. <::.': ~ .. i<l,<, •• Jrr". - .. __ ~~~ ___ ._~_~~_":..--:..-._...; ___ , __ ~~ ... "~1"-"'''''''-'''_''~ __ .~ . '=.:'''~ bloc-ked off with cars. 1 had to lea'w'e my car tnere over night hecause I couTdn't 9ft out. Fortunately, I had a wa., home. I don't r!IU), have anything a9ai~st the managem€nt. But whwt happt!r.s is that the rr.aj,ority of the people who come there are coming from another area. I ha .... e seen the area cha~ge an awful lot i~ the 'last 24 years, and it has not necessarily ~elped what is going on right now. P~trolljng is helping. but there is ~n awful lot of stuff that glJes en in U1e cars. All the police ha'olf to do is to drive up a~d down the alleys and through ne parking lots. and it is easy t~ spot. That;s a good portion of th~ problem. Drugs and alcohol are constantly being used right Q'Jt tr,ere in piain ~ie'W. mnl10usly they c~nJt stop everybody, but that is where the i~clte~ent comes from and the 'I'a(Jdaiism and the messes that ha· .. e occurred week after 'Week. ! am sorry I donlt have iI solution, and 1 dc-n't n€cessarily want to see thelTi shut down either, as they seem t,o be cocpent lve. Th-ey went out there arl.-j put some ligi1ts over the tl")P of the c1ea~er:i to get some of the people out of there, which 'Was a nice gesture, b!1t probably this has occurred because they are afraid they are going to iose their license. This should have been done a couple of years ago. R~gnt now, I t~ink it is a last ditch effort on their part. Dan Lehman. 35.~ __ C!Jl1~ge AV':nup, Palo Alto: We live here, and someoru:! else spoke who lived right there and c1a~med she could not hear anythtng and ~id not have any problems. ~e have actually had a fence broken at the house. We have calloed the police after be~ng awakened by these !tIi·ords. "Get the sledge hammer.-Then someone proceeded to walk down the street w~th a he1met on? carrying 'What looked like a stick. tater on that evening, the police were (alled again when a P.10 Alto sign for some gas work that was done was broken 1 and the light on top of it torn off. We have also had problems with broken glass. people drinking in front of the house at all h!)urs~ including the early 2ve1'1il'1g. We have observed people entering the neighbor's prnperty acrO$S the street and used thei~ water. We have had problems since The Edge began its intensive policing. To remind you ~f where the police are located, they are at these corners he-reo Usually if someone is sitting on this bench at odd hours of the night. which ;s right outside our bedroom, s~~eone who works for The Edge, and ~e usually say hi to the person, and we ha~e not had any problems wfth the people, but we have had continuing problems with nOise and what amounts to a pol ~,e state kind of en~ironment, being stopped .as you enter the neighborhood, which was mentioned ~reviously. We also have a problem wiU car alarms that nm continuous.ly. Tne), are obviously not the neighhors' because they' nJn for as long as several hours, until Me of the neighbors finally call the pDlice and !lave the car towed away. Hds happens on m.Jre than one occasion. Now the major problem is noise and the qua~ity of life in the neighborhood which has really been impeded by the measures tnat ha~e necessarily been taken to control the problems. If you want to put it forth as The Edge has a right to mab~ money ;a,nd give teenagers a good time versus your right to sleep and get up on Monday morning after a Sunday night when you have been waked up, that is a very weak argument, The real questions are, tne alcohol pol icy, the hours, the number of days tt is open, a~d the extent to which The Edge can manage this problem. None of those problems have been ~olyed. even though the temporary parking problem has been !:olved. It was an extreme measure and it has hurt He quality of life in our neighborhood. So I am speaking for a few people, including OUT landlord and previous tenants who had the same kinds of problems. 1 don't think we should be bogged down ;:n a fight o .... er 08/20/92 -14- "f~,";~+;. ""~~i ,~', - -... .-'-.. one business's right to operate versus residents in the ar~a. I think ~e should think about the big picture, because t~er~ are a number of issues that are still not resolved, 2ven 'With U:e intense police focus and s2curi t.y focus. Bl"'ad Adams, 360 Coneg-s AvenUE. Palo Alt<!: I lille very close to Birch O~ the cotr.er of Col iege ,a,¥erwe. As r weighed "in my mind the situatiC"n that we are faced lilith, J say, okay. what is the mission of the different ~rganizations involved and the purpose of the organization. What is the III\sS10n of The Edge? J \l/oullj say the mission of He Edge, lS a business, is to make a profIt. Their strategy in making that profit is (1) they want to be viewed as a hot night spot for teens and young adults so that they can maximiZe ticket ~ales, ~hich of course increases their profits; (Z) J wou1d suppose that pil,rt of their strategy in maxi;nizing t~e1r profits is to provide a site wtJere beverages can be sold to max·;m~ze their concession-dollar. Both of ttlose situations, the~, are a necessary part of supporting the idea of be;n9 a hot night spot and boosting their concession sales is the issue of alcohol on site. With no alcohol, th~re is no hot n1gM spot. \!jith no aicohol, there is no bo:osting of concession sales. So if J were to say~ that is their mission and thijt is their strategy, that is wtlat I would say. Who are their stakehold~r5? Who are the peoplE who hold a stake in the success of Tr.e Edge? Well, I gues~ we could say we are basica11y talking about maximizing ticket saTes. Ttley are trying to increase their stake by appealing to teenagers and young adults outside of Palo Alto. It ~ould be fiir to say that the numbers whD are at The Edge every evening demonstrate that fa~t. The~ br~ng in a consi-derable number of teo?frs and young adults from outsiGe of the city. As a matter of fact, I think it is safe to say that the ~ast ~ajorfty come from outside tile c:Hy going to a hot new night spot in Pilo Alto. It is part of being hip to go to someone else's town for this kind of thing, cr it isn't cocl. I understand this. because I have been there. If we were to contrast their mission at The Edge wit" the mission of the cornm~r.ity, and these ether people who are th~re, I would say that their mission is to provide a peacefuT. safe, residential setting a~d business climate for occupants a~d their guests. The question I come down to is, are thes~ t~o missions in alignment with each other, or is there so~e misaligr.rrRnt? Wh(J are the stakeholders th~t .r1ake up the cO:m1l1nity? We have heard from businessrr.en. We ha ... e a large )I,mount in that particular setting :n tne whole Mayfield area of retir.::t peopTE, YOllng farrrilies~ ~orking couples, working s:ngTes, al1d StalJford singTes. If Jiou ~ere to take that list of stakehoTders ~nd CGntrast it with the resident stakeho1ders which are the ownerSl a smali grou~, and a vast majority of out-of-town teens, and say, okay. where is the al ignment between the mission and the value to stakehold-ers, I think we would find that there is a prohl em. I ltJfould go next to the issue of costs. What is the value added of ihe Ed~e to the community? The community pays the buik of the taxes. We ha¥e heard about tax revenue being an issue and that The Edge pro~ides a contribution of tax revenue to the community. but who pays ttle bulk of the taxes? ] would say it is probably a collection of businesses and a collection of the people ~ho live in the reside~tial areas. If we are ta1 king about value added, there is a s~,all amount -of tax value added, Aside from that, what is the value added to ttle community? I am not sure that we see a great deal of vaiue add~d from ha¥ing The Edge there, other 08/20/92 -15- e:s& be I , , , , t \, - than same Pa10 Alto teenage youth and you~g adults being able to attend. I believe that a couple of the people, including the gentleman who spoke just bcfor~ me, are in the category of Stanford students. It could be argued that we are a university town and that t.herefore, Stanford students are a big cOr1stituenc,)' of The Edge. My argument 'r'ol!ld be thfl,t that is probably not the case. The g~ntlemar'l who just spoke being at StanfQrd and others:, it would ~ppear that thl'lse people are probably more interested in heing at home and getting a good nlght's rest to further thefr studies. Sa what are the C(;sts, then~ Well, there are the policinj] costs. We ha've heard that there are 51 incid~nts of the pollee being called aut in the first five months to H~e Edge. I am /"lot sure what that cost is to the city, but it has to be substantial, especiallY if it conti~ues. The cost te qual it)' of life of having the security force ",hich restricts thP.' flow of traffiC as a solution that does not work. The cost to the value of homes jn the area, should this continue and sh~uld the neighborhood continue to recei~e this kind of reputation, the cost to homeowners in resale of their home will ha~e a substantial loss to them, as well as to the city. in other revenues. Tne cost of lO$t sleep, and therefore, production, to people who ar~ involved ;n the c('Immunity has to be large. The cost of .... Cindalism. the cost of litter, the t;ost of broken glass. My question is, does th~ va1ue added to the community justify the costs? I am not sure that it does. J would like to return briefly to the issue of alcohol. I was interested in giving it a fair shake and in understanding what is going on in the area. 1 was pleased with the clientele. but I will tell )'ou that on the e~ening that 1 w~nt, which was tne ni~ht bef~re last, I went and just hung out at the doer ~here people were going in and out. There ..... ere two Spanish-speaking young men there. r ha~e lived most of my 'ife in Spanish-speaking countries, so I am flu€nt in Spanish. They 'Were visiting there, and one said to the other, (in Spanish) ~'y'ot! are going t<l lose your license." I ...,as trying to figure out 'fI!hat was happening. I waited for a few minutes, and the person who apparently is in charge came~ .md basically. as it unfoTded, ht! had a fake 1.0. He tried to get altohol and by some way or another~ had been questioned abolJt it. They had noticed the inconsistency between his driver's licei1se and another form of fake 1.0. I just stayed there because] was curious to ~ear the outcome. The outcome was, you know there is a ~un1shment. because ~e couTd lose our license and you could lose yours for having done this. lie sat there and thought for a minute, and sald, "Here is the punishment. You and your friend have already paid to get 1n. 'fJU ~a .... e lost that money. Slit .vou can have the rest of your belongings back.~ He returned hjs wallet with everything int~ct to him and said, now, I don't want to see you guys tonight, and he let them leave. M.y question is. r understand that~ because going back to their mission, that is to maximize and be seen as a hot n~ght spot. To be seen as a hot night spot, you have to tread that thin 1 ine between co~trol so that you don't los.e your 1 icense and not be seen ~s too tough on the kids who would then say, you are not cool. So they 'fIIere acting out of their mission state:1lent. I understand that. My question is, what is the greater sense of the conmunity? What are tilE! laws that ceme lflto p'tay? What -ire the legalities of this being the policy? I want to end with that idea that we have a ,ommu~ity. It is made up of the people wtl'J elect official 5. The officiais then help provide the valu~s of the communities or the mission or type of setting 08/20/92 -15- ttH~;t they wish to maintain in the cORl11u~ity. The iss'J-e, to me, is that it is a D'.ission statement of the conrnunity IIIhich wants a safe, secure, rP.'sidenthl setting versus the mission of an organization which seeks to ~Iaximize their business profits at the expense of the mission of the c:omlunit),. Does the value to the c:orTJTIunity justify th:! costs to the community? Thank you. Ms. C;se: At the beginning, yo~ said you were making a statement in view of you~ profession. Wpat is your profession? Mr Adams: I am a management consultant. Steven Mathieu: I have been a resident of Palo A1to since 1972~ sinc~ I was a kid, so I pretty much kno ... the issues that teenagers were talk~ about, having gone to Paly, G~nn and Jordan, the whole deal, and I am still living here. I have seen a lot of issues people are complaining about --the noise, the alcoh01, the drin~ing. and I understand why that is happ~ning. but I also see that The fdge provides something that is val uable to trte area. I think the no; se prohl ems could be abated a bi t, possibij by these guards. Obviously. the residents have problems, but tne residents who are the closest to The Edge want it both 'oIIays. Everything has to be perf~ct. People are s~pp0sed to park exactiy where you want them to, on the ~outh side of California A .... enue. f guess, over by the tounty hal'. The purpose of The edge is the serving of alcohol and increasing its clientele. I have seen people busted ~;th tneir 1.0.'5. have seen people taken sway by cops for falc.e 1.D. 's. Nc business i! iCa percent perfect. Blaming The Edge for fak~ I.D.'s be~ause teenagers get beat up. That is the way th~n9s are I thirk there could be some positive things done by The Edge like having il.r. earlier cleal1ing patro1. You could make sure everybody parks on the south side of California A~enue. You could have watthers around and maybe somebody r~questing peop1e to be quiet on the way out. 1 really donIt think The Edge should be closed at 2 a.m., from my experience of going there, because you are going to drink there, partly because you are trying to get over your nervousness and dance and nave some fun, and there are times when you don't have anything to do, and you want to get drunk. In today1s cli~dte of D.U.f.'s, you a~e not gning to drive home. But if YDU wait in the tar~ you are 90ing to get yourself in trcUble. You will be harangued by the cops or the new security guards. So I think The Edge should stay open until at least 3 a.m. I ~ave been there until 4 a.m., and that is a1right~ but at least 3 a.m. People are going to get dru~K even ~hen they S'lut off the alcohol at 1~30. You know perfectly iJIIell that it tak.es at l~ast an hour for alcohol to wear off from supposedly Dne drink. Some people drink until at least 12:30. Having the Tine shut to 40 pellple isn't going to work. just practically. I have b~en to a lot of clubs, San Jose, San francisco. Palo Alto, etc.~ and I t~ink it would be nearly impossible to do it. ! dcn't care whether it would hurt the business or not, but just having 40 people in line, just the way it is right ~ow, the popularity of the place, it's not going to work. I naVE not seen any dr~gs outside of The Edge, as ~omeone mentioned earlier. 1 agree with o~e of the teenagers that it is tne on1y place to go on Sunday nigMs. Basically, when you grow up here in Palo Alto. you throw a party when your parents are gone, and then the cops bust y<lu. Right now~ I am 23, so I am not among this younger crowd of high schoolers. but if you go out with your friends, it is better to have a D8/20/92 -17 - - place to go than hanging nut downtown. which 1 did for a~hlle. At The Edge, at 1 east, you r.ang out and feel safe ~ ns ide. It serves a purpose. Pall) ~,1to 1 s getting older. I saw a suniey about that. I can imagine some people saying. well, we are older now and we had our fun, but you guys can't have yours. That has al.~ys been the co~p1aint for me p~rso"ally ab<H.lt Paio Alto, espe.cial') w~th the housing prices. ~Qing up. In l few years. 1 won't be abJe to li .... e here, and' secondiy, )"O'J guys 9~t all the good stuff. You get the bicycling, the recycling, the daytime act;~+ties. But as far as nighttime activities, Printers Inc .. -when they were oper. until Midnig~t, I was happy. 1t was like, WOw, someplace to 90 ifter ten. I don't go to bed when tn~ news starts at 1Q o'cl~ck. like it when The Edge i$ open. It is someplace to go, s!lmeplace to hang out. Palo Alto has to provide for all the ~embers of the community. not just the older people, not just t~e daytime people, and the~e also is no other plac~. You ha~e to driv~ 17 mil~s to downtown San J~se to 90 dancing) or you ha~e to dri~e 35 miles to get to San Francisco. I will swear on I bible that there are no_places between San Jose and San Frantlsco. lo~ally I think it is an asset. There definitely ire some problems with noist and alcohol. Drinking is always going to be a problem as long as you have teenagers or anybody IJnder 30. Bwt if th-e guards go around and har~~s peDple, there will not be drinking in a car if you see someone coming up ~ith i f1ash1ight. I know that from personal experiltlnce. So I think. the security people cou1d do some good. Those are my key points. I ~u1d ha~e a suggestion for the person who has that apartment They should maybe put in some fences betweePl tt;em and' The Edge-. just a natural spot. If you want to dr1nk, tnat courtyard is i place. It is dark and out of the way. You could drink in your could drink in a place l;k~ that. complex. That is. natural car or you As far as the new housLlg that is al{)ng here, I thinK ttlat maybe some more ;~sulatiu~ would help. The Edge has been around a lot long~r than th~se new houses. I hope you will all come to a resolution. and not kick. people out at ]:31 in the morning when they are drunk and get a,U.I.'s on the street. Th~t is stupid. Right now 1n San Jose at the Cactus Club and some other places, they are trying to lobby for the c1ubs to stay open past 2 a.I~., bec.::use that is the probiem. You would be sending people out when th~y are drurK, and they wo~ld ~ave no c~oice. They are not going to stay in their cars and wait until they are $ober. I think that is a (ritir.al issue. I don't want to see people driving drunk on the way home bec.ause th~y hc'/e t-o 1eave. If they ha'le tlie ~pt'cn. people will stay. It's either be thrown out and drive home drunk or hang around the club and dance it off. I am really sorry abot.Jt the noise problems. But you have to ~rovide for ~ll of the citizens of Palo Alto. ~5. Case: Have you €ver used it valet parking service, 1f one i~ available, or are you more likely to go three or four b10CKS away to park.. kr. Mathi.eu: That Inight work for some people. Personally, I would not do it. I WOUld" go b another area to }:lark. I think the ones "hi) I)iwe cal" alarms and fancier cars might use it, 1 would say probably the majority of people would not use it, but a better idea might be to have a Sign, posting a guard past Kinko's, and have people directed into the parking lot right there, and have them 90 down the alley tr> The Edge. That parking lot seems pretty empty. That would definitely get rid of a lot of 08/20/91 ~ 18 ~ ·-·""e1l1. '. ; - the prob~ems. nat is wl'1at I lJIouTd say. Va1et parking might ltork for some, but for most people, they don't want to spend a lot of money on it. I really can't thini:. of too ma~y places t:lat hall~ vaTet parkfng. Fl!"rence packa.r..rL..._316 Oxfo,d Stree-t. PaTo Alto: .... hat bothers I~Pe is why is it iegal for these k~ds to ccm~ alit of there drunk and drive? "'!"hey chase up arid down our strt!ets. Why is that Jeg<ll? We raised four s{)r.s and they didnrt hang out ;n nightclubs. Why do tr.ey need tc do that until four ;~ the morning? Whi de we need that in our neighbor~ood? They are ruining our whole neighborhood. We don't na~e any rest, noise, noise, bott:es, everytn1!"1g else 901n9 on in aur neighborhood. I don't see why teenagers c2n't stay home and have fun at hQme, or do s?mething in other ways. Am old fashioned? Ms. lytle; We will let tt)e police respond to the issues of illegalHy after we nave had the public testimony. Jay Patkard. 315 Oxford Avenue: I have a letter directed to the City of Palo Alto which I will turn in to jO~. r mention it only because of the date. The Edge has applied a lot of eff:Jrt toward soh'if1g the problems that they learn of. and they are to be commended for that, as has been stated. This lett~r i~ dat~d August 19. and its complaint is littering and noise and pOinting out that location is the probl€m. Yau are trytng to mhc two things that a .... e incompatible _. The Edge and its activities and the Quiet, peaceful, sleeping neighborhood, espechlly in the wee t.aurs. There arE i lot of people who wanted to come to this hearing, but they work and could not come. I was to pick up some of them, and they have children. That is what I am contending, that this locality is not in appropriate place for an establishment like The Edge. They cater to hundreds of yeung, energetil: people, sell them ~lcoholic beverages, and then tur~ th~m loose at I Q'clock, Z orclock~ 3 o'clock, 4 o'clock in the morning into our quiet neighborhood. Again, it is just n<lt cOfl'lpatible. One of the peopTe I was to bring but could not at the last minute because of a Sick child said that sne 1 i\les on the carrIer of Ash and leland. That is a dead end, and she said that people come in fro~ ET Camino, get into the d~ad end~ and park to do the1l" tning. They have litter to .clean up in the morning, and they have noise, depending on tne hours of lhe Edge, b~fore and after. What we hear and what we see is not nice. I conte~d that al though it is needed by some ages, we are trying to keep them in a. location that is not rlght for what is already here ~s. Case: I have a question for you, Mr. Packard. How lcng did you say you have lived in this neighborhood? Mr. Packard; I ~ame here nine years ago, and lived previously in College TerracE'. ~s. Case: Is it better, worse, different, now than it was when you first came? Mr. Padc.a_rd: It is worse. Ms. Case: And fo~ how 10ng has it been worse? Mr. packard: I lJIould say since the prest!l1t ownership took o~er, about the last two-and·a-half years. 08/20/92 -l9- Ms. Cas@; And before that, you didn't lose sleep, etc.? Mr. ______ packard: We liead some noise, but I1Othi~g lik.e it 1S now, and 1 don't believe the 1itter was there, that l ~eca\1. Cat'otH-3cKer, 355 College Avenue. Palo Alto: My husband spoke before me, and] \lrl'ould li:te to ask SOrlie thing:>. One thing that ~appened previously to the guards patrolli~g the area was that we came back home at 5 p.m .• and right in front of our hOlJse, there WJS a car parked w:tM three girls and "ne bo)', teenagers. They were drinking from the trunk. They hac a bag in the t.runk and they look.ed at us and were giggl~ng. They (ontfnued to do the'ir thing and just d~d not stop. That was the night we. had a 10t of probl€ms liifith the sledgehalTlTler inCident and the broken street sign. Another thing is that the security has helped a little bit, but they or.ly stay until 11 or 11:30. The big problem is when the teenagers leave The Edge at 2 or 3 1n the morning. 1hat is ~hen ~e get waked ~p. lhe other tning is that my husband is a medical 5tude~t, Gnd he is on cal1. He is not abTe to sleep, and t1~ needs !'lis sleep. He has tc be up arld help people in th~ hospital. He .... as waking up at 3:00 in the morning, and he has to be up at 4 ~~e1ock he has to go to the nQspital. That 15 not a way of helping peop1e in the hospital, and tllat is not a way to get his sleep. I am sure there are others who are doctors and ha'Je problems like he does. I don't know where they live, but it l:i not fair to us. We are the ones 'Ilho 1 ive there, not them. They lea ... e. The ether thing is that last Thursday~ my husband was not there and was waked u~ at 2 a.m. and I was 100king out through the window where I can see what happens at Birch and Cambridge. There were peop1e hanging out there, talking 1ou{j, caY'S leaving the ph.'t--e, racin9. Tnere-is a stop sign at Birch and Cambridge, and the cars did not stop there. I thin~ it ;5 a little dangerous. The other thing is that maybe I have a different perspective on alcohol, but it doesn't bring any benefit. If you dr;:1~ two glasses i. day. that is fine, but I come from a country where we don't use alcohol to have fun. We went out but ~e didn't need it to dance. When I came to the states, had friends come from Argentin~, and people eouid not understand how we could ~an,e and ha~e fun without drinklng. inat is something I can't understand. I think mayoe drinking should be restricted to one or two glasses~ There is one thing The Edge hlS on Tuesdays which is t~o-dollar Tuesdays. That mati ~ates peapl e to drink even more. r do!']' t think that is good. The other thi~g I wou1d sugge~t is maybe look for a ?lace ~here there are not a lot of residepts, somewhere a little more isolated. It ~oesn't have to be outside of Palo ATto, but just not where it is close to where we live. The oth~r thing is that about two weeks ago, we went for a ride to see what "as gOing on. There were 10ng quei"les of people waiting to get in. I dDn't know what happens to the people who get tired of wai ti ng in 1 ine. Maybe those are the peopl e who wal kin the neighborhood and break bottles. Now OM thing has changed that the person who c.ollects the bottles is walking at 2 a.m. They are walking on the lawns at 2, at 3, at 4. That 1S not a way to live. I work.. I take c.lasses. and it is just not a good way to live. Tom Mowry. _?_~5 CoJJege A~enue. Palo Alto: Rigl1t after I mO\led in, I D8/20/91 20- wa1k~d over to Cambridge Avenue. On one side is The Edge and the parking lot, a~d imediately on the other side is my' apartment. I thought maybe there wC'uld be a b-;g prob1em with nOlose a~d disturbances. I have 11ved there for three months, whic~ is around the time they started having security people. I am actually i very 1 ight sleeper, i:ld I have on1y bo;en awakened once because of an Edge nois~, which is a car alarm. But I am awakened Gt.lite often by He CalTrain in the mor-n'ing. Actually, Tuesday nig~ts are the big n;ghts at The Edge. and I am always amazed that there aren't apy cars or anything on College Avenue in this area. On the other hand, du~ing the day. the people who ride Ca1Train park all o~er College Avenue and elsewhere. I wis~ I lived farth-2r aw~y fl"om Callrain, but I dOIl't rr.ind 1 hing lOa feet from The Edge. Andrea Corney. 360 Col1ege m Ave_nue, Palo Alto: I ljve at the intersectio" of Coll ege and Birch. Perscnally the only probhm r have: f1ad from The Edge is my dcwnstairs neighbors, who are gone. tnank CDd. They were nelghbers from hell, They wer! patrnns of The Edge. They came in at awfu1 hours. When we spoke to them V!2f'Y pleasant1y abed the noise and keeping it down, they thought it was funny and increased the noise, My big concern is that! really don't know what ~ind of people are going to The Edge, but I have t~Q reasons f~; this (oncern, There was tremendous traffic in and out of that apart~~nt downstairs. It was of the kind tnat made us wonder if there was drug dealing going on there. We were terrified of these people, The management got them out. About two month~ ago, d.-jving home at night, I started notici!1g there was always someone at the (orner of t2mbridge and Bircn, This was before the uniformed guards. I ca1led the police and asked if they knew w~at was going on. The on~ J spoke to on the phone said they are bouncers from The Edge and they arE tnere because there have been some gang probl ems, I am concerned about the crowd and I would like to know if the police know anything about it. Ms, Lytle: \lie will ask the policl! to respof,d after the public testimony. ~111 he. 301.a~~ondidQ 'V1llage, Stanfqy:g: I would like to give you some background. I am a Pn,D. student at Stanford in engineering. I want to reiterate some things that have been said and add ~ome of my own observations. I am a regular patro;": of The Edge since r nave been here. I've been here a year, lrl fact, I was there last Saturday. I was parked directly out back, and everybody was parking out bac·iC., I as:;vre you I did not break any bottles, and r am a ~ery re~pectful student. (Inaudible co~nts) 1 am the kind of person who does: not make noise and does not break any bottles. I am from PHtsbur'9. which sounds likE: ~ terrible plaCE. but one of the reasnns I wanted to get out of Pittsburg is that lt has no night THe whatsoever. When I came to California, I naturally ~xpected there wOlJld be something, and The Edge filled the bill very r,.-el1. I am very happy it is there and very happy it is right near by. I am over 21 and! can drink, b'ut tnat is not why I go there. In fact, the doormen I have seen there are very strict. The reason there are lines out~ide is that the doormen check each ~nd every 1.0. I have seen people turned away. I have seen pe{)ple with fake I.D.'s absolutely not given any idlCO!lOl to drink, and 1 have never seen anyone whom I thought was under age be~ng served, I don't support uilder-age drinking. and r am hapPJ that 08/20/92 -21--.......... c ... -" •. fIIj' .5!fiE-" .. , ...... '~r ... "",',.., "~ , - '>,1 • I ,-, ".' .- they ~eep it that way. J haye seen that that is ver) carefully moni tored. The security inside and outside is exceptional. They do a ~onderful job. They don't harass anyone, yet they keep it safe. I hale neyer worried about anyone giving me troub1e when 1 am inside. I ~Iave never felt intjmidated in a~y way because of the security people. I think the late hours worL I was there •. .lntiT 2:30 irl the morning. and th2 people I was with were also drinki~9. ~2 danced ~ little after we stopped drinking, and got home s.afely "HtI n0 drunken driving irwohed. There is no question thdt you should not close the clun eaTly for that reason. I .always park. ir, the back. There is always parking available in the back. So I do not....disturb neigllbrJrs al'1d i do not ha'~e to park on city streets. lhere is a public lot there for that p~rpose. In fact, at this pOlnt, I am moving off the campus and I was going to look for a plac~ right on College Avenue. It is nard to get a place because everyon~ wants to 1 h'e there. Someone said the property values are going down. They charge a hei ~ous alfr<Junt of I·ent in that area. Ms. Lyt1e: We heard about a we-cancy earlier in the heaf"ingl M~. Onlin~: So I just wanted to give you an impression of The Edge that it is not a troublemalr.er and not causing a lot of problems. !lin;le I understand that there can be some problems and they should do what they can, I think va~et parking is one option. ihey shoula make sure that if people have cars, that they park in the deSignated areas. Vou could haYe valet parking ~hich is free, which would e~cDurage people to use it. (inaudible comments) (i3;_rlos Barns. Nightclub Ope_r.ator; I ha ... e been in the ni.ghtclub business for over ten years, I want to say that the location of The Edge 1s a bad spot. When I looked for a place to put my club, I always tried to find a mall wlth lots of parking and no reSidents around. That is always going to be a problem as long as the.)' stay there. No matter what you do, someone is going to comp1ain. The on1y solution is to move to a location that is away fr{)m any reSidents. I ha .... e been in this bUSiness too long. After we dosed at 1 o'clock, peop1e hung out in the parking lot. They are not ready to go ~ome at tilat time. I am looking for a ~lace now. I a.m in the Old Mill .Man at the French Quarter. But it is going to be tor~ down, and we have to move somewhere. lrJtlen we do move, you can be sure we will find a place that is nnt too Crose to any residents. Scott Pray: I am a long-time resident of Palo Alto and I am also an ex·employee of The Edge. J haye been going to The Edge ever since it opened. When it fi~st opened, there were a lot nf problems with it, but as the years went by, The Edge has really made an effort to fix the problems. I have noticed that they now have security guards out patrolling the streets. rt sounas like the biggest p;oblem is the parking and the noise problem. The noise prob1em can be easily fixed by turning down th~ .... olume in TI'le Edge. [t dues get l'Jl.Jd in there sometimes. As far as the parKing gnes, there is a 10t of public parking around Californid Avenue. What they need to do, and J ha .... e noticed tney are out d{)ing it, is to direct traffiC to the publ ic parking. I know tney are doing that rig~t now, sending them to the two-story parking garage. Maybe they shouldn't direct it to that parking gnrage. Maybe they shou1d direct it 08/20/92 -11- -, . to the other side of California Avenue by the 170rth county jail. There lS a lot of ,D~rking in that area behind the businesse;:. "h.ybe that WQu1·j be a better area. Then it would be away from t~e resid~nts. That is about an. Ms. lytle: Seeing r.o other speakers, I will close the public hearing. Ms. Case: Mr. Sun~heim, _hen you talk, would you p1ease address the issue of what the effect will be if you are not a110w~d to remain open past 2 a.m. Mr. Syndheim: This afternoon has showed me why I am proud t~ live ir. Palo Alto. There has b~en a 'Wide range of Qpiniorls here. People did not ov~rstate their ca~. Everyone's concern was very genuine, and that ;s one of the reasons I l1ve here. I don't "",ant to minimize the magnitude of the problems that. peoplf! have. Sl eep is very important. Ka ... ing just gone through two young kids who are now Elght and five. I k~ow what it meanS to not ha .... e a full night's sleep. 1 am .... ery sympathetic to that. rt is not due to outside noise, but I have had it internally, and it is a problem. It affects how JOU work; it affects your whole life. Just to put the problem in perspective, 'We lre not dealing .. it" a large drug prOblem; we are not dealing with gangsi we are not dealing with serious crime. We need to address th~ noise issue. We need to address the litter issue. Some ideas we have already put into place. I have heard things today that will take us furthi:r. I have talked with Susie, who is the manager of this here, out in the roall for abClllt five minutoes. I think we have iC!: solution to her problem. So I am j~st saying that there are things ifIIe h.lve in place. There is some concern about the way the security gUiirds are interacting. If people are getting lights shone in their eyes. that shouldn't happen. But it is a new pr~cess. and anytime you try something new, tnere are going to be problems with it. What is the roTe of security guards? It is not to say, you can't go in there. We cannot de that. W~ don't want to do that. We are there to assfst people. If that is not working 100 percent r1ght now, it is not going to be that hard tG 00. We have licensed, trained people+ ~e can sit down and hava a meeting with them. That C.ln be solved relatively quickly. It is ~ot mednt to be an impOSition. ~e want them to be an aide and ~e want these people to be qualified so that they don't go off half cod~d and don"t try to view themselves as police. We are just trying to get the parking out of Hat area. That is why we hav.e trlem there. If we close earlier, 1 really don't think that is going to solve the problem. A lot of discussion went on about thai. I think Steve was very articul.lte in his pOSition, but if you even notice the times that he was awakened, they were all 2 a.m. or before. So it 1S really not going to significantly decrease the problem. The problem is not what is going on inside the club. The problem 1S outside the club. ff YOLI clase down the club, all you are daing is dispersi~g the problem OLlt into the streets, and that is where th€ p~oblem is. If you c10se the club earlier, is well meaning is people are, and there is a level of hustration over the hck of .sleep. based on what Mr-. Sega1 said and the experience in San Jose where they are going from a 2 o'clock to a 4 a'clock because there is 1ess of a problem when the r.o~rs are later than if you made it earlier. So by closing it earl ier, we strongly bel i'::-'r'e, notwithst.anding any economic inhrest we may have, there is not going to be a reduction in the problen •. 08/10/92 -23 - ----.--- .. ~ ...;.....;.. ___ ~._~_ ....... _ ...... ;o.:..." ... , .. , __ ~ __ _ To give you a fe~ facts f~r the peDple. ~e do have Edgol'ni's. Some people like it~ and scme people don't. I kinda 1 ike their pilza, but then, I also like Domino's. so I don't Know wnat that says aboLit my tast~, but we do have food on th~ facility, so it is ~ot strlct1y a drinking establishment. We ~ould be glad to have you review cur records. The average Edge patron nas 1.2S drinks. $0 it is not that \fie are trying to p1y them ~ith alcohol. We have a nice steady, rela~ed environment. Yes, there are some people who do get inebriated, and that often happens while they ar~ in the car, but we rea1ly closely monitor it. We are not there to see how many people we cGn get dru~~. We ar~ not tryin3 to run up our re'Jenu?s on alcohol st1es. Again, l.ZS dr;f\xs per p.erson who co~s to the dub. The ~itter pickup we want to keep working on. ~e arB very concerned about the issues that the other merchants have had. Sume people have said, we don't want you pi~k;ng up at 1 in the morning, others say~ we don't want you picking up at 7 a.m. We will sit down and talk with everyone and try to work out a program that works for tnem. The lttter is something that I think we can solve. It seems to me the biggest area of the problems are in tnis area. ~e "ill stt down and talk with ar.yone in the community, but with usi~, J thinr. we rea1ly found a solution to l'1er probl"!m. 1 wilT be glad tG sit dG"fIn with St~~e c.m1 try to tall:.. with. him as to wh-a-ther there is something we can do, i'",d obviously? with the city. If we mOVE in this direction, we will make a Si9n:ficant reductinn in the iss~es. One final thing. Just so you know, we are not p1anning to be here forever. These guys may loc~ like the sole owners, but they are investors in this. When they purcha$ed this ,lub which has been in this community for 20 years, it was with the understanding that they would abie to stay aDen until a certi\in time. Our lease run.::. out at th€ End of 1994. What we do after 1994, the ~hole game is on the tabTe. When you talk about the prob1ems that people a.re gniflg to have there, selTle ~nvestors are going to lose a 10t of mo~ey if we ire required to ~lose at an earlier time. ~e really benefit from having those hours. It would be hard not only on the management team, but also on the investors if ~e were forced tc do that before the end of 1994. After 1994, they will get their mnney back, and we Irill1 be glad to con5ider w~at really fits. If thjngs have chang-ad so muc.h because of the new houslng Dver he-re, from what was done before, we are glad to ta1~ about ~hat needs to be done, but if 1here is any ~ay we can solve thfs problem f~r a two-year period until the investors can get their funds back, that would be somethlng. Then our considerations and our concerns would be different. I don't know if that fits in with your proposal? but that is th~ reality of the situation. ~ ____ Case; You ar-e not sHying alcohol between 2 and 4 a.m. afraid you will lose your business if you are closed after 2 it just because your ,lientele will not come if you close at it is flat bringing you anjl additional revenlle. You are a.m. So is 2? Obvi ous1y Jacek. ~_{)siclU; I am one of the managers of The Edge. A lot of the teenagers and young adults c~me to The Edge because they know if they havE i couple of drinks, they don't have to be kicked out. Any other bar or restaurant in Pa~o Alto or any otl'1er city, at 2 o'clockl they )(.no\ll they have to leave. Here they can stay. ~e are not a bar. We are not a drinki~g establishment. ~e do~'t ~tress 1t as the most important part of DS/20/SZ ~ 2 4 ~ our business. There are three very important aspects of our business. They are drinking. soci~li2ing and ~ancin~, ~ost drink~ng establisnments hav~ as their pr;~rity drinking, socializing and dancing. ~ur prlorities are danc;ng. socializing. and dril'lk.ing. If young adults over 21 drink, thit is fine. Howe .... er. we don't force them. We do not have a dri:1k ~nnJll1um. We pr€fer that they drink coffE's and juices. We have many d)fferent kinds of juices. !in; When do you stop 5erv~ng alcohol? Mr. Rosi&!i: We step servlng alcohol at 1:25. By 1~40, drink them or lose them. By 1:50, all glasses ha .... e to be back to the bar. No a1cohol ;3 allowed on the premises, and we do a sweep through the premises t~ make SLJre ther-e is no alcohDl. By state lalli, all alcohol has to be put 3.way. and you cannot sell it after Z i!..rn. Our bar revenues. includir,g soft drinks, are about $).25. Mr. Sundheim: So rea1ly ona of the major reasonS that ~e need to stay open after that t!me is because of the re¥enue that is generated from the p~ople coming in. paying a cover charge, even though after 2 o'clock, there is no alcohol ser¥ed. ~sickl: People come in later on and ha¥e two or three h~urs of danci~g. Young adults study at 9 or-10 o'clOCK at night+ LatEr ant they wake up and open their eyes, and they say. it is time for us to go to the party there. "5+ Cas~! Would you lose a significant amount of r~venue if you had to stop serving alcohol an hour earl ier, even thou9~ you were allowed to stay open until 4 o'clock? Mr. Rosicki: Significant? No. Since alcohol is a small portion of our bUSiness, there would be some loss of revenue, but most of our revenue is derived from the cover charge. Yes, danCing and drinking are related, and tney are silent partners. Mr. Sundheim: One concern I might have wilt'; t~at is tnat yoa may be putting people out into the cars to g~t the alcohol. Again, ~ithin the club, the problem is not with excessive drinking. By turning those hours back, I think we may again just be dispersing the problems into the neighborhood. r don't knoo. ~,would be glad to t.ll; about that. Ms. t yt1e: am confused as to r,ow we got a permit for a restaurant. There is a permit on file for a restaurant. You guys are not a restaurant. Hr. Sundhetl!l: y~s, we art'. We have a restaurant on the premises. It fulfills all the requirements of the City of P.(l10 Alto. Ms. lytle: bathrocms? And this happen~ during The Edge nOUTs. Why ar~ there lines? Are there sufficient Mr. Rosicki: Yes, there are suffic-ient bathrooms. As one of the gentlemen mentioned -- Ms. lytle: "The courtyard is the natura) place to go," was <ine of the 08/20/92 -25· " CODnents made. Mr+ Rosicki: We make sure that the p~~ple tnat come in have thE' prope-r identification. It takes abo~t 30 seconds to make sure that the p~rson presenting the J.~. is the person appearing. I am sure the police records show that ~e have called on numerous occasions, which is part of the 61 police calls, requiring police assistance because somebody WIS pasSlng a fak. I.D. Ms . .....L.::l.tJ..: Do you have signifi<:ant lines waHing ins.ide for "the batnrooms.? ~r. Ros.ickJ.: No, we don't. Ms Lytle~ So it ;s nl)t because they are waiting outside and cannotm.g.&t into the bathroom, so they use the courtyard. Mr. SYodheim: I don't know if that is it. Mr._Rosi~i: I imagine that if there are some people outside, I .. Duld imagine tnat :;.nc'2 in a while, they do choose to do something that ;s not done by ciyilized people. But we are here to solve these pr~blems and work with the neighbor~. There are things that can be a1most eliminated. ,'-lost of those problems are associated with our patrons, but not all of them. Ms. lytl€: would like to ha'Je the police adC:res~ some of the issues. Captain Jim tt9JJ.ander: Fi rst 1 et me say that I ~ad an opportunity Tn ]989 and 1990 to be on the midnight watch, and r have worked since that time wi th the managenlent of The Edge regarding a11 of the problems tha.t hil/'e. been stated. Since that time, their investigation and the person who is gone now, the captain who has met with you, is on vacatian, if you are wondering why h~ ;s not ~ere and I am. There are lots of issues and lots of thinqs to try and cover~ To simplify it, W~ are still concerned with the problems that ~e ha~e had over the 1ast couple of years. That is mainly the noise, tne calls for service, the things ~e hal/'e heard tn~ay, some of the vanda1i~m. And we ke~p coming up ~ith jde~s. Management keeps caming up wit~ ldeas. ~e have met se .... eral times ~r. trying t~ s.ol!ie these problems. Part of OUi" frustration is that these things aren't ~orking to our satisfactlon. Obviously. from the people-we-have heard from, there are a lot of differ-ent opinions. There was some talk about gangs Our feeling 1S that that is a limited problem. We have had groups of people comlrg from different areas as it group. I can't tell you whether it is a specific gang. That type of thing is a l1mit~d proDlem. The person that mentioned it to you probably made you feel like it was a midor problem, but fie do not see gangs as you would normally conjure up as a problem. But we do have a lot of caliS for se,'vice there. 'We have a limited amount of staffing, especially after midnight, which makes it diffjc~lt for us to respond to all of the calls of the citizens and the club. Because of tnat, we cannot provide an adequate amount of ser .... ice to the rest of th{l city. 1he question of c10sing is a difficult one. Tne~e are goad ar-guments on bath Sides. One of the things that has not been discussed is that at least if ~e know it is closing at a p~rticular time, we know that OBj20j91 -26· , ' '~ , is a particular time to put sOBle resources out there. as we KilO. that people are going to be leaying at that time. It is 'lot over an extended period of tIme. One C1.f'l obviously argue that letting them leave II little ,H a time won't make such a big cr9wd, but I am not s!Jre that is going to s~lve the problem before 2o'clock Tnat is a tough call. We ha'lle asK.e-d them to put the i!ddltional security guards out there. Our feelin9 i~. in talking ~;th a couple of officers, that that has helpej, a1though generally cur calls for service ovej the :ast couple of months, in proportion to the s;. months before that, has really not char-qed that significantly. The picking up of trash nas been helpful. think that cutting down on the lin~s outside is something we had talked about a couplE of yea~o. We are trying to min;miz~ that. When you have people standing outside in lnng ll~e$. that just tends to bring on mor~ problems. ~hen people see lines, they are more likely to stay and sit i" their cars and walt until the lines diminish. This is where the noise comes from. This is where the drinking possibly occurs. We need to (cnsider both sides. Wher. we talked about recommendations, we were giving some brain stormfng ideas as to what are the thirlgs we can do. That i~ why 1 o'clock was mentioned. Reducing the capacity just reduces the number of people that are out there. One of the things that was recommended was selling tickets so that you have a certain amount is in a movie theat€l'". I know tr,at is unusual for that kind of em estal:01ishment, but in trying to sol'lle these problems, w~ Juok at anything and e'llerything that might work. ! belie'll! thot cTo$ing some of those parking lots th~t are adjacent to the residents has probably helped. That has been a long time in taming, we have been dealing with these problems over the last couple of years, and it maKes 1t real tough to figure out all the so1utions to all of the prob1ems we have heard. W€ do not have a crystal ball anymore than anyone else dOES. But we continue to talk about these t~ings in the hope that it will minimize th~ pro~lem$. The police department wants to continue to .,ork with The Edge and will continue to do sc. Ir.'e are certainly not saying we 'Want to s~ut you dewn. That is not our recomendation, but ~e do need to cut down on the noise. We do need to cut down on the call s for service. It is \lery frus.trating for our organization to continu"! to put this much staffing le'llel and time to thi~ type of establishment. With that, r will conclude and an$wer any question~. John Hernandez. Watcn CommaJl.~, Midnights: Th;s is a real problem, as Capt. Bonander was speaking to. It has been a burde;'l for quite some time, simmeting at times, and boiling at other times. From the contacts we have had on the street, the one thing that we see, at any rate, is that the majority of the people who come to our attention, the people who cause the problems whom we see and make contact with. whetner it be for drinking problems, ~hether it be for fighting, a disproportionate number of thos~ people are nDt from Pa10 Alto. The:se are people who ha· .... e corne into the area specificG,l1y to come and party. rt may be a lack of pride, it may be that they are there and don't know wh~t is around them, so they ha'lle a djfferent attitude about coming to The Edge. I know that The Edge advertises Quite widely. We bave stopped people from as far away as Monterey, F01"t. Ord. Fort Ord mil itary personnel show up there quite 08/20/92 -17 - .... _'-_"_"..... __ ~._ ""-""'.' "... ,,-'Ii 5 " : t-..: , , , often. We know tnat they come from as far north as M~ri~ County, At one time, we kept records as to ~hich officer CQul~ get t~e person who had travelled the fa'r"t!1t'st. it was interesting. T~e Edge is q\Jite wen k.nown. I think that; s the crUJ< of the matter. We have peepl e here tnat are r.ot from P;;10 Alto that do not really have ;)ny feeling for what noise is, ~hat ¥andalism Is. I don't know how we can fix th~t. As M~. Sundh~im has stated~ they have been ve'ry good about t,ying to mitigate the problems. Some of t~ese things are somewhat out of our tlands. It is between TMe Edge and the vehicles. Mark 'ier.abh. Pale_,IUto p"ylice Department: The calls for senice have been brought up quite a few times. The security at The Edge does do an excellent in enforcing some of t~e laws. They do call us abo~t that, and those are included in some of the c"I/ls for ser .... ices. As Mr. Sundhelm said, it is, j~ essence, being used somewhat against them. But on the tlther hand l as [ go through all the calls for ser .... ice, there is quite a bit of cr;lf~ and IiIClndalism that gees unreported. I wonder if Mr. Shuchat, in his business, has ca11ed the poTice every time he has had a sign ripped down or a fence broken, etc. So a lot of vanda1ism does go unreported. Most of the problems are peripheral to tne business. You are right. If we look at The Edge itself, at that facilit ..... , yes, WE do not respond as much as we do to the neighboring area. The patrons have come into town and are planning to a.tter,d there or are leaving there. ~ost of our problems are t~ere. So our reso~rces are 1imited at night, and we cannot always ha .... e an offlcer there all night long as a visible deter~ent. But once again, going back to a one-time closing event, it is logistic~lly very helpful to 'JS, as .,itt1 otrer establishments in the town, to have a on~-time exiting of people. We can plan our resources and our perso~nel to be there and to assist in the egress of eve~ybody to their vehicles. It is j~st a o"e·s~ot thing and after that, it is fairly Quiet. ~li~: So your recommendation would be for an earlier closure? Mr. Yenabl~: Yes, something analogo<Js to the other establ ish,rrents in the city. A one time where the bUSiness closes, instead of the slow, trick1e out as we get with The Edge into the early morning hours. ~ ___ w.l.~: Let me close today by saying that these ar€! not new problems in this area. This is the historiC Mayfield area, and J ha~e read stories of complaints from resident~ about the saloons that operated in tnat .rea long ago. Resident~~l and commercial uses ~nn mix, but that becomes difficult when people have expectations that are not urban, that are more suburba~ in nature. I think that i~ the crux of t~e problem here. In New York City you can find lots of examples where people li'YE in very Lrban situations where the night life goes on all night long, but the people who tive there have an e~pectation that tnat is going to ~appen~ and they grow accustomed to 1t, and they move there for that reason. They enjoy it. TOll heard i little bit of that ser1timent here today. There was s.ome testimony fronJ some Palo Alto residents .. ho actually are dra\l.;n to this area because they enjoy thE vital Hy of it, and they would not want to see that diminished. Then you hear from other residents who have values that are more reflective of the traditional residentia1 perspective that it should be quieter, and that that is the first goal, to protect people in their homes. 08/20/92 -28- T~ere Is a llttle bit of an identtty crisis going on in Palo Alto. There is a sense of not being abl~ to come to grips ~ith that issue entfrely. We like cur retail 'f'italit,J'; we like the night life, and \fie like the fact that there are places open_ ¥et we also want to preser'f'e t~e suburban expectations that ther~ won't be any n~;se when we need to 9~t our r~st_ So at some point. I must make a deciSion Gn this situation. I w()'Jld lik.e to ha'f'e some time to synthesize what r ha'f'e heard t'Jday_ I IoIOJJld ,:actually like some ide~$ from the neighbors and the establishment_ I he~rd a lot of people say they do not want to ~ee it c"rose. I think that is ~ {lood place to begin_ In fact, 1 ~eard the,majority of peop1e say they don't want to see it cloEe. They want to !.ee something done to make it better. s~ a place to begin ~ould be to aliow some time, perhaps by a t~o-week continuance~ for people to put forward some s~ggestions. The best 1 heard ~as from one of the first young wome~ speaking about youth nights, and the idea of having more youth r1ights. That lliould mitigate the impacts, since yout.h nights res.uH in early closure and do not involve a1cohol. So increasing those nights might actually allow there to be more nights tbat are fre~r of tne type of conflicts tnat are causfng difficulty_ I t~ought that was a very pos'itive suggestion. I am sorry she is not h2re t{) receive a pat on the back for that. It would be nice to get mor~ of t~ose ideas. and al Tow tne app"l icar.t some time tr::l have interchange with the neighbors. I have a list of everyone w~o has spoken, You can meet witn peoplE individual Ty to get at some ideas that might he1p. 1 am going to eventuaily draft Q decision. ! am not always the most qualified to get at tnese prob1ems. The more constructive input r can get from all of you, the better that decision is going to end up being. So I wou]d encourage a two-week continuance. ,After discussiQn, Thursday, September lO .. was selected.) Wnat I am going to expect at that meeting are some suggestions. some suggested conditions_ r would Tike to see people come up with some ideas. etther at that meeting or betwe~n now and then. for what would heTp to make this land use more compatible. If we assume that we are not going to revoke the p2rmit, that it is going to c0ntinue to exist at the site, what are the sU9gestions? "'ou1d it be r!'!du.cing the hou~s of operation? Having more youth nights? Utilizing sec~rity guardS but in a different fashion to el iminate this police state atmosphere that some people ar~ experiencing? ln conclusion, I would like to say tha.t r agree with the respondent that it is a s~urce of pride to attend a hearing like this where there is a real fairness ahout the type of presentation that we have gatten. People havi! not overstated the issues. There is a sense of cooperation ..... hi1e there is a sense of frustration and concern, and I hear that, I think people are willing to keep an open mind and to dea1 with mutual respect. That is a pleasure. Tlldnl\. you very much for coming. ¥our fnput was very .... aluable_ 08/20/92 -29- • ,- Oepartment of P1a11n ing a",d COrmlunity Environment (415) 329-2321 Jul" 10 , 1:l92 Jacek Rosicki General Manager, The Edge 260 California Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94306 Dear Mr. Rosickl: Lit9 of Talo )i [to P rJ e':)~ :G2~C r~'"G J~~~I, r.;, 'i:l~~ 250 Hamilton A~enue Post Office Box 10250 Pilo Alto, CA 94301-0862 Subject: Revocation Hearing on Al!9lJst 20, 1992 at 3;()0 pm for Use Permit 73~lJP-36. 250 CalifornlCi Avenue. i'alo Alto. CA Pursuant to Palo Alto Municipal Code Section 18,;0.080, the Zoning Administrator has scheduled a public hearing to consider the revocation or modification of Conditional Use Permit 73-UP-36, granted to a previous restaurant use on the site of your bUSiness estab1ishment, The Edge. The use permit al,ows on-site sale and ccnsumptian cf liquor, beer and wine, accessory to a bona-fide restaurant, and associated lf~e ent~rtCiinm€nt and dancing. Scheduling of this heari."1g was prompted by complair.ts (several letters sent to the Clt.¥ Council and Cay Managt!r, and testimor,y at the May 7, 1992 Zoning Administrator hearing and at the Town Hall Meetlng on June I, 1992) that your estab1ishment is not operating in compliance with the provisions of the use permit listed above, and that H is operatir.g in a manner that is detrimental to the public healt~. safety and welfa~e. These compla;nt~ appear to be substantiated by Police Department records, s~olo¥'ing that The Edge has the most service calls for disturbances of any location in the City of Palo AHa (see attached Police Department memo dated July 1, 1992}. The public hparing is scheduled for August 20, 1992 at 3:00 pm, in the (ity (our-eil Conference Room , Civic Center, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, Cal ifornia. At our meeting on June 16, 1992, P1ann'ing Department staff was made awar~ that you have been working \JIIith the Pol ice Oepartl!1ent fal" some time to remedy the situati~n. You ha~e expresse~ willingness to c~Qperate by seeling alternati~e off-sfte parkinQ arrangements that may help y,u better control the actions of y~ur patrons. You have also indicated thCit licensed, uniformed sec~rity guards on-slte during operations is agreeable. HQwever~ it is clear from the types, number and duration of complaints we nCive received that there may be fundamental problems ",Hh the exis.ting use of H,e property that are outside Police Department remedies_ •. \26OCAl I:r t ....... N'_~_ -.. " .. ~~ Mr. Ro.sidi 260 Ca1 ifornia Ave. Pale Alto, CA 94306 Page 1 The use permit was originally appro~~d for a Cerman band and tr~djtional <lancing accHsory to the operation of a bona· fide restaurant. It was later amended, on August 28, 1974, to a1low live music and ~elated dancing. trom the information we ha~e received, mtJsic at The rdge is not lirroited to this form of entertainment and has becnme the primary use of the site. Additionally, the u)~ psrmit s~ts no iimit Dr. the hours of operation or maximum occupancy, other than those eshblished by the Uniform Building Code, which may contribute t~ complaint5 related to noise and destructive actiYity allegedly attributed to Edge patrons. For these reasons, the Zoning Administrator believes that you are crmducting your use in vioTation of I se Permit 73-UP-36. and in a manner detrimental tc the public health, safety and welfare-. The public hearing will enable the loning Administrator to dE-termi~,:. whether or not the use permit sh~uld be revoked or modified. HIe following is a surrrnary of the complaints received by the (it,)' regarding t~e operation of your establishme~t. Tns City has c~mpared those complaints to the limitations and conditions of the approved use permit. Additio~ally, Police Depart~ent calls for service for The Edge have been reviewed and compared to thOSE for ~ther establishments that serve alcohol in the (ity. The CHy has received the following complaints about your estAbllshment: (a115 for Service A Police Department report shows that calls for service that are directly attributed to The Edge from January i-May 31, 1992, totaled 61, more than any other establishment in the (ity. During this period, there were 32 calls for disturbances and 20 arrests. The report shows that calls for service in the Calif~rr.~~ Avenue district that may b~ attributed to The Edge, during the same period of ti~e, totaled 43, inclUding 9 disturbances and ]6 arrests. Police have responded to the area for other calls for seryice inciuding fights, noise, burglaries, minors drj~king alco~o' a~d damage to cars and ot~er private property. Police personnel have indicated that they ha~e been working with the Edge management over time to reduce the number' of incidents a.ttributed to Edge: patrons, A Pol ice Op,p~rtment m-emorandu;" a".ted July], 1992 [attached), lists the impacts the large number of calls for service ha~e on that department, and makes recom@endations for reducing the number of disturbance~ and complaints. Hours of Operation The City has rec!ived complaints that your establishm~nt remains open as Tate as 3:00 or 4:00 am, later than any otner establishment providing live or recorded music in the City. The use permit ~oes not include hours of operation, and therefore The Edge is not technically in viol it ion. However, reSidents ill the area have complained that loud mLlsic 1 especiany bass tones, a:\Z60CAL ltr .. ----";--,-- Mr. Ro sic Id 250 California Ave. P,Jo Alto, CA ;'306 Page 3 coming from "(he £dge Keeps Hem a'W2ke until c1ostng. ,ll,dditional1y, they assert that large crowes 'ie-3.ving your busine:;s at closing tim~ increasl? noise levels \tIithin residential areas .. Residents ha'W'e complained that; patrons have exhibited drunk.en and ro"'dy behavior as well as yell i n1 and screaming as they walk back to their c~rs late at night. Patron Parking and ~joise Because of inadeQ~3te on-site parKing, you have indicated that many of your patrons park their v~~1cles on the street within the California Avenue ne~ghborhood. Neighbors have comp1ained of car stereos blaring. car horns blowing, car alarms going off. cars racing up and dowr. California and Park Avenues, and other nuisances at lClte hours. Complaints allege tnat patrons cften linger by their cars ta1king~ and sometimes yelling, after The Edge nas closed. The City recognizes that parking Iriithin residential areas in combination with the l~te closf~g time is a fundamental land use issue that can be c!ptrimental to the pub1 ic wel fare and qual; ty of 1; fe, and should be addressed at the public he~ring. Lithr The City has been receiving complaints related to 1itter on ar.d around prop~rties in the California Avenue ar-ea. Residerlts l'1a\le commented that on mornings after concerts are he1d at The Edge they fiild trash in their yards, including beer bottles and canst fcod "'rap~ers, arid brOken glass. Much of the litter is alleged to he attributed to off-s1te drinking. The ~se permit allows the on-site sale and consumption of beer, w~ne and liquor; however, patrons may not take open conta~ners off-Site. This may alsc be attributed to patrons consuming alcoholic bel,lerages before entering The Edge. In either instance; the City recognizes off-site drir,king and the litter associated with it as a se~1ous problem that could lead to phJsic~l degradation of the Caiifornia Avenue area. lh'e Bands and Reco,ded Music As described above, the City has received numerous complaints related to loud mUSic continuing until 4:00 am. Because of the proximity of The Edge to residential areas~ it is imperativ€ that your use is conducted in a manner thdt ~ill not adv~rsely affect the surrounding reside~ts. Should it be determined that the ncise levels produced by The Edge arE not compatible with surrounding uses, it m~y be necessary to rewrite the conditions of your use permit to more explicitly re~trict the \lolume of music a11Dwed. ill: \2'~~Al_ ltr Mr. Rosid<.i 260 C.al ifornia ....... e. Palo Alto, CA 94306 Pafle 4 Maximum Qrcuoancy Comp1iincs'with the maxim~m ass~m~ly occupancy load, e~tablished by Table 33-A of the Unifol"'tl Building Code, 15 a condit" In of the use per-nit. l1owever, tne Un; form Building Code al1o\Ois a maximl.!r.J occupancy of 875 persons. which may exceed Tn! Edge's ability to mainhin control and rnonlt<Jr the actions of the your patrons. Additionally, parking for a group of that size cannot easily be ilccornnodated on-site or withirl the California Avenue business district, adding to t~e conf1ict with adjac~nt residents. [stablishjng an occupa~cy limit below that otherwise allowed by the tJr,iform BiJildir1g Code may be necessary to aSSL!re compa.tibility with surrounding uses and the Quality of life ;~ the area. These issues are scheduled for discussion at a public hearing on August 20, 1992. The City has the abil.ity to modify existing conditions or impose additional conditions on your US2 permit to assure that your use operates in compliance with the Zoning Code, and tn a manner that is not detrimental to the public health, safety ar.d welfare. Tf you continue to operate out of compliance with the conditions of your use permit or in a manner that poses a threat to public hea1th, safety or welfare, your use permit will be sut/ject to re~ocation. ff you have any questions related to the information in this letter, plea5e contact me at 329-2321. ~inc.re]l' 1.1'C. ~ cw.<-'1MJbi'"l~" NANCYUlADDOX (YTlE Zon1ng Administrator Enc1os'Jre cc: Mayor Gary Fazzino City Councll B~11 laner, City ~anager Sue Case, Seniar Assi stant Ci ty Attorney Capt. Tom Merson, Police Department Lt. S~je Mace, Watch Commander Rich Cabrera, Ordinance Compliance Inspector Joseph Coionna, Planner Duf Sundheim, 420 florece. Street, Suite 200, Palo Alto, CA 94301 Steven Goldb~rg, ll7 California Avenue, #0-400, Palo Alto, CA 94306 Kathryn Baron, 355 College Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94306 Eugene McNally, 304 Oxford Avenue, P~lo Alto, (A 94306 Jay Packard, liS Oxford A,en"e, Palo Alto, C~. 94306 Ronna Devincenzi, Grubb and £11iS 9 379 Lytton Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301 CAADA, P.O. Box 60583, Palo Alto, (A 94106 ---.... ~. ~ . . Pl'oLO ALTO POLICE DEFARTKENT HEl<ORJ\NI)UH TO: Nancy Lytle ) . .~ . FROM: Mark Venable '1 DATE: July .1, 1992 SUBJ~C~: Police Co~cerns with The E~ge As I promised in our June 18 meeting, attached please find a Calls fo~ service" printout regarding The Edge for the first five ~onths of this year~ Unlike re.ports we have previousiy forwarded to your office, this printout encompasses not just the specific address of The Edge, but inccrporates a. larger geographical area surrounding the l:rQsiness~ Sergeant DeStefano and I have hi9hlighted those Police calls that are specifically related to The Edge and placed a question mark adjacent to those Police calls that maybe related, but not documented, to the night club. As you will see, there is a suostantial number of peripheral disturbances requiring Police attention. Lie'-lter.ant Sue Mace, Lieutenant Jon Hernandez and Sergeant Tom DeStefano, Q~der the di~ection of captain Tom Merson, have heen coordinating the Police Department's efforts to resolve citizen's concerns. Each of these coordinators has forwarded to me a d.escription of their prior dealings ... ith The Edge and the ir reco~endations for future regulations. As per our prior conversation, I have synopsized these for you. FROBLEKS GENERATED • Fights • Noise Vandalism/Burglaries • urinating in p\.1,blic Minors drinking alcohol • Trash left behind 'Speeding vehicles Narcotic use • Persons drunk in public • ~- The Edge page two .. ~PACT TO POLICE I. O.f.icers often m~st remain at e Luge for "high visibilityn ill an e.f:tort to deter disturbar • ..;:es. A. Precludes Officers f":'om patrolling their c2ats. II. On niqhts whe~ there are capacity cro~ds, Officers sc !duled to 90 home are oft~n "held over" to handle rel~ted pro~lems. A. Requires paying Officers overtime. III. Officers are making arrests, issuing citations and writing police reports as a result of activities at The Edge. A. Precludes Officers from patrolling their beats. B. Increases our booking and processing fees. c. Often requires paying Officers overtime. 1. To complete reports. 2. To attend related court. RECOMMENDATIONS BY POLICB :0:> Have The Edge close no later than 1: 00 a.m ... • Reduce occupancy level inside building. " Limit number of patrons permitted to stand in line outside of the facility when interior ~s at full capacity. No more than 40 people is urged. )~ Recommend selling tickets in advdnced (like a concert) so that patron without a ticket are asked to leave. ,. Prohibit people from paz·king in city lots directly adjacent to residents. \ :rile Edge paqe three lIR::":OR COl."TACT .- over the years the Police Department has endeavored to maintain a working relationship with the owners vf The Edge~ At time~ this open dialoq"<Je has proven to be beneficial and has result~d in potential" problems being reduced or alleviated. OUJ:' Department has not entered into any written agreements with the proprietors of The Edge. Police representatives have met and centinue to taeet with representatives of The Edge to disC'JSS mutu3.1 concerns. In the course of these. meetings, our department makes recommenda~ions and quite o~ten these suggestions are implemented in a spiri t of cooperation. Unfortunately, these suggestions often serve as temporary solutions to long term problems. Ofte..n a letter from our departme:lt is sent agreements made at each :;neeting. I understand receives copies of these letters. ~ynopsi2inq the that your office If there shoUld be-any further questions ragarding the Police Department's involvement with The Edge, please do not he$itate to contact any cf the above coordinators or me at extension 2337. Att.achntents cc; Lynne Johnson Tom Merson Sue Mace Jon Hernandez Tom DeStefano ,-~,------.... ...... -~ - COMMUNl1Y Nightclub patrons are .. too nOISY Neigh.bors art riled up and want the cit)' to do something Noil)! and' rowd'y behavior !rom p.atrcrus ka~'ing 11le Ed8e ni,ghlcIub us up$Ct the ch:b's ncighOOrs, wbo .~ L:p in arms aod' demand' that tbe city l:!o somelhir'lg 10 5-lap the aftC!'" boun r.d:.eL Th= dub located on Califo:uil A veaue, Sl~YS Open anti! ~ a.1II. weck nIgbts I.!IC 4 un. OQ weU "lids. It is a popular dance dub, buI: Wll:ltUm~ the ~dry 5pills Oul onl0 olherwlse quid str«ts Ui the: de3d of the rug!!t. The dub's customcn \1S\WIy gO ill edt CUI ami Jlo bome when iI:', colef or rainirlg. bl.l! Ua warm wu~ e.r ili:y .s.om~ bang otJt. adr.;Ul ted Chris SoJka, cne of the club's geeenJ m~ier,;;. . CiIY Ma.nap BiU Zan.e.!: said the po!ice lave :esponde:d' to com pTa:in',s abour the club or JOtld' l.Ild scmetimts dnlllken. patrons Wcut :iO times l:ll't~ru moCJhs. He .said b~ Is O1i:ulwng .r: naIf meeti:lg wile tbe .pproprhJe deparl. m~ls-pOJk:. P~g.. city ':,llGt· liey...-..w look aJ me ,CI.y I opuoc.s. The diJ'h', ~ permit does llCl lioil its ho\J..I'3 of opcratlOlL- Fer :some :ceighbors, the DoIse in the nig!u bas ilOne on more ili2.D 10.11 erlO<Jgh. "I find' it cnmt'lc~ely i'110Iera:,lc as iI is," said S~cvtn GoldOe-rl, wbo rives ", tbe nW'by Pala .Al~o Cel'waI eon&! project. He ~id rflJ1 "nouy kids. car!>, ~J'td vuy crunk" c1ub·,~f'l an: molking !ife inlokr.l· ble ill bis fait of tcwn. He-Id:!ed tha~ the police have h«11 "ina>;.~~oly ponte J.:ld incre· dibly ruponshe" when a.Iled on compWnts. Assi!l~nr Police Chief lynn~ Jann.wa nid tIlll UTCSt.S hav~ been m.ad'c-"!i""e jU51 Ihe other nigbt"-but .dded thaI t!::e polia have!]', ~~ h~pb->6 ii $tp4!3fe ta· Dr. She said' arrtlll hlle hart lru:de Oil charges of bcir.a cronk in pllhlie. h.aVlng opea alcollol COil' taill~r.s in. pubJic, :.nd' minors wirh I1col::ol. TUk..ing about c.b.c nighldub'l managers, sb: added, "W;::· .... e been ,,",od,ing wilb tber:c 10 dea.Ct up thetr lct." Pan of !be problem DOW is thai some people like 10 do tbeir ~ng outside the clli!l, craUt1,i: distur'J.~ces. The d .. b's mamgers .said tiley are tl8tt to rUld' • solution Ie the prvbTems. Bom s.z1d Ih3.l be would Ii" lhe city 10 It:s1nct parHng in dle Id'jacen: t'Csideruial .II:e.a 10 res.i· dellls ody bc:tw'ten midnight and .3 .m. to fora: pOilroc.s In park i.e 111 C p.l:r\:1:lg lots furtber allo'.ay f,om 'iro'h~rc people Iive. Ar.olhcr iclea t.~c club Ji.a.s i! 10 hire j1$ own S~C1lrily guard' 10 p;wol fr.c irC';"ll! ntg'hl. "We're willing to r15tcn to $(lg l~wnS," Bo~ko said. The dut is .so inlern;led En hcuing idUll th .. u Barto inviled re .. ders to call1lim at 324-&445 U' !.her ha .... e a $UUes- .. j -J !i '" Mr. Jacek Rosicki, General Manager The Edge 260 California Avenue Palo Alto, CA 943G6 Dear Mr. Rosicki: 'If .' 1 1,- i." Cityof Palo Alto PoTf~ ~rtml!1lt , J -No,em".r 23, 1992 As agreed open at our October 1, 1992 meeting. we have examined all related 'Calls-for-service at or surrounding your establishment in an effort to ascertain the frequency of disturbances relative to specific times. 'vVe have chasen to compare the time period of July 17, 1992 to October 6, 1992 to the same dzres in 1991~ so that a fair and aCC'jrate measurement of current conditions could be analyzed. This time f~ame not only represents the traditional busy summer months. but also correlates with the implementation of security guards on July 17, 1392. rn 1991 we responded to 61 calls-for-ser ..... lce related' to The Edge: of those 61 calis, 24 were for reported disturbances. Correspondingly, in 1992 we re~ponded to 55 calis-for-service rerated to The Edge; of those 55 calls, 26 were for reported disturbances. The time and occurrence breakdown Is as forlows: 1:00 p.m. - M'tdnight DIS..IURBAN>;~S 1991 37% 1992 39% ALL-CALLS· EQR-SERVI!;;E 1991 59% 1992 38% 12:00 -1:00 . 1:00 a.m. 2:00 a.m. 29% 31% 18% 31% 17% 15% 1 i % 15% 2..-"""3 Fr;:?';tA'"c-.U-2 PuJaAlIo"Q!, 9-L~1 4::5 329.241)5 415.329,1565F<I.'C 2:00· 4:00 a.m. 17% 15% t 1 % 15% Mr _ • .!acek Rosicki November 23, 1992 Page Two Though only a small percentage of disturbances occur after 2;00 a.m., it :s still our belief thet a 2:00 a,m, clos,ng time is the most jL.!st and reasonab'e. A closer examlnat'!on of the abc-.re figures indicates that a midnight or ':00 a.m. closing time would eliminate up to 61 percent of al: caHs for service related to The Edge. Afs('l, an aarlier closing time would coincide with our peak staffing levels, enabnng additional officers to be avaIlable as patro!)s Jeave your e~tabnsh ment. While it rs our belief that a midnight or 1 :00 a.m. closing time would be optimal toward reducing disturbances, we e~SO recognize "(he potential hardship such an early closure time could bring to the viability of your establishment. It is for this reascn that we have endo:sed a 2:00 a.m closure. This recommendation i.!i not only comparabfe to similar establishments in the City, but f! also affords neighboring residents a reasonabfe expectation ot reduced noise fevels after 2:00 a.m. [f you wish to discuss this matter in tlrrther detilr!, yo,-~ may contact Captain Thomas Merson at 415/329·2232. CDimm cc: Out Sundheim Captain Tom Merson Nancy Lytle / ! August 26, 1992 TO: FROM: SUBJECT: PALO ALTO POLICE DEPARTMENT MEMORANDUM Lynne Johnson Tom Merson Jim Bonande; Mark Venable The Edj:e Pu blie Hoaring The August 20 public hearing examining the use permit of The Edge was well attend.d by both neighboring resident, and business owners. Approximately 23 people voiced their views at the three· bOUT hearing in the Counel Conference Room. Most of the people who spoke e:\'Pres...~ their con,cems not only with the continual early morningz::oisc disturbances, but also \J,rith the numerous acts ofvandaIism to their properties. Surprisingly, the Qverwnt"lming majority of people in attendance did Dot desire to see the nightclub closed down; instead, the predominate recommendation was for an earlier. "more reasonable" closure time. At the conclusion of the bearing, Nancy Lytle asked that the police department respond to the questions raised by members of the public and to swnmarize our recommendations for any modifications to The Edge's use penni!. Our respoIl..1IiOe was consistent with our earlier memo to Lytle synopsizing the department's concerns and recommendations. Nancy Lytle did not make a final decision on the use permit for The Edge, Instead, Nancy decided to continue the matter untIl Thursday, September 10. Nancy encouraged all persoru in attendance Thursday@ernoon to submit suggestions to her office before the September 1 0 mee~ recommending ways to address everyone '.I!o concerns. We thought it might be prudent to take this opportunity to forward to Na.'1CY a concise synopsis or our concerns and recommendations_ Vole may even wish to address some of the foUowing issues whiclJ ,~'ere raised at the hearing. The Erlge contends that the long lines which form oUL'iide !belr club are a result of their 5ea.lrity personnel carefully inspecting each patron's identification and belongings. Our field personnel who regularly work The Edge report that the long lines only begin to farm when the interior maximum capacity (875) has been rea-::hed. Customers 'Will wait for bours in '. .--~-._ .... ~ ..... _f& .. ~ft_re_ .. "'-_t«lj·nlilili •• tines numbering eve. 100 to gain access to the club. These walting patron5 are often the source or disturbances and vandalisr.1. Becau.se no public rest roorru. exist for th~se dUD goers, they often (as addressed by numer..)us resldent~ and busine~s owr.ers) "relieve" themselves upon adjacent properties. The problems associated with these long lines are Dot new ones. Years ago Jim Bonander met with these same owners in an effort to reduce the iong lines and a..ssociated problems. but to date) the problems conti'1ue to exist We would like to see these :ines dramatically reduced or \."Ompletely eliminated when full capacity i> rea,bed imice. This in itself coul~ reduce problelll5 and quell the ,·olatility of any disturbances. Early C\gmre Ihis was the predominant desire of neighboring residents. lbe Edge contends that any restriction on their closing time-would dramatically aff.-:ct t!:le \oiability of their club and "drive them out of business." The Edge owners defend their e:uly morning closure}] ours as a public service, a time:: period for people to 'sober up' before driving h~me, and tbe.y underscore this conviction by adding, "We do Dot want to be responsible for drunk drivers on the road," The Edge representatives even solicited MI. Sit.gel, the former owner of The Vortex, to attest to the prudent and Mae sobering effeelS of a 3:00 or 4:00 am. closure. It is interesting to point out that even Mr. Siegel admits he never .stayed open past 2:00 a.ID. Towards the end of the bearing, The &lge's attorney dted the figure that they only serve "1.25 drinks per person.' If !his is; in fact, the case, it is difficult to understand why any "sober up" time is needed. A more difficult question is what time should any ear1y closure be? Our caIls·for·senice, letters from the public and testimo!LY at the hearing show that th~ majority of noise disturbances occur be.tween midnight and 3;00 a.m., with the majority of calls taking place between 1:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. The Edge representatives are quick to point out that a restricted closure time of 2:00 a.m. will only redu<:e noise complaints b)! 10 percent. On this S3Ine note. we :Mnk. it is interesting to point out that a closure time of midnight would reduce noise ::omplainu. by 90 percent Valel Parking At the bearing it was recommended and discussed the possibility of requiring TIle! Edge to provide valet parklng. It was deemed th_at this would not only keep c;:us from parkjng adjac.ent to residential areas, but would also reduce the incentive to sit ~n the car wIth the radio playing and/or loiter about the parking Jot prior to leaving. . -~---. ........ . . . , - We belie ..... e the problem with this proposal is that alth0ugh it may alleviate some problems, jt is more than likely to create even bigger problems. It is unlikely !hal: The Edge staff would be able to procure the resources to control such au undertaking. Hundn::ds of patrons often arrive ar the same time, which would cause long delAYS .and potential traffic congestion a.~ people waited to h:.ve their vehicles parked. In the same r~spect. if, at the conclusion of an eveDt,. everyone leaves at the same ti:ne, Jong linf:S an" wnsiderable oelay~ would await patrons., possibly causing even more nois.e disturbances and other related problems than what prescntly eillsl'io. Inasmuch as it was hoped everyone would use this service, we cannot rnandat~ ih."!png lines and delays would onI)' serve to di<suadc patro", from valet parking and the bordering cc:i,ghborbOOl.i/li would agair. become an alternative to city lots. The Edge bas contended that the ca11s-for-service printout supplied b)' the police department is not altogether accuratE:. The &.llegatio~ is that incidents wru'Ch occurrerl blocks from their establishment or were self-initiated by police officers should not be considered and are "inaccurately stated and misleading." 'When we examined each call for ~rvice, we asked the question. "If Tb e Edge was not there, would it have been lilc:e)y that pa.r1icular incident would have OCCIJrred?" If the answer ""as 00, then we would attnoule the use of police personnel and resources directly to The Edge. We have examined the ca1ls-fm-service that specifically occurred .t The Edge, discounting all)' peripheral incidents. We have also made the same inquiry for 42nd Street and La Cllmbre for the same peliod of time. This !)'pc of comparL<on still substantiates that we respond to more calls-for-service and expend more resources at The Edge than any other corresponding nightclub. Th~ Edge a,lS() maintains tIm! the Dumber of caIls+for-servke includes times when they k:lephone police to report the use of fa-1St! or altered idelltificatio!l cards. JIm Bonar'Jder, du....';ng his numerous meetings with The Edge owner years ago~ told them oot to telephone police for false or altered identification cards. Jim explained to them that the Departmeut of Motor Vebides had" process already e'tabli;hed to bandle sLch offenses and the)' merely had to maIl the confiscated licenses back to the DMV. The Edge claims that our calls-for~servi<:e are overstated, but we would assert they are understated. We all recognize that most offenses go unreported; for each crime that is reported, u5uallyt\\o·o o~ three are not.. This actua1ity was underscored at the public bearing. Many homeowners and business ownerS stood up to speak, giving their full name and address, and then went on to tell about acts of vandaJism to their properties. As we look through the caUs--for~rvice) not all of those crimes were reported to the police. , , .. _------' Trash and Debris l~ft behind by C1Jstomers is a considerable complaint by ootdering neighbo" to The Edge. The Edge has reiterated their commitment to pro,iding the personnel and resources to pick up trash nightly in the adjacent areas to their facility. We support this effort and highJy recommend it be continued indefinitely. Ha\ing The Edge personnel go through the parking lots and local neighborhoods pielOng up trash, broken bottles, beer cans etc. can reduce cur cails for service from residents and busiI!i!ss O"NTIers complaining about the sLtuation. At the public bea.'"ing. several Palo Alto fouths spoke supporting the night club. Their contention was that The Edge provided one of the only social gathering places in to\l.'D. for tt.eiI age group. Though this may be true, the over .... heLting number of patrons at The Erlge are not PaIo Alto residents. A'{ a result., many of these club goers have no ties or sense of responsibility to the area. We believe that much ~f the vandalism to pubUc and private properly to be re iated to this fact. In an effort to address this problem. we recommend that The Edge place more of an emphasis on educating their patrons through multi-media campaigns, Le., advertisements, radio ads, flyers., PA system,. etc .. to encourage people to arrive and leave quietly, and not to litter. This would probably be. the most effective with repeat clientele who wouIe! not want to see The Edge undergo more restrictive regulations as a result of their actioru. Semity Guards At Ibe approval of the poUce department, The Edge bas utilized uniform saurity guardS 10 direct patrons into city parking lots that are furthest from residential areas. This bas been performed with the understanding that these guards have no authority to command dri ... ers to park in these recommended lots. Their role is r.H~re1y as an advisory and to serve as a visible deterrent At the bearing residents commented Oil the seo.:rity officers. Most of the remark.~ were suppor.ive, but a few speakers did question whether the "image" thesp. uniformed security officers portray to the neighborhood was one they desired. PoUee personnel who regular!y patrol n,e Edge report that the uniformed security offie .... do provide a deterrent effect and have helped, although a comparison of our calls-far-service before and after the guards were implemented ~hows no notable differer.ce. \ r / We would like to see the uniformed security guards continue. Their high visibility help' to deter potential problems and their presence aids in parking and patron oon:roL We have been working with the owners of The Edge for ),ean;, and ",'en though they bave been cooperative with our suggestions, the problems have continued. We will probabJy never be able to eliminate all complaints surrounding The Edge, The main problem is that this type of commercial use is too close to residential areas, ] t is our hope that limited hours of operatio~ shorter e:J:terior lines and a greater . -considcmtion on behalf of The 'Edge's patrons might mlnimize future problems. c<:: Sue Mace Don Hartnett Jon Hernandez Kathy McKenna MV:bMc edge· \ - > :i { f City of Talc }11to P l: e::: .. 11)~5;: t'~,C' .I.r~ (.>. s.,~~ Division of Inspection Services (415) J29-2<7e Kathryn Baron 355 College Av~nue Palo Alto, CA 94306 Dear Ms. Baron~ ---,------_. JunE'. 11, 1992 Your recent letter to the Mayor and city council has been referred to the Planning Division for-reply, re·.rie ..... and action~ The use permit under which The Edge oper2:'es (73-UP-36, 260 California Avenue~) as amended on August 28" 1974, states: "There shall be no entertainment, motion pictures or other amusement devices or activities; other than live music and related dancing that ~ill not interfere or he offensive to the use and enjoyment af adjacent property, and that will r.ot be, and ."ill not encourage activities that will be detrimental too adjacent property or the public welfare.- The concerns you raised including noise, tr-ash, inconsiderate behavior} and late ho~s of operation are related t¢ that condition; ana the property owner and operators have been alerted to the alleged violations. The City has the right to revoke or modify the use permit under section 18.90.060 if the conditions have been violated or if substantial evidence indicates that the use is being conducted in a manner detrimental to the public health} safety or ~elfare. The city has initiated 5tep~ to place the operator on notice of the alleged violations and resolve the issues by taking the following actions. 1. A meeting was held ~ith representatives of The Edge, and this Department on Tuesday, May 26, 1952 to discuss the concerns and to begin steps to resolve the problems. 2. The Police Department staff met with representatives of The Edge or. Thursday" May 2.8, 1992 to identify the issues and potential resolutions. 3. On Tuesday" June 26, 1992, c meeting ~ill be held with City staft from the Police Department, P] anning, and Tra.r.sportation to review alleged violations and concerns and to determine a plan of action and establish a timetable for co~pliance. Once ttds information is established, you 'Nill be notified immediately. • • /" If th~se steps do not lead to a resolution, the matter ..... ill be scheduled for publi~ hearing pursuant to Scctior. 18.90.080. ","'e will keep you informed as to the outcome, one ~ay or another and welco~e further feedback from you as ta your experiencEs. Please call me at 329-2276 if you have any further questions O~ comments. Sincere.ly, 1~~0,J rl/ . (kd~dA-~ RICHARD H. CABRL<A Ordinance Compliance Inspector RJoIC:jb ec: Mayer Gary Fazzino City Council Jay Packard Renna Devincenzi. CAADA Sue Case, Senior Assistant City Attorney capt. Tom Merson, Police Department Lt. Sue Mace, Watch Commander Marvin overway, Chief Transportation official • PA::"O Alto Police I>epaJ:tr .. er.t (U5) 329-2<06 .J\1n .. 5, 1992 Mr. Jacek Poslcki The: Ed.qe 260 California Avenue Palo Alto, C~li1"o:rllia. 94.3':)1 Dear ~r. Rosicki, ThAnk you ror taking the time to m&et with seLgeant AuBuchon and ma on Hay 28, 1992 to revi4:!.: the neise and littE!-ring problem.&: that occur on or near your business establisrunent Quring late night hours.. YC\U' aqree1D.ents to address t'hE!-se ia&.ues are swnm2lrizea belo .... • rncrease the number of hours your employee colleGt6 litter in the nei9hborhood of the ~~qe: current trach pick up is t~ic~ a veek -the new plan will be 40 hours & v~ek. The area has also been extended to .Ox£ord and Park Avenues • Unito!'1lled. l8c:curity elI'Iployees no ..... have radio communicdtions to fAcilitate ptoble~ ~olving during busineBs hours • Physical ch~nqes to the building will include installation of savsral 8o~n~ orayesl cloeing in tne interior 6o~th ..... ~ll, 'E'nclosing t!JO l~':ge. speaker;;;. in i!'".sulated oo}(es, and sound proofing all dOors • On May 26, ~992 you met wi~h concerned neighbors Steven Gold~erg, Eugene McLenny, end Mr. Par~er. A meeting .ith Ka.thy Byron is plo!nnt'!d for the future. FollcW' up lette:-Ii tc each party have been sent • ~ou ~rranged ~Ot ~~. Parker's fence to be repaired at 355 College .end to have clean up cre",·s rout:inely clear hi6 YArd of litt.r Yo", co~itted to lroaXE: the physic.al changes to the b<):ilding 'by JUnE: 10, 1992 and to contact me vhen the ~ork is completed. • • ----......:. AZ3 1 'Ilt".r:ti'.Jr:ed, l&tec this Jt,onth ! ""'ill I<,eet -.ith r('lpreeent.at.iv-eeo frolr.-th~ city I Eo Pla.nr::L~9 Do::partl!'ent t.c rev!e· .. · th~ conciitlo:-'.c::.l USE. pe:t'lt.it i:5s!Jed to YQ\.l,:-1'ac:i.lity_ 1 ",111 provide plannir.g per5lortnl'!1 ",1th infcrli:1$.t;. f on en tho(!< nmllheT ~r.d natu.re or pol iCE; responee'6 to the Edg4! 'h:~rir.9 tll(' ~ est six month peri<=><!o I '.;i],1 e.1. !!I v !on;ard to the Transportation Department y?ur ."IJ9'9' .. ation about. r-G-E>t.r1ct.inq patron p.arking in City lot C-l and divertln'3 It to City lots more re'Elloved t'rolll home.," irl the area.. I will paee on your reccm..eend.tion regardir.q the pcssibility of a r.5i~.nti&1 permit parking syste:rn. The tinal d.ec1siQn on both these illauM lies .ith the Transportatl.:m Depart:lae!lt. In summary, ! appreciate th~ ~ooperative spirit ~ith ~hich you have responded to th~ neighbor. in the Calitornia Avenue. area and to "police concerns. If :folJ have neM to conUlct mE I ~can be. raache"d after 10 PH at {415) 329-2142 Tuesday through Friday nights. SincerelY', ~tn-A--r.:& ~ r!L,U-L- Lieutenant Sue Mace )!tdniqht Watch CollLlrotander cc: Sergeant Charles AuBuchcn Lieutenant Jon Hernandez Captain Tom Merson Chl~f Chris Durkir. Nancy Lytle, Flanninq Department A8hok 'ggarwal. Transportation .. ~ DO"l'Y &. srJNDHELM Se_ptelr.be::: 23 f 1992 Steven Goldberg 117 California Avenue, 10-400 Palo Alto, CA 94306 Dear Hr. Goldberg: DEPAFTMENT OF Pl.ANN1NG CITY OF PALO .. LtO On Friday night, September 19, 1992, at approximately .2..i..1.Q. ~ we received an urgent telephc·ne call from you in which you indicated you were being disturbed by a number of urrruly Edge patrons. The Edge immediately dispatched security personnel to ttte sight of the disturbance only to find four inebriated Stanford football F1-~y'c;.i-5 who had just finished dinner at Little Joe's. The four had not been to the Edge and ... ere n:lt on their way to the Edge. on saturday night around 10:30 p.m~ }'OU cor.fronted the security guard and claimed that he was not doing his job as people ~ere parking helc~ your residenc~. As you know, management for The Edge has met with you on several occasions to discuss your concerns regarding the operation of the dance club. W"aen -management ;las unable to satisfy your concerns I offered to Il'Ieet .... ith yet:: separately. Your actions this past ... 'eekend clearly indicate you still are pU$hing us to take SOl[le sort of action. Recently. in front of your wife and Jacek in the Palo Alto Council chambers I asked you ..... hat additional actions we could take to satisfy your concerns. (In asking the q1..le.stion, I 'Was seeking )'our input a5 to 'Whether you felt restricted parking, more security or other similar actions Would satisfy your concern. ) You indicated that all 'WE. would have to do is I'buy my condo". I laughed out 10ud. thinking that you .... ere joking. You: replied: t,you think i am kidding? I am serious, I am really seriou.s. You buy my condo and the ",hole issue goe.s a...,ay." \ _____ r ··---"-~_>.&.L~"-' __ '.H ....... --_._,,· .. ltIJQiIi"I!."III ••• SIi· ·ii,*l steven Goldb-P.rg September 2J~ 1992 Page 2 I tried to take the topic int-.o other areas and you again took us back to the proposition that buying your condo ",'as the answer to your problem. We then discussed the condo issue further and you, and especially your 'Wife, indicated that the two of you had other, serious concerns about your current residence which had nothing to do with the dar.ce club. As of tod~YI manage~ent of The Edge believes that no ~eduction in the noise level will satisfy you and the only~~ you will stop ~ritinq negative letters to the City and the calling the police is fo~ us to buy your condominium. Your conduct is nothing short ot attempted extortion. Conduct which can lead to imprisonment in the state penitentiary for up to fO'Jr years. My recommendation is that you contact your attorney imm~diately to seek her/his guidance as to tbe serious repercu5sioHS of your actions. After that meeting please have your attorney contact me directly. GMS: l..,: UUI-21.l.n ..cc-: Nancy Lytl e ---"'~--" - • 91., rag.{ail.. '" .... "·1.11.· .... " ....... ~.~"'. P4LO 4.L~. C_u..tFOR."'U 8-43<)t 'Tr.,_r. ... ~'o .... e L4,SI j,;2"-O,OO "1:_1:;;::0,,"1r;1O , .. ,5. )~!!<-!IO<:'''. "'0""'" r .. ,,,, ~.:? ll" September 9, 1992 N~ncy Maddox Lytle Department of Planninq and community ~nvlronM&~t PO Box 10.50 Palo Alto CA 94303 Dear Nancy: In liqht of the spirit .n which this latest hearing is beinq cond~et.d, I thought you mi9ht like to know what we have b~en up to and What out position is qoing to be at the hearing. Most i.po~antlYt our studies have aho~ what we had bQped: th. extensive work we have done has had a &ignificant J ~&terial impact. There were two ~ajor concerns expressed at th. hearing: (a) calls for services; (b) n~i.e qanerated by Edq. Patrons. 1. CA1~s fo~ Service. The calls for service required by _tJ'l.e police O41!-partlnen.t Ouring the la.st month were sot less than the monthly average during the first month£ of the 1992. When I discusSed this fi~re ~ith Mr~ Venable at the Police De~artment, he attributed it primarily to the security guards who~ he felt were 4cinq an excellent job. 2.. H,g..i,.se StJ1dy. I requested a sound study be done on a Saturday night -~learly the noisiest night of the ~cek. The date ~e did the study was on August 22. The oonsultant ~as the highly reqard.a noise specialist, Charles M. Salter As~ociat~5: In". The result of the study was that as of August of this year there is a noise probl~m in the residential areas neQr the Edge: planes and trains. The loudest ncises clearly were the planes (66 decibels) ana tr&ins (66 d~cibels). ~ith two isolated exceptions# Qne each in diff.erent loc:ations, no sound_ g_~neratgd, __ from the 'Ectgr or _:from ~_ cutside the Edge exceeded the _noise of J;h.e planes ____ .1!..O.Q • Ms~ Maddox ~ytle September 9, 1992 F«9e-2 F' ?, tr~. There was one guy Who yelled o~t at about 1:30 AM a~ C~rid9. between BirCh and Park and 4 fast oar bet~re 2 AK at Park and California. However, ~ith the exception or these tvo inaividuals t all other noises w~re below that of the ~lanes and trains. The average noise level at C~ridge/Birch/Park ,the lQudest spot), was 51 decibels~ This was only four deoibtls aboye the ambient noise level {41 decibels}. Readings were also taken at the corners of Park and Cambrldge. Park and college, College and Birch, Birch and Oxford, oxford and Ash and Ash and College~ In the opinion or the consultant .. the notcu;. generat.e_g .from these ___ six §ite.s W'i}S nQt lcud enough to cay'u'" Anv distu~banqe whatsQ.YU. Cons.quQntly, we believe that th4 actions we haV8 t~ken have significantly r.duced both the calls fer service and th. noise qanerated f~ ~~e patrons. We of course have additional ideas we can discu:iis _further at the meeting and I am sure you wi 11 have s~ positive id~8 ot your own. It you have any questions you'd like to 4SX ~e about bEfore the meeting, please let me know. Sincerely, GMS:1mw:INN-20.LTR CC: 3acek Rosicki ='0" "h .. ' , ~ - i ·i ! . ..:. ·" l'lanninq Dept ~ Attn: Nancy Lytle City of Palo Alto P.O. Bo>' 10250 Palo Alto, CA 94303 Re: The Edge DOTY &-S"L"'NDHEn..r ".zO '-cO'H:".;:'" II"'''''''''" :$u·~ ~OO June 12, 1992 DEPA:-iT .. :::,~f OF P'-"" ,.'"" C!JY OF FALO Al TC At our recent meeting you asked us to Qutline what the operators of the Edge had done to reduce the impact of the operation of t.he Edge on the 5urroundi!"lg neighbors. A. BackgrQund .. For almost 20 years the site of the Edge has been used for dancing and entectairm.ent. Under previous owners, there 'Were significant problems with respect to tbe operation of the facility, the noise generated f~om the facility and events occuring outside the facility. When the current owners purchased the lease to the property, they were unaware of this history as they were not from this area. However, fro~ the beginning they were committed to be good neig~Jbors an~ since they acquired the lease in 1989 they have worked closely with the police departm€Mt and the community. In 1989 and 1990 the current owners worked to build the reputation ~f the Club. In the 1991 their hard work began to pay off and the Edge became very popular. B~ Working 'Wi~_h the Police in 1_~91. In 1991 the police became concerned with the degree of success the Edge began to enjoy ar.d asked the Edge to cut back on its operation. Despite the direct, negative effect it ~ould have un its business, to .. ITLeet the concerns of the police department, the Edge agreed to cut back on its advertizing, raise its prices and enforce a dress code to reduce the appeal ot the club. A copy of the March 4 J 1991 letter trom Mr. Rosicki to the Police Department is enclosed . / Nancy Lytle Pla.-u-.ing Dept., Palo Alto JunE! 12, ,1992 Page 2 The owners also requested a meeting 'With Lynn Johnson and other me~ers of the police force. One of the major reasons for that meeting was t~ determ!'ne if we !'leedec to do anything further to meet their concerns. At that meeting several ideas ~ere raise~ by both sides, including the Edge'~ otfer to hire off-duty officers tc pat reI the exterior of the building. The police indicated they ~anted to retain resp~nsibility for security outside of the facility4 consequently. since that meeting and W"ith the conC'lrrance ef the police department, the owners have focused their efforts in the following areas: 1~ Reducing the noise within the facility: 2. security .... ithin the facility: and 3. Appearance outside of the !acilty. 1. ~oise R~9ucti.9n. At c<msiderable expense, the owners have taken O~ are in the process of taking th~ following actio~s to reduce the noise level within the fa~ility: a~ Completely re-built walls facing California Avenue; are nvilr double walls fully insulated. materials. b. Insulated back door ~ith sound proof c. Closed all skylites. d. Placed speakers in ins~lated boxes. e. Installed sound drapes to minirnize noise in various areas. 2. security Wit_h.iuQ thg_uJ:~uilding. Security within the building is broken dO'Nn into three areas. First, at least two security staff moni'tor the patrons entering the facility to insure they are of age and not under the influence. Second, six to eight security staff monitor the inside of the facility to insure the patrons are behaving appropriately. Third~ two s.ecurity staff with cOl'!\1I1lJnications equipment monitor the immediate exterior and immediate back parking area. 3. APpear_~n_9_e of Exter1Qj:. As we have mentioned, ~e are more than willing to provide and/or pay for additional security outside of the facility. However/ to date/ t.he police ------ • . . Nancy Lytle Planni~q Dept., Palo Alto ,June 12, 1992 Page 3 havr:-opposed such offeJ:s. consequently, we have focused our activities outside of the facility on litter remc·.al. Currently, that effort includes: a. Clean-up outsio..e the facility every night the. :Edge is ope!'l. b. Requiring security staff to tour the neighborhood (Park Street, Oxford, College street, Cambridge, Birch, California Avenue, ana all parking lots in the neighborhood) with flashlights l picking up all visible litter -whether the litter is from the Edge or elsewhere. They also pick up bottles and cans. c. Hiring a clean-up person to c~ean-up the neighborhood on WedneSdays, Saturdays, Sundays. and after live shows 7kM -gAM in an Edge uniform. ~hese efforts have paid off and between Ma~ch of 1991 and April of this year there ~ere no sjgnificant cCIDplaints regardin9 the operation of the tacility~ C~ Regent Effo~. When the issue resurfaced this spring, the owners addressed the issue immediately~ They contacted -in person -each individual who has raised a concern. EVen when someone {Mr. Parker} had a twenty year old fence that suffered some damage (even though it was not clear the fence had been damaged oy an Edge patron), the o~ers financed the repairs. The owners also immediately contacted the police and had a ~eetinq with them. As Lieutenant Mace indicated in her letter after that meeting, "1 appreciate the cooperative spirit with whicb you have responded tc the neighbors in the California Avenue area and to the police concerns"~ • , \. I Nancy Lytle Planning Dept" Palo Alto JI.,me 12 r 199~ Page 4. This is the spirit 'With 'Which 'We have responded t.o date and will continue to respond in the future. ~t the end of our meeting you r-ecommer.ded we: have a joint meeting 'With the police. Please let us knoW' 'When that fits into you:!" schedule4 Sincerely, ~:;DHEIM GMS: 1mw: I1iN-09. LTR Georqe~. sundheim CC: Jacek Rosicki Enclosure -.,---,-.-' ",., , ", DOTY & SL~DHEDI '" L...I ~I! ~:>O F."I.I-O ",1.-':0, C .... UFO~l"J.A 9~OI 1"i:"E:P,",C'",H: 14'51 32""C'IOO Nancy Maddox Lytle Department of Planning and ComQunity Enviro~~ent PO Box 10250 Palo Alto CA 94303 Dear Nancy: August 10, 1992 A. ~e Want to Work With the City. First of all, 'the Edge is aware that thE'! City has received COl'imlents abolJt. recent noise levels in the. residential areas near the California area business district. We co not deny that some of the individuals who are generating such noise may have been en their way to or leaving the Edge. To the extent such unauthorized conduct by Edge patrons is disturbing our neighbors, we want to work with the City to reduce it. The city has been very responsive to our request to have meetings to discuss the issue. Also~ you have a reputation for professionalism and dedication to your job ~nd the city, and nothing in our interaction has caused me to ever think otherwise. You are receiving input from a wide variety of ~ource5 and I believe you are trying your }')est to balance those diverse interests. However, far whatever the reasons, the process has a strong bias against a fair consideration of our interests and the record is full of inaccuracies. B. ~l!.I:i. Procedures Have strong Anti-Business J2 .. i.as. First, I want to officially protest th& anti-business bias of the prOce3$. As you yourself indicated, Y.QlLat:..~ nqt re.quired to consider tM economic reperG.I.!E .. $.ionE of your ctecisions. I find this prejudh:e extremely frustrating, especially in 1 ight of the Council's public statements that they want to be sympathetic to the concerns of the business community. The viability of a carnpan:{ tnat generates $800. DOD in taxable reve~1ue for the city and provides the 30 jobs, primarily to an age grQup that sutfers the highest level of unemployment, is at stake here. Yet in the meetings and in your letters I have • .. .. '. }lis. Maddox Lytle Au.gust 10, 1:'~92 rage 2 ____ ""' ........ # ...... ",.'"i"("~.,;..."...-, never felt that this is ~ factor in the City's decision-making process, much lass a pri~ary consioeration. c. Bias and Inaccuracies Have Djstorted Both the Probl~~ and the Solution. We fi~ly ~elieve a solution to the recent r.oise prcblem can be achieved ... ithout crippling the business. Ho<,/ev-er. the City's anti-business bias and inaccuracies in the record: have c1l.storted the problem and consequently the viable sol~tions. Our CO!1l::erns can be divided into three categories: • Th'~ measures proposed by the city completely ignore the economic impact on our business. ... Solutions which 'Will not <::ripple The Edge are not being qi .... en. an opportunity to show whether they work. * Your July 10, 1992 letter calling for the Zoninq Hearing h~s nUIDerOU6 inaccuracies and distortions. 1. city Believes TIl.~Q9 Not Neod to Consider ~conomic Impact of Th~ir Decision on Our Business. As noted above, in one lilE!!eting WhSI'"'3 .... e were trying to recommend an alterna":ive solution that 'Would ;)jJt have such a drastic impact on our business, you indicated: aI do not have to consider the economic impact of my decisions il • Residen~ial considerations Should be given careful thought. However, as Senator Tsonqas ~orrectly noted on tr.~ t~deral level, business reVL~nue is the reason that 'wr.'e are able to provide the varie:ty of sl,cial services we do to the public. T:J take U'lis type of attituae makes as much sense as killing the geose that lays the golden egg. The :business impact of your decision should be a Significant consideration -if the C'ity real1:r-is cor.cerned about the st;1ndard of liVing of the residents of Palo Alto. :2. Solutions That wi 11 Mini1r . .:l,.,ze j:conomic Impact H?l.Y~ Not Been GiVrilO an opportunityj9 ___ J.jork. When the noise is::;ue was brought to O\lr attention this spring, 'ole noted San Jose} San F'ranci~co and Oakland ei the!' all" .... ed thl?ir off-duty officers to work or the,)'-allowed businesses to pay far additional on-d'lty police~ We <)ffered to follow-this successful model and pay off duty officer:; $60 per hour. This 'ill'as reje~ted by the Police Department. • --..... ~t.7Ii111T •. , . '. Ms. Maddox Lytle ALJgust 10, 1992 Page J We also rec~mmended restricting parking in the residqntial neighborhooo3 to residents only; as the city did in the Park-El Camino area ~J.nly a fe~v years ago. This 'Was rej ected as "too :much work for jus~ one business u . As a clear indication of the anti business bias,. the City told us on July 13 if the ~sj2_ents proposed such restriction, it would be much reore likely the plan 'Would be inplemented~ Given these restrictions, we still have atte~pted to do everything w<;3i pcssibly can to reduce the noise level. First, ·...re spent approximately S40,000 building new walls, encasing speakers, installing curtains and reinforcing windows4 Second, with the ~ritten approval of the Palo Alto police~ we have stationed licensed, bonded r uniformed security personnel at three intersections to inform Edge patrons that parking is available away rrom the -residential areas. Third r we have hired employees to pick up litter in both the residential and commercial areas of The Edge, even though litter from the Edgl! is only .a .fraction of the litter we pick up. At the meeting of July 13, 1992, we indicated we intended to take the above steps and requested. a delai'~ in t:'1e August 20 Hearing. Th~ purpose of the delay was to give enouqh time to determine ~ thE above actions reduced the noise. You rejected this proposal, stating there was enough in the file at the present time to hold. the hear~ng. It is hard for us to understand 'Why we cannot". wai t to see whether the agreed upon chanqes ~ill have th~ desired effect. 3. July 10 Letter~ We have numerous, material concsrns with the July 10, 1992 lett~r. a. ~lere Given_ N.o Time t.o Pre..Qi3r.:a for July 13_ Meeting. First, r was caught off-guard by the delivery of the July 10, 1992 l~tter. On the afternoon of Friday, July 10, I re.ceived a t,~lephone call from Joe of your ofiic~~ He told l!l~ he was going to be sending me a 20 page fax which was gOing to serve as the centerpiece for the meeting on Monday, July 13 (the next business day). I had never been told that such a letter was coming, much less that it would be the centerpiece of our meetln~ at tl"le beqin::1ing of the \IIeek. As a result, the Cit)' gave my client and m,= no time to meet to discuss your allegations as set forth in your letter, much less an opportunity to prepare a response. Ms. Maddox Lytle Augu!!t 10, 1992 Page 4 . ___ "_~.r I belie'Je you would not engage in this type of tactic on purpcse. Ho'/{ever, the fact remains you put us in a position where 'We iller,:! forced to walk into a meeting with eight City employees without being given an opportunity to prepare a respons~ to your allegations. 1o. No Oppor-r:uni ty t_Q_~o_rre,::.t Inaccuracie~~_fore Public Distribution of Letter.. Second, you sent copies of the-" July 10 lett>!r out to the public. 'Where the pr5!ss had access to it. I under~tand you have a job to do, but in the future, b&fore you send. out letters that can have a significant negative economic eff'!ct on our business and our employees, it'e would appreciate the opportunity to at least see the document in advance :so w,~ can attempt to nlinielize the inaccur.acies. This was particularly troublesome in this case.. In the packet one of the problems prominently highlighted was nnarcotic use ll • Ho'Wev~r, (i) nowhere in the documents WQ~ there any substantiation of that claim and (ii) Captaij"l Merson indicated at the July 13 meeting that narcotic use was not an iss'.le at 'L'he Edge. We have worked extremely hard to keep drugs completely out of the Edge and that kind of random, thoughtless inclusion in the report (a) alienates the type of customer · .. e are courting, (b) encourages the types of individuals we have kept alor"ay, (e) hurts o~r business, Cd) is very detrimental to the reputation of the employees who work there and (e) is antithetical to your stated goal of trying minimize the negative ancillar1 activ~ties occurring outsid~ of the Edge. c. LetteL_ In~_ccurately . States Te:..?', __ ::;; of Permit. {page 2 of l.~tter.) AlthoU';h there appears to btl sane grammatical errors in the \oI'ordi!1g, at the top of page twc of y<:.'ur letter, one rJf the major reasons you give for possibly revoking the pennit is that the primary form of e:1tertainment allowed in ~~e use permit is only "live music and related dancinqn. By implication, you apparently are takIng the position dancing to recorded music iE not allowed. If this is your pOSition, it is incorrect. In a letter !~om your own department dated April 29, 1986, you st.J.ted the permit also "allows dancing associated with recorded music, the later (sic) being less problematic irt most cases than live music". d. Fail gd to Provide_no_Us F;~y_ Evidence. (page:2 of let'ter.) On page two YOLl indicate that you have revie'w'ed police calls. and compared then, "to those for other establishments that serve alcohol ir:. the City". The clear in:;plication being that the Ms. Maddox L:J'tle AUqust 10, 1',92 page 5 problems are much worse on a per pe,son basis at The Edge than other establishments that serve alcohol. HOw,'ever, when I asked to see the evidence of such comparisor-~ at the July 13 meeting, the police did not seem to have any idea what comparison I ~as talking about. I asked that the comparison he sent to m,!'. However, as of this ...... riting, no such evidence has been pr-cduce.d. ~. wCalls for Service ft Inacc~rately S+ated anq Misleading. (Page 2 of letter.) On page two you state that certain numb.:!rs of ·calls. for service M have been made to the poli?e. First, the numbers do not even relate to calls for serv~ce. Th,S!y t"elate to any action~ -t.aken by the police, including th'Jse which are not pUrSl...dnt to a call to the police folC help. Second, the partial information I did receive was inaccurate. One event occurred on Park Street. There was nothing to tie it to the Edge, yet it was listed as an event "directly attributed to the Edge". Third, the number of complaints does not fairly reflect the magnitude of the problem. The report includes (a) calls we make regarding attempted Use of a false identification card to (b) crank use of the 911 number. f. ~ucihg Hpurs OF OR~ration will C~Rle Investors. (page 2 of letter.) The city is contemplating reducing the hours of operation by up to 40\. Although -¥-au have repeatedly i~dicated this is not a concern to you~ I pelieve it is necessary to point out ~e have had the above hours fo: almost twenty years. When 'lJe purchased the business and the various investors made the SUbstantial investment necessary to buy the lease, it wa'.,; based u;>on our being able to operate the club on the same conditions. To cut back the hours by 40% would be a crippling bI"w-to our investorE. g. Reducing Hours QLQgcrati·::m Pt:9bably Wi 11 Net Reduce Noi~. (Page 2 of letter.) If you care~ully review the police reports I yOl.l will ses that reducing the hours as propQsed will reduce the amount of police actions by less than 10%. Given the i~pact upon the business, the solution does not seem to be proportional to the problem. h. Solutions Available to Reduc~ __ 1_atron Parking and Noise. (Page 3 of the Letter.) We would prefer to pay for extra police to ~atrol the area. However, we believe that the Ms. Maddox Lytle August 10, !-992 Page 6 " .' security guards now in place, in conjunction with an inteqrated parking plan~ ~ill red~ce the patro~ parking and noise level to acceptable levels, i. Litter Issue Under ControL (Page 3 of the Letter, ) in effect We helieve --:hat the current litter control plan 14e have will eliminate the litter problem that arose this spring. j. Liye Bands and Recorded Musjc. Letter.) We believe the substantial investment ""e acoustics ~ill reduce the noise emanating from The acce!'table ll'a:vels. (page 3 of the have made in Edge to k. He' ..... Threatening to .Reduce Occupancy l.$.. Extremely unfair and Unnecessa~. {Page 4 of Letter.) When The Edge started to be very successful we knew we needed to increase the occupancy level. We worked closely 'With the city to have the occupancy raised and spent over $35,000 to meet the City's concerns and rules. The occupancy level increase only was effective this slJl:ing~ AT NO TIMF WERE WE GIVEN ANY INDICATION WHATSOEVER THAT THE CITY HAD ANY PROBLEM Wll'H THE !lICREASED OCCUPANCY~ Now you are reco~ending the occupancy be reduced~ Your letter states 'We not be able to control and monitor 01.1r J?atrons at the .new occ11pancy level. However, as the record clearly shows# we have had no problem controlling and monitoring the actions of our patrons in the facility at either the old levsl or at the new level~ Your le~ter also indicates there may be inadequate parking for the ne~ fi~~re. ~his is net the case, as a quick revie~ of the signific.3.nt public parking that currently e>c:ists indicates, not to oention the impact of the ne~ parking structure ~hich is to be built immediately behind The Edge. D. IDmli~. Noise outside The Edge has been a problem rece~tly. We believe the ::;teps mentioned in this letter -wll'ill Significantly • Hs. Me;ddox Lytle AU~'1.lst 10. 1992 Page 7 reduce the problem. Any further action at this time is unne~essarr anQ ~i~l jeopardize the financial viability of a business that h3S been run at this location for 20 years and which prOV1Ql1:!:S significant revenue and jobs to the community~ GMS,ete,INN-19.LTR ce; Mayor Gary Fazzino city Council Bill Zaner, City Manager Sue case. Senior Assistant City Attorney Capt. Tom Merson. Police ~epartment Rich Cabrera, Ordinance Compliance Inspecto~ Joseph Colonna, Planner Beverly Nadine, President. Board of Directors Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce Stephen W. Player, crist Griffiths Schulz & Biorn 550 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94~Ol .......... _-----.... March 4. 1991 CITY OF PALO ALTO P. O. BOX 10250 PALO ... L TO. CA ~306 Do---a.r Lieutenant Carfos Bolanos. This letter is meant 10 reconfirm what was s31d in the conversation at Ol'r meeting. that took piace on February 20. 19'?1. between myself. 'acek Rosi~k.i, Officer Dan Ryan, Ueutcnaot Carlo. Bolanos. and Lieutenant Jim Bonander. L From this day on, The Edge v.'ill do several th1ngs 10 2trr2.ct less people into the area. a. Cut down in its advtnising b. Possible increas.e of the cover charge c. Enforce a :;mct dress cooe and additl_onal entry rules for bom the .dull and teen nights. 2. Per ycur request,. we no longer have juris.diction over-public pr<>j>ert)' around the club. including the parking area. These "eaS are sole responsibility of the police department. As we were 101d in the pt-eviously mentioned conversation. we can no longer patrol these areas, but Should leave that duty up to the police: ot"panmer.!', 3. 'AU secur~ty personnel for (he Edge will wea.r \Vhire-Security Sackets. for good visibility reason$. If you hav~ any additiona~ comrr.eYHS Of suggestions in l-::gards to the operation of our bL!.siness. please 00 nor besitate to Wilte me ::± note. We, as always. apprt.ciate your help and cooperation. Sincerery ):\)UIS, hcek F.o$lckl \ t'. , . ;.' D&vid C. Siegel --------- 273.1 R(lmona Street. P"fo A'to, CBllfornia 94306 • TEL (HOME) 415-32 f-S7el TEL/FAX (OFFJCE) 415-321-3920 December 1, 1992 Pla'1~i.ng Commission City of Palo Alto P,O. Box 10250 Palo Alto. CA 94303 Dear Co~missioners;- As a resj dent of Palo Alt:) and as a fonner local merchant, I felt compelled to write you with regard to the status of The Edqe nightclub on California Avenue. I have followed closely the si.tuation regarding t.heir conditional use permit and spoke at the hearing held by the Z':ming Administrator a few montt~s back. r feel that closing the club or severely restricting thE club's operating hours will benefic no one and h~rt several key t:'onstituencies: • The club going re$ident.s and non-residents ot Palo Alto will have to ve~ture to San Francisco or San Jose to get the type of entertainr'lent ::.ffered by The Edge. 'Ihis hurts the quality of life in a suburban town that offers some limited urban amcni~ies. • The high school aged residents who tak~ advantage of the periodic youth nights sponsored by The Edge. The alternatives to theb-e nights inclu.:ie private, often unsuper..rised parties, travelling to the (less safe) urban centers, et al. • The employees of The Edge • The residents who receive benefit fro;!'. the sales taxes, alcohol taxes l business income taxes. and real estate taxes generated by the ongoing business Most importantly. tr.e grol";'p yOI.1. aim to help, the nearby residents, will not ~ aided at all by restric~ing the club's operating hours. Closing after .2 a.n. permits a sI0· ... , flow of patrons e..<i.ting, well after alcohol has ceased being served. This results in better securicy as fewer patrons ~eed to be monitored outside the club and far lower cha~ce of coise geuerateCl_ by crowds. It also permits patrons to bunl off 011 ~excess energyO! th1;'S lC1wering the chance of excessive ncise in the parking lots. Restricting the clubs hours will HLTRT the local residents, not HELP them. --.... .,. /-" -.--. -. ( i Of course the alternative of clo~ing the club dOWI"l altogetho;!r will, witho~t ~~estion, eliminate all alleged p~cb:ems associated with the club. This is a high price co pay for all of the constituents who would be r.Ult by such an action, not to menLion the emasculation of an implied right to pE!"sue legiti=-rate enterprise, which is integral to our capitalist syst-em. Simply stated, restricting the clubs hours wilJ. not produce the desired bene:fits. Closing down the club is an irreversible decision. Certainly, there are creative solutions which oU9ht to be atte~pted befo~e the "death penalty" is ad~inistered. In fact, I would be bappy to volunteer:-a sMall a~cun': o!: ffiy time to work with both the city and the clubs' owners to co~e up with some solutioi.1s, As a bw.sinessman with ten years of experience I three cperating a nightclub (called The Vortex, in Pale Alto), and as a resident, I think I could ~ring something to the table that no one else could. I hope that my comments are helpful to your decision maki!'lg process. Sin-:-erely, (D£)(,Ar! DCi.vid C. Siegel tl r1 :1 1 i I , i David Wenerstein 350 College A',enlle Pato AIto, Ca. 94306 No"em.bel' 25, 1992 , .. '- Membe.1i of the City Planning Commission P.O. 50, lC250 Palo Alto, Ca. 94 303 Dear Plannin5' Commi!'slon :Members: ©~©[nw[rm LrD NOV ~ 0 1992 C!lePAATMENT OF PLANNI NG lTV OF PALO .U TO 1 am writing to yoll as a cr.nccmed :resident of E~·t!rgreen Park and as .a neighbor of -The Edge Nightclub on i!s behalf. I und",rstand that )'OU are in favor of:restno::-ting T~ Edgis bu!;'iness hours to 2:00 AM from its current -4.:00 AM dosing l;ime and that this change of c1os1ng time would force the C'UrTPnt owners to close the dub and'cr relocare oiltsid~ the city Let me first state that I live at the intersectioo of BIrch Stre;!t a.rld CollegE' Avenue 100 I am clearly in a position to u~rience firsthand the impact The Edge has had on the neighborhood. I am;l member of the E~'ergrei!n Park NeiW'loorhood A.s~ociation and I have lived in this neighborhood for over two and one half yean and in Palo Alw for over ten yea,s. I would like to 1et ,au know that since The Edge has been .a.llowed to post seC'ltrity/traffic control at 'Various key neighborhood locations (Birch and Oxford as well as my tntu&ection), the incidence of noise. loitering. trash, and club patron:; parking in the area. hM not jUI!i dropped, it hu virtually disappeared. Prior to thj.-: pr.e-sence, problems weno ,JOt ~at, but they did erist fr01D time to time. Today, one would not even re"nze there wu a nightclu":l in the immediate area. Printe neighoorhood parties, airplanes. and Can:'r.ain cru.~ IDt'fe nvise! Furthennore, they have cT~aned up. and conbnue to clean. tra!oh and litter th'it is probahly nat even frow their patrons. ThEy ha \'e been a very good neighbor and I eIlCQW"ag*! their effarts to remain in the community. Tee neighborhood simply reEb saf~. especia11, in the late nizhUU1"lY morr-ing and I attnbute this to The Edge's .5ec.J.rity personnel. ~-:;au..'<-E there are no problems. I believe that you should encouragf:! establishments like The Edge. rather lh.n disoonr.>.ZE' them. Then an: <".ertairuy oth.er r .. asoru. kI enoo-.rrage Thz Edge: t.hl!ir pre.;.ence is a reminder that Palo .Alto is not just &; suburb of San Francisco. that there is night Me on the pcrun...-q] 1 a, that we 'Value divenity. and that we support a variety orJifestyles and interests. Further, Th~ FAice has always been regarded by m.e and many cthen; a~ 2 premier m~sic club whir:h features national as weU as local t..ahmt.. Their reputation outside of the a.rea is out-""t..and:mg and ke.=ps our city in the music indr..stry spotlight. 1, liKe many. b€-lit'~'e that Palo Alto shoUi-d Dot be solelY hmited to being home to.a world da!lS univen;ity, a ~at shoppirq cenl£~. and good re5taur.a~t.$~ Therefore, I respet.1fuH,. rec:!uest you to do e,'e-rything in YO\Jl' power to preser."e this "important vart of cur community by .anOw1ng The Edg,. to remain open until 4:00 AM. IX: Chief Christopher Durkin. Palo Alto Poljce O€-pt. Jar:ek Rosiclo, General Man.ag>;:r, The Edge . :.- 'Ii!i_l~as • : _______ _ . , \-. .... I _ ~ , Keeble & Shuchat Photography Nortnern Ca!iiorn:a's Premier Came~ Store Nancy Lytle Zoning Admisistrator City of Palo Alto 250 Hamilton Ave. P.O. Box 10250 Palo Alto, CA 94303-0862 November 24, 1992 Dear ~ancy, Once again 1 take typewriter in band to write a letter regarding Tbe Edge. As their closest neigbbo:r I am perhaps most affe~ted by their business. To date The Edge has demonstrated to me a true concern for tbeir past sins. They a~e currently doing an excellent job of both patroling and cleaning t~e area. It is unfortuaate that it took so long for them to realiz,p' wha.t had to be dODe to be good neighbcrs. How ever, nO'N that they know what bas to be done they are doing a good job. As the management cf The Edge is currently keeping a good control over traffic, noise, trash, and other related problems I would suggest that they be allowed to keep their current busjness hours for the next four months and during that time have The City monitor "the acti\.'ity in the area. 1f complaints are do' .. ·n to a rn:cin:'..l!D after the four IT",ont~ period tben Toe Ed~e bas done their job. If not, come <!O~'O bard on them, reduce tbeir hours and enforce all means to see that they stay :n line. I do not believe that the previous will be necessary. As I have mentioned in past l~tters if I can be of further help please call. /- --.:-----: --:" -"-. \\' l D,,;',-'_ 0 C I'l'l OF I wculd like to go on recon::l !lupporti.. ..... g the Edge d".:J,·:e club"s a.bility to su.y open until4'am. The Edge provides c..JiSmia Avenue...vith a. needed influx of people W"h., then become familiar with th~ other places cfbuslness in the ne:g'hborhood. Be!-AlISie most of the Edge's neighbors are smaller ope.-atlons, we don't advertise-\fe-I)' much. But the Edge ~, and th~by aids in the positioning-ofCalifomia A-.'CnL'e in peoples' minds as a. p~ to do business, eat shop, and have fun. I 6ve n~ ..... er had a problem having the ~ as _ neighbor, and I don't reo why _ healthy busine.s should be t"eStricted without compelling reasons -especially when mage-remictions would 1-.ave an adverse effect on other businesses in the area. Thank you for considering my opinion, and please understand I believe the Edge is an asset and den't want to see it forced to dose as a. resu.lr of unfounded poli~y revisions. To whom it may concern: 1 recently found cut the City is planning tr) Iir"it the operating hours of the ~ ru.nce club 2.t 260 California. Avenue - I feel this is an unfair a..-,d potenri.illy hannfu! effort As a 'business n~ishbor, the Edge has never caused us: a.."l)' probiems; not by the hours they keep. not by thei: clientel~. not by an)1:hing. I feel the Edge has been an asset having California Avenue popula.ted at night makes it less pr'One to \randa1i.sm and other ill~gaJ activities, als.J Ll"e Edge spends a. good deal of money on advertising and brings large groups of people to California A .. venue pro .... iding all the businesses here with gTeater ViS1bility, if roOt a few extra. casto rn~rs besides. In fuet, at Round Table, we ~_nn .... · a 3iginhcant p:>rtion of ou!" evening buiness i::; from peop'e leaving or ~ to the Edge .. I would hate to see the ~'e go out ofbusine'iS because of the City's unwillingness to let them relJlA,m open for the hours the.'!,' always ha,ve been. I would also hate to suHer any impa.d a. Ic.ss ofbusine~ to the FA~e would hav-e on the interdependent business community of California Avenue. Thank you ver:,.. much for coru.idering JJ\y opinion. ---'-'.'_ .. ' y,-f (~(. +.~ /,,-({.." '--t I tb Mr. Gary Fa~z1no Hayer. Palo Alt,~ 250 Hamilton Ave. Palo Altc. CA 94301 Dear Mr. Fazzino: Bruce Grirrles 749 Moreno Ave. Palo Alto~ CA 9~30J (~15) 322-7674 rmEC~~t1f:[D) Lr~ ~,. f' 1992 DEPAFlT,'\.IENT OF PLAN~J1NG CllY OF PALO ALTO A.oJ a Pale:> Alto resident, I'm ....... :are of the controversy and coac,=rn generated by a fey fe110w residents~ regarding the establishment, The Edge. Apparently~ some neighbors have expressec! conte;-n abo·olt both the noise and securi'ty issues in relation to the night club. As <1 tomer conr-ert producer and ongoi:'lg mus1c patron (of O\~er 30 years!). lid like to mention just a few reasonS why I feel The Edge provides a valuable community ser~ice. Same years ago, I watched as a small minority of rEsidents bounded The Varsity Theaterls former management into ah~ndo~ing weekend evening con~ert6. This zeal was, I feel. misplaced. Instead of rea.lizing the benef.i.cs of providing a "CotIll:r..mity ;ceater" for young .ad~lts, a feW' people mz.naged to ruin vhC'.t was a pleasant experience for people of all ages. There was a mix of teenage~s, COllege age adults, and people of any age who simply enjoy~d a festive atmosphere. Today, The Edge is the clos~st venue to wbat The Varsity respresented. Security at the club has been increased, noise ~ram the room is barely noticeable. and management is responsive to the patrons. So responsible, in fact, that they pTcvide cc!fce .,md food, 015'" that anyone leaving can deFart in an alett~ capable manner. This concern insures the s2fety of those that choose to take advantage of management's generosity. Finally, businesses in the ~rea, such as Printer's Ink and Antonio's Restaurant. ar~ benefited greatly by the number of patrons that !t.e Edge drays. I would encourage you to look to ways to work ;.,·ith The Edg~. KEeping 5::1 .. 11 businesses alive adds to the rich diversity thet ... ·e kno;.,· as Pa~o Alto. The Edge is a partnEor in that mix. Please let me knm.· of any upccming meEting regardir'g "-ne Edge. su-:,.h 2S z;:..ning, or any c~ttee that might need a participant to ana.lyze watters related ttl The Edge. Thanks again for your attention to th= matter. CC~ Nancy Lyt!c-Zoning Administrator Chief Christopr,er Durk:in-Police chief , • I f-J City of Palo A1 to Palo Alto, california -/ September 10, 1992 A~ten~ioo: Zoning Committee (~anc~ Lytle) Subject: The Edg~ Nigh~ Club At various times we h3ve had meetings re!i;B.rdirlg the noise level in regards to the above mentioned club; al~o throwing trash around the neighborhood and dest"!:oyiug p::operty in the surround!ng area. No doubt there will be ~ lot of teenagers at this meeting, expressing th'2ir opinions in regards to tne."Edgt:: Night Club", but since they are not tax-payers, we feel they shou1d Dot have the final say on this subject. Hopefully this matte~ can be resol ed by the Zoning Committee. • It is our opinion~ the club should be c!osed no later than 1:00 a.m. each night. 'iI'e &1::;0 ques~ioc the serving cf alcoholic beve!'a.!;!es without Clffe!'ing meals? (and this is root to be pizza), since the Edge i~ not a bonafide resturan~. We feel it should be the I'psponsibJl:i.ty of the Zcntng Committee tc check with the S EetE of California Alcohol Board r..-, see if the Edge is ~pe!'ating within the law of Cali£c;.rnia.. Yours truly. Codoic C1IitI ,l6i; '""'""_ P~Abo,CA~ no. ~.OlIioo""""olo Abo C~~ 250~""" 1010&110, CA~ ~ ~©~ liV;2 r~ SEP 1 Ol99Z lliI '" ~., da!iinc, r ___ tht ..b;tct"S.a.t...sandlonoo>1!wrifyov ,""",,~., ......... _, yovtillllO'l' _ .... ~01 .. ___ . D'"*'"e"'inthtllome, aldif_~_, 1!My-cMne-~ "'tht .... ., __ n.. cIovtt ol~ .. """""",lIoc!by tht ...... ., dori, .... ....... ~,. __ ir (F<n ... ~,r .... you.,tht~ "",.,Jdmoor.) _y .. "WcIof ... fIOT..&ctodby" jWII&ti·tt,""OO" to.. -. '" oldtr. for.=«><".....p. ofolw,-",_ ,.,.._~ looCno '-'!.uti..., ,...-. 1"'-.ft01.~orl!oo""",. lff~oo....ioomththNor.n ~.,..d~, ""<I..u", btcome....,..,ionUa. "'-in PAlo Alto. Yo:, ~lhey_no~~_J.._, _, ___ ,,"""""'" ~i:rnouf.I~~.nct.~~H~. ~~ C':OllCt"lSS1ic~o( ."...,...,.... ._~ ... in Palo &110, ,_"""""""¥_""",,",,,,*,~., • .......r_IM __ tht .. ~'t.aoc_ .... J. ~on the _oildct ___ ioom Polo Abo, tht _of ...... inhlo &bo9ill ..... IirIot ""'";. "" _do<~ "'_ ...... , ~.,..,'" .... ~ aid ~dooo&cfhlo Alto, ~ in ytcdf~., -'"'hini:'" ........ "" _oftht £dr.. n.. _010&-<n<!o&..lod ... icIom.9iII...."..... 2. 1'-~ wm"-_ orftC..-y. no;, Itods"..., _. cm., "-"",,,,' oillbo "'OR 0&" ... 10 1he """""""l. !W,'-~..n.-.!""" _', COol i ~ ~10 me offt.n,e ~ pIf'!ie1 ~_ W me-a:!d.1batC"l'l:t'l S~*' notable Ie _ll>itj:lobH ,. S.".,.,.,.ptt;«_Iw~, poliu~..nha-.. tobt_d r.n_, __ ..n ""'ha ... fttUlu~, '-''''''''''""''' .. ..n_ to bt ·"....loeoriftt-_ '" ¥' , ~ ." '" , ~ -v --rL ,-'" · -, ri ;-, ".:. . ~ '.> Cl fO: Of 1.: ...... ~.:~ ~:,' 'i: ~, .;, • ; ' 1179 Noel Drive ~o Park, CA 94025 .;. - Mombcn of !he Palo AIm OIJl ~l ;. '.-• 230 Hamilton Avenue Palo Aho, CA 94306 03 S<p!ember 1992 ·.t t1r"! 1\~E: OffiCI: Of THE cnr ~AAAW/ I am writing in .. sponse 10 the proposed limitatioo of hours.! ''';''g of d,e The Edge Nightclub in Palo AlII). I am very much against this 2Ction because I feel that The Edge is • :;rut "'''', to !he PaID Aho c:ommunllJl. Bcause the Edge is localtd so close 10 where Illve, I DO longer have to drive 30 mile. 10 San Fnu>cisco in <mler 10 hear th' latesl in m !lSic, see the mDS! inoo'''Dve bands (many of which oppcar exclusivcl~ 31 the Edge and do DOl play .. ,~here else in the Bay Aru), or just "/w>: ""," afIel' hour5 in a safe environment with friends. One of the ma51 positive aspects about !he E<iF ;, Ih.al people are people~. There is no "black or wbicc", there Is no "rich a poor". ~ ,. n, "smligbt ... gay". there is DO hostililJl Ulwanls anyone differen, or unusulll. On any giYCO nigh:, you can socialize with people of different races, col"", creeds, and abilities. (l say this because r had • Yt:ry enjoyable evening there DOl to long ago where I dIncod half the night with. ve-:banning man who ha~ 10 be in • wheel chair.) The Edge is a p1Bce where everyooc:.. omique, aM • lIUly belie .. 1h.al DO! many "nightlife-orienlCd" establishments in this oommunil)l can say the' ;ba~ the Edge's prol!'"SsiVl:, "90'," attitude. As I member of the Am Commission fer the OIJl of Menlo Park. I applaud !be Edge for providing. pIac" for music.1 anIsJs and pattoru ID fn:ely express themselves. If you go to !he Edge on any given nigh~ by 9:3ll you will see aline streU:hing OIl! the door of people who "'" wairing 10 get into the club. Vou will .eo • privaIC ...",,-it)' company Palrolling the aide _ making sun: that patrons park qui<ldy &nd quiClly. In addition, you will also see membcn of The Edge', securilJl staff .. alking IIro\llld the block and through the side =ts making sure Ih.al patrons get 10 and from the cub safely, and also ins",;r" that po""", soci2Ii2:e in the club, and DOl outside. Upon le.aving:he club, I bave witnessed the <..igo'. securilJl staff P;.cking up titter not O<'Jy from Illeir own parlrirlg lo!, but also i'rom neighboring privale and cilJl lots, and througholl! Ille side streets . .,liben you e,1eT t'u: club, there is an instanl feeling cf safelJl bec>wse abo~t every 10 feet through! Ill. club, !hero is an e_ present securilJl guard. The" S<:CUri1Jl guards communicate with ""'" OL'Ier throu~ expensive radio bead.sets and wallcie-talldes which ruIly""" to me IllBl the owners and managm are very concerned aboul the wcl{"", of their clialll:1e, In one past four year> tru.l I have.ttended tho Edge, I C3l'1 remember seeing. serious al1<:rl:>llioo ODly ~ lime. The Edge provide5 • positive and peacduI BIm'>Sphere where people do not haw; 10 WOII)' about their personal safelJl. Limiting the Edge·s bours of operation would be a serious economic blow that wowd no doubt elleDtually fora: th Edge to cease o;oerarion.. This is a blatant effort on the pan of a few disgruntle.:! reside~" . to m.arupwate ECge inlo closing_ I have been a patron of the cstablis!lment located II 260 Cali.oumia A .... enue c' mce it was the Kf:yslOllC Palo Alto_ 1 was also a patron when u was called the \brt.e:lt. and. -ill' I go to the Edge. One of the most unique aspects of the Edge. which sets i .ijW1 from other bars a clubs in Lie area is tru.1 it is open "afccr 00=." I like knOwing that if some fricnd5 and I go oul to • la~ dinner or movie and don't fee \ like goi"g home, we can a.J.ways go to the Edge when: we k .. ,lOw we will have an enjoyable time. J know people who CommuCC from as far north as Marin and from as far south as Monterey to go 10 the Edge. If --. --"l~>":!III:.L~.ii ..•..• "III_IIi"iliil.,,,,.· ........ -.. " .... 'ettif ; ..; :~~tc - -2- the Ed", wm '" close, we wculd be losing LO establishmenl chat very positively contributes in our community, and thaI would be quite unfortll""t.e, Ftnl it', the Shorelioe in Moontain View, and now this? It', ~y ridiculous. In my opinion th.", n:sidents need 10 loam how 10 live as a pan fill community, whett tommmunity means !'C'FCling the divcrsilJl of your neighbors ar.d IOIDCIimcs saaificin¥ for the betIer of the group, The Ed", has Aln:.ady proven thaI they lITO n:spectfuI of their neIghbors, and tltey have sacri.'lced more than enough. Wha! mae can ~y do? Nor !DO long ago, I remember reading an article ill ~ Palo AIm IiIIlc1 thet sung the pr-.ises of the Edge. It seems '" me thai the numl>eT of Pale A1<aru who want the Ed",10 Ilmillheir Itoor. an<lIor close -lf08%Iy oomurnhered by the people who vlcw the Edge as I ;=in ve establishment uniq uc 10 the canmunity that should be allowed 10 remain open, bllsiJless as usual. I hope that O3l:h and every one fIl you wi!! have the chance 10 e1tpOrience the Edge, then I am sure you will feel the same way I do. ThMl< you for)'OCT consideration iT. this maner. I wil! be .t ~ hearing OIl September 10th 10 voi<:e my orini<><L Be .. Regards, ,.jrJ',. ,',-,"1'..",' ~~'--.. ~;,1,.J...~1 ;,~'jl+1.'i~\..... SIlOranl. A.P. Pompolli , Arts C"""nissioo The City (){ Menlo Part ceo The Edge Mmagemeru . ->" ", ~"."',. '. , . -' , .. ----'~ .. ~.,-- ., · September 8~ 1992 Ms. Nancy Lytle Departll'.ent of Planning B:rld Ccm~un1ty Develop~ent City of P~lo Alto 250 Hamilton Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94303 ~~~~:~:~tID DEPAA1 MfNT OF PLANNiNG CITI'OF PALO ALTO 7.k~ c:Ui.",:"':=:: Re: Thfl Edge ?PO C~lifQrnia Aye. ~ar Ms. Lytle: A Dumber of Palo Alto's residents h~ve raised concerns regarding the negative impact that ':'he Edge has had on the quality of life for this ralo Alto neighborhood. The police report Qa~ed July 11 1992 stated that the club has caused -e 6u~5tantial number of peripheral disturbances requiring Police atter.tion, '" Those problems have inclu~ed tiqhtB, noise, van~aliam/burglari&s~ urinating in public, minors drlnkifiq alcohol, trash left behinj, II'peeding \.""ehieles. narcotic use, persona drunk in public. and destruction of privat9 property. ~any of these problems have continued after your bearing on AU~uBt 20. 1992. At the next hearing scheduled tor Septe!l",bex ~Ol 19~2i we understand that The Edge has enoouraged all patrons, most of whom are not Falo Alto reG1dent6~ to support its position. As an alternative to having The Edge close down~ we would recommend the following steps be taken on a 3 month trial basis: 1. The clc~ clo~e at 1:00 A.~. 2. Serviog of alcohol end one hour before closing. This will result in a more qradu~l flow of patrons leaving; instead of the existing maS6 exod~s. This requirement was imposed on e club by the City of Capitola due to Ei~ilar problems. 3. RedLlce the occupancy lev'!'l inside the building to ~OO. 4. Limit the nuwber of patrons waiting out5ide. 5. Restrict p~rking in the Evergreen Park area, af~er 10:00 P.M., to only re6ident6 and their quests. 6. I:lalst on full compliance ....,i th the.ir type 47 liquor license whiCh requires a -hona fide eating place-under Section 23038 of ttlO BUSiness and Professions Code. They are currently in \ ! Ms. Nancy Lytle September 6, 1992 Page; :2 23038 of the Busine6S and Professions Code. They are c~rrently in violation of this. A neighbor 'went there just to eat, and \o."a.; told that he couldn't. When th~ nei9hbor protested that ~o~ can this be a restaurant if you don't serve food. then they eventually got a key to let the neighbor in a locked back door to serVQ A 5~all piece of pi~!$. So much for a -bona fide eating place." 7. Responsible guards and eleen-up crews to be required. A popular !leigb.borhood bench at the corner of College and Birch. used regularly at night :by Edge employees and patron.:;. vas recently defaced overnight with graffiti. including -All NiggeT.$ must die. ~KK is on the way,· It was so offensive that it has been sanded oif. If The Edge is unfait.hful in complying wi-t::h the aooYf!. or if full oompliance aoes not remedy the neighbor disturbances, then we recommend that The Edge be closed cown. Very truly yours, CC~ Pa10 Alto City Council Alcohol Beverage Control Palo Alto Police Department &J'!"il1lx'r 6,1992 Nancy L)'tl< PIanni,S _t"nor OtyofP31o Alto Palo AI"" CaliIoml! 9i.103 / i lI.'4nlfd to send a qukk note to IOfbw up on sevcr.t! issues from the excellent hearir.g of August 20th m"..:errJng the :Edge:. rlfSl,! md otheB were roocemed about the statement that -everyone "'''3n~ !O keep the Edge" you ntlde .at the ccndusion ofl~ bearing. We ",,'Quid like 10 ha~'e the Edge remalnprozided that the noL<;e and oUt'TlSSues onbe soM:d In a satisfactory my. II tJtis ~ not po5Sible, the Edge should be dosed and reJcated 10 a ITIO!'e suitabk place, I worry aOOut a compromise solution tf.rJt keeps us .a~~e only Julf the nij: hI! Second, I will 1'101 be able to anend the ~1..ing Dext week to discuss \WOOS OpliOilS rut please do not interprt't my.absence as a sign !ta! the ooise and other dlstunr.wces have diminished. mey ha~'en"t! Even wim the security, "'" are still !fgtilirfy , .. ke."led "ill hours b). people parking along California Avenue and Park Avenue.as Mil as people meanderi!:lJ through the neighbomood at all bours. The serur!ty personnel den't seem able 10 prevent people from yelliq; & sc",,"ming In DC!, lor y.our reference, the people from the Edge have not made anr ltU'iTIpt since ti-!e meetlr.g to lmpnl'.'e :.he siruation, f'llt written them another letter ~pbin:ing some of these issues. See enclased. Thanks lor yow help in this matter and I look "rv."aId 10. speedy. resclution. S!Adl/~ m Califomil A~ [).400 Palo AI"" Califom;, 94306 \ Map of California Avenue L~ 0 !. :;, 0 ~ " Ii > < CD 1l © -----.~ Park Blvd@ I Birch hI> Edge~ -«« --«« -«« = '''''''''-'''''-, ... , ;PaIO All" .. Central .@ : Moille • Slone's .. Park Blvd Apartments I 0 ., 3 cr ~ Q. fC CD f , SeJ"emt.!r6, 1992 Ydpi:ki The Edge 260 Calibr..ia A','r:nt>e PWAlIO, (.alii 9{J(Xj FoIbMng uP"" the h<4ring 01 AugustlOth, r W3l1<W to fIlS' 'hog mythoughrs why the ste!" the E41e!",:ake" 10 IirJitruise and distwba. ... ces ha,II! fuJlen slJOlt 1 !mo~ .. tklt J'OU 'MJuld like 10 Voork:outa go:x::l soIuoon S;) ~tIk'.hr~ith sane cbseMtions. r", inckJded a rmp 01 the are;; 10 help eJ<jlbin "'f=n~ I\>JpIe ~ In the'""" amun:! poinlS A, B, C, ~1d D,,,, the so""", of = of the llCOe around"'f buil:lil11, &\ge patron< espedally ""10 pllk in the p.JbIic f'L<1<ir.g lot at poim B 1rciUS<' the",', gro,J acres> through the easement to the &lge and beaus< the parlOng lot l< I"'ny d"k & pm,te The tnlf" IIow Je.ds rome problem> Pea"" coming up Oregoo ~from Highw.r/ 101 enteethe ne~hlxJr!Jooj tr oomi~ acn:& BirdJ. As a result k's easy for people to = the '1!'" ;mkil11, lot without coming into oonl:lCt 'ith E41e persooncl Other people wnr in Iiom Pari< Blvd ~t"' a siroiilr restlk Currendy, ~ have .securttypeoollIlt'.lstltiontci at the inteLSe.."f.!ca.'i ofCa1OOmia& &rch as we.l! as 1~l1fO{rW & Park E= with these)l<'llJe inp!ao; pitron\ still regularfy park in tOe public;mkil11, blat pointB and iliq; (.,likJ;nla A,enue "l'oinlS elf D. PoopIcallo park in the Mollie Stone's p300ng bt The single refSOll sti1luned alCaliJOmil & !'ark",,', begin!D P""'I'll""'Ple from pukir.g In all of these areas. At a nWlimum, l"" """Ij need to ha," an ,.xJiOOnal oxu.';~ perron in the "II' fO!'o<irIllot and prOCeblyanotherone" the comer ,,'1Iirrh & Shemnn_ Ir,aIso in'.jU13r.11O keep people from parkiJ11, abl\l Cailfomia ~"'nue Iiom the E41e oo..n to Pari<BM! and tie CaITrain """"-We'", been .. ....,ned mill)" time; !;j' prop;.: -,..nor" !:ock" the em; parked c, this area. Your seOO~ peoonnel do IXX SlOp people from;mkil11, in this =a ar the presenlllme. N::x!. to Mollie &ones is a pair of putiJc Ie1ephones. Alm:lst every n:ght, SO~ of ~ur pitroIlS w:lIrlfrOOv.n hDm me ~ to use ll-jc phone, Sorretin:es, these follcs erIc! up making kns of noise if; the pro:es5, I don't icnov.' ",tJJt'5 tQ be """.rout this but ifs delll"te~, a sourre of problem:;. r <Ion'! koowwhether thldnimrooon ,ill help l"" in Ixinging the no", problorm llilderconlIC,j but I figUJ8j [was worth tl!e eh SlfV< Goldbetg 1 L7 Call.&Jrnia A~nue #D400 l'aJo Alto, California 94J()i . ,. • --~ . --.". " -'>"-' . :_:~~~:.c -;,-.,' -- .~ -. 120 East Creek Drive #8 Menlo Park, CA 94025 September 3, 1992 Pole Al to City Council 250 fumilton StTeet Palo Alto, CA 94306 To \¥hom it may concern: r am writing in regards to the current situation b€h>.'een the community of Palo Alto and the Edge. It was recently brought eo my attention. that the resi&mts are trying to restrict the business hours of the Ed~. Being a Joyal patron and a l'e$pecf..able re51de..'1tt:·f h'1e Palo ..A.Jto commuruty, I felf" compelled to express mv concerns and opinions on this matter, . r am a twenty-four year ole! public accountant and native of the Menlo Park and Palo Alto area. I have been a faithful patron for over four years and have attended this establishment since it was the Vortex.. under previous management. Thus, I feel that [can attest to the Teputation and positive roll the Edge provides in our community. The Edge supplies a meeting place fO~~'K;e of various race, economical backgroundS and ages, to dance and . e. The employees of the Edge are verr mtent on guaranteeing each and every person who is at the Edge a very po<lllive, safe, and fun-filled eVening. I have personally witnessed employees ushering people to and from their automobiles, deaning any sort of debns from the area, and deterring pr ential dif;sidents. These taskS are not rare OCC'olITences but a responsibility earn employee performs in a professional manner every evening. There is no other establishment available in this area Utat off€lS this Wlique opportunity and these benefitl; to its cliental! I have watched. this establishment evolve from a mediocre, unorganized dance club; the Vortex, to a reputable upstanding night dub; the Edge. The owners have even contracted private security to direct traffic and ~!\Sure that the area is kept under control ana that no disturbanC"eS occur. Restricted hours are just not necc.c.:;sar:r f [n these times of teen drug abuse, crime, a.rid escalated .... io1eI'.c€.1 our teens and adolescents are presented with an alternative to gatherJ1g on the streets. They can go to the Edge and have an outlet for their energy that's in a safe and protecfai environment. \\fhen this vifal element is threatened, a very crucial foundation is }eopudi.zed. In dosing, [urge you to reconsider L~e current resttic!ions being proposed to the Edge. The outcome would only disrupt safe entertainment for young adults and teens and resul t in an overflow of people onto the Palo Alto community at lat€ hours. Sincerel~~ _ ~ 2MauJ~;;12 ;(';;'e S. Rudolp' r \ -:. ~ -.: ,." r,:" ~l· . -:.., t.,J·:-. ma Of THE cm MANA!:iER To the Palo Alto CilY Council Re: Ed~e hearing' 391 ((ollege Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94306 A ugu.t 24, 1992 j am writi, '0 advocate wi.hdrawing the Edge'. heense to operate a nightclub in its p, <sent locati( . on California P. Due. I have lived in an apartment baekLng ontu the parking Jot beside the Old CouDtry delicatessen on Cambridge Avenue since the Edge ",'as the l:eystone, When the Keystone and the Vortex .. 'ere in operation, patrons were sometimes -oisy .. 'hen leavin~ after midnight, but it ..... as not a consistent problem Since the Edge c ;ned, it i'as been too noisy to sleep ~everaJ nig~1.ts a week. Car alarms, shotltin&. car '5tereos, and revving engines distur::' me regularly, r have golten in the habit of closing my windOWS when r retire, o\'en in summer. Evon ."ith my "'indows closed, however, there is often too much noise to Call asleep. Placint; set:urity guard~ to direct Edge patroD5 away from side Slreet~ is of no help for anyone h\ :g on the south side of College A \'enue, s,nce the noise carries oVer. r have cons,,;!ered changing the Edge's operatmg Ileen.e to reqUlf" closure at 1:00, but given the habits of the club', patron., thai would stili mean intolerable noise umB 1:30 or 2:00. The <"cisive pOint is that a nightclub-especially one open so late dJOsn't be.,ng so close to a residential neighborhood The Edge "'ould neve:-have been sranted the license it no"""-' enjoys 1f it had applied for it, instead ':)[ 'inheriting' it. If the Varsity was required to stop l1lu~jca! entertainment that never went beyond midnight, I can't see ho",' Ihe Edge can be allo,\l,'ed to make louder, later, and less harmonious disturbar!c€5-in • residential neighborhooa 2 ) am glad there is a nightclub in PaiD Alto" and! hope the Edge's management can keep the club open, but not in the present location" Rather than Changing the club's operating hours, I encourage the Council to help Ihe Enge find. new location in a nonresidential area" Sincerely youn, ~&'~4""'--_~ ""') B:adley Rubidve , " -.-~~ -r. N~ r1AJM L-y-rl... ~t-l FLJ<. C'TY ftALL ZON iNc A5JMJI'{. ~. -~ .: .-, ~ .... , \ . . - --:. ~ :': . Jl &.I~ xL, ~ k. c-1~ ~ ~4 ('itII'7J~2-) ,"" ~o'fL ~ S_~"""--MHO<.Pj o-.Q ~1k \)11(.; ~ll! l.)~£.I' . ~ \Ct...~'-" . sFo August 19,1002 Dear City of Pale Alto: I am writing to offer my commE~ts about lhe E~ge, the club on California Avenue which I understend will b~ discussed at a public hearins tomorro~_ As ?OU will see from my address below, I live just two blocks away from Tbe Edge. I feel that the presence of this establishment is inappropriate so near a residential neighbo~hood. The thing I like the least about this club is the noise, particularly the loud and persistent bass whict I often hear late at night. r think the City has a responsibilitJ to ensure that neighborhoods are quiet. Residents should not have to lay awake Bt night listening to tb€ boom-boom-b~om of music, often extendins well past midnight. Further, the c2ub'~ presence is associated vith loud end ro~dy beha~ior: often h~ar het cars beinR driven up and do~n tbe strp~ts and loud voices late at night. I, the morning, I often see beer bottles littering the side~8lks in my neighborhood. ~hat are my recommendations? The obvioos solution is to move the club somewhere where it vill not bother nearby resl!!ents. S~ort oE thzt. t~~ ~ '~ic s';ould be turne!! dcw~ a~d/or Further, personnel (either fro~ the club Dr the City) should be on hand nightly to enforce quiet behavior from the cl~b'~ guests. Sincerelv-, <Z,,-<-,'I?7-~-. 7CZ--f-:W' ,-'-. -~ o ..... 7 ~ r'fj--- Steve Rutledse 334 College Ave. #E Falo Alto. CA 94306 • • \ Keeble & Shuchat Photography 290 CAURJRi\lA AVENn' PO. 80:-.: 61060 • PALQ ALi'Q, C"L!FOf(~1," 94306-ICW. TELEPHOSI:. (4l5) 3~1-8996 • f,,', (4t5) 3.:!i''-{'.:!Jl lIIr. Joe Colonna Planning Department Fifth Floor City of Palo Alto 250 Hamilton Ave. P.O. Box 19250 Palo Alto, CA 94303-0862 August 21, 1992 Dear Joe, I attended the Edge Revocation Hearing on August 20, 1992 and the end of the meeting we were asked to write with our own suggestions for improving conditions in regard to the Edge and its neigbbors, As I stated at tbe meeting my concernS are the mess and .. ~andalism the exist due to the operation of the Edge. Tbe noise problem is not a factor to me as my propertjes are not occoupied at night. The properties that I O~ are located at 290, 220, 230,' and 261 California Ave. Tbe property at 261 California is across the street from the Edge and! have had tbe least uumber of problems at that building. On several monrings 1 have had new graf.fjti paiDted on the building. The problems are much different at 290, 220, and 230. At 290 I find bottles and barf plus a geoeral mess OD the days that the Edge does Dot provide clean-up, The biggest problem is at 220 Bod 230 California Ave Those tfB'C bui ldings have a beaut i ful landscaped c;ourt yard betv.'eeu them along wi tb stairways and out door carpet. After a business evening at the Edge I .... 'ill receive at least on call about tbe beavy urine smell in the area. I also have to go over there in the mornings and pick up trash and bottles. As I st&ted at yesterdays meeting on toe days teat the Edge clear.s up the a~ea the mess is picked ~p. They bave effered to wash the urine away once a week but wbat do I do the other-six aa>'s in the week. Now tor my suggestions: 1. Have additional security guards pat~ol the ar~a and ask people to leave buildings they are found in. 2. Insist that the Edge provide clean up after e?c~ ~ight of bUsiness regardless of the number of patrons at a show~ 3. Reduce the operating hours of the Edge to get th~ir patrons out of the California Ave. Area earlier. I would rather see everyone leave at one time tbac. bave teem 1ilter out a few at a time over several tlOUl"S. 4. gave The City Or local O':.lsiness people and residents monitor the area to see that the Edge lives up to the conditioDS placed 00 them. The managers of tbe Edge have been "'€;ry cooperative with me 1i.nd would like to eliminatE their present problems. I believe that 'With their help and with ~y suggestions that ~bey could become a compatable neighbor. Ii I can be of aDY further help please call. Yours truly ~ 'Terry Shucbat 11'3 StOC'e -3-2.7·6:!3l f -:.: i tt1udge TUTsn~IProducts (formerly APPLIED i) 200 califomia Allen'Je t #212 Palo Alto, C'.aIifomia S430S August 1d, 1992 The Polo A.l.to JI'lwn1cloal 2o"llng Adrn.1nistrt;;tO'r ':O'I,mcll Corlftlrenc@ FiO'O'm, 2Sl!! Hamil to'..-, Avenue, Palo Alto, CA Gentlemen: (415) 325-4-900 AS a busine~s~n on California A~enue I recei~eu c notice of public heorin£;, opper-ently ::'n regard to the ."11ght club, "Tt1e Edge." I k:no .... theffi only os 0 bus:.ness neighbO'r do....n the block. But I I1O've been rat"e", favO'r-cbly impres:>ed 'or'it" the young people .... rlo attend those affO'irs. From my advance c~e, r look on t~em os rather qUaint young 2a ye~r olds. And not much dlfferent, reelly, from the time my gener-otion was 2' yeais old. The gIrls ~&ar trle hhortest sklr-ts possible, ~ut really too timid to' actuoU,· be fc,-...,ord in r-espect to' their interest: BOYS, The ~oung men are mostly dre~sed in the1~ gener-otion's "Sunday's Best .. ThiS seems to include any casual dress, including oddly '3'nough, what we used to cell. "zO'ot st.:lts." TMl?y, of CCllr~e, ere '!ookir.g for-GIRL.S, but awkwcrd, a bit bashful, and I expect reinfo;cing eoch ot~er ~lt~ t~e wildest fa~tasy of ....not to expect. I ofter. work e~enings cn~ see t~em da~n the olley. (~hen there is Q ~lting line, tney form toward the olley oway from California Avenue c"d intO' tl":e pori<1f'!g lot there.) Later, and somet1mes before, tl'ley come over to our ste;:o~ and hove 0 clandestine bee:-. And I wi~r. they' would cleo" up theIr" own mess. (10m s-..re I never did' enyttl!ng like trlot when I was 2a s~e~) Often I find brown sacks end a beei can or t~o. I give the gorboge a toss into t~e dumpstei and the be~r cons olong 6ide of the dumpster-far-'Some do .... r.-et'1d-aut~r to pi;:~ up fa; the deposit. Sy ontl Itu"ge The Edge Sl3'(>ms to pel"'forr:'l-c uS'eful ~c,-:,el runctlon fOr" our young peuple Goodness kn~ ou~ notion is not doing 0 d----t~jng for aul'" next Qeneration. Tco broke from cuttlOg taxes O~ fet cats and bU':,Iing gcudy milit{lry toys. I have seen notnirlg O'f {lny r-eol tr-ouble oreutH1 The Edge. I did go in onf;! 'time. rt>~ music 'W'ClS terribl'l lcud. Buy yo'.! 0..-1 don't t10ve T,e go in, and the nnise see~s to be well confined to the bUildlng. rarely ~C(!r anything from the outSide. I !"Io~{! tner-e is no int.er.tio,'l of sh,.tt:!"lg t~~ down O'r needlessl'>, curto:i.ling T.,he octi~it1es of thl-:i pIece, I suggest you tr-ec.t them nicely. /! , -:;.-It/>}. /J<.--,-lNol ter Reynolds " , : August 13, 1992 The Planning Department City of Palo AOO Civic Ccruer ~!lith &or 2;0 Hamilrnn AYC:IWe Palo Alto, CA Mark C, Sicel." 322 A ('\lllcge ",·.~nue Palo Alto, C' A 9H06 1 J1X'icved a IJCtia: ofpubiic hearing 011 the modification or re'\'oca1lun of Conditional Use Permit 73 ·tJP· 3>S fur The F<I8< Though I do IlOl ""'"' tho dcI&ils reganfulg Ibe """""" of this hearl". and """"" ancnd the puNic bearin&. I did ""'3llt 10 express in writing my support for The Edge-. They p1'(J\'ide I De<eSSIZY faoiIity roc y<JmIl! people 10 go, _ and baY< fun. As you "'" "'" by "'Y adn:ss, I live quite close m The Edge and have De'Vtt ~;my problems aim noise.. parlci.Dg O'r the customcu 1 hope tOOt The Edge's IlSt perntit is DOt iDjeaponly· it. is a good addition 10 the oeigbborilood and f "'an! to see it remain open for dmcing. Clltertainmen! and the on ~te COD-'mIIlption of bquor, beer aOO wine SiPccreI)" <Z77~? Ma1k C Nicely , .' • Keeble & Shuchat Photography Nancy Lytle Zoning Adminsitrator City of Palo Alto 250 Hamilton Ave. P.O. Box 10250 Palo Alto, CA 94303-0862 . August 11, 199:;;: Dear Nancy, I am writing in regard to your Re,racation Hearing on August 20, 1992 for use permit 73-UP-36 for The Edge. I own property at 290~ 220, 230, a~d 261 California Avenue. I am quite concerned by tbe outcome of your meeting as my property is on botb sides of The Edge and accross the streei from The Edge. Due to 3 busineS6 conflict I will not be able to atteb~ the meeting. I have had numerous conversations with Jacek Rosicki, General Manager of The Edge" He is very concerned ____ _ with the probh:ClS created by his busi'O.ess and has taken a number of steps tC' trj.~ to eliminate the day to da.y problems associated witb his bu&iness. As aware as he is with tb& proble~s end with all the steps be has taken to eliminate the problems many of them still exist. The patron,s of The Edge must come from th.e ent i re bay area as they are a very different group than those who frequent the area by day. I firmly believe tbat his patrons not ooly do not have direct ties to Palo Alto, but that they bave little interest in our business area in regard to tbe condition they leave it in after attending a concert at The Edge. At my buildings at 220 and 230 California Ave, my tenants have often complained of a heavy urine smell in the plantings and halll,l,'ays the morning after a concert. ,. - '\ ,-:. -:~) Jacek has offered to wash the exterior carpets and planting once a week but that doesn't do a great deal of g00d for the other six days of tbe \1:eek. It alsc is not uncommon to find places on th:e side' .. 'a::ks and by the corners of my buildings 1I,'!:Jere patrons bave gott~o sick from too macy beers or drinks. Again Jacek does his best to have bis janitors clean up the mess but it is bard to get up all of it. On the plus side of having The Edge as a neighbor 1s that they do not operate during our re~ulgr business hours aDd therefore do not add to tbe parking shortage in the area. At this time it might be b_est tor The City to give Jacek an opport~~ity to cont!nue to demonstrate that he is willing to keep the area clean aDd patrol the area during the concerts. 1f you like I -"'ould be willing to keep in contact with your office and report to you on th~ job 1 felt he was doing in regard to the area cleauing. Perhaps by reducing the number of hOUTS in the evening that he is opeD would help get the patrons out of the area before tbpy had to'J much to drink. This wo ... ld also keep tbe late hour DOJSe down as WE-II as giving his patrons fewer bours to litter our streets. If I can be of further help in solving some of the problems with The Edge please feel free to call. Yours tr1J.ly. Terry Sbuchat Nancy ~6ddo~ Lytl~ Zoning Administr~tor 250 H.Mi]ton Av~nue Palo Alto, Ca 94103-0962 £lea ... Ms. Lytl e, HOTEL CALIFORNIA July 3J, 1992 Subject: Complaints on the opeyation of T~e Edge A5 the owner of t~e Hotel California located in the Calilo"'"i. A'/enue bu.siness area, J would like to voicE' my complaints conce ... ning the ope .. ation of the nightclub, the Ed;~, over the past f~~ ye.ys. Th~ most bQthe~.ome problem c.used by this business establishment i~ the high level of noise and yo~dy behavior from tne patrons leaving The Edge in the middle of the nioht~ I h.v~ received numerous complaints from various hotel guests about being .~~kened by ye11in9 and traffic noise. nany of our guests are here on business and do not appyeciate not g~tting a full night's sleep before attendln~ to their bUSiness matters the ne.t morning. My business has c~rtainly suffered from this un.cce~t&ble $ituation. A second lfl.jOT problem that I 've endl.i"ed ove'" the years is vandaltsm4 The A~nings of the buildin; were set o~ fire .bout 5ix years ago (before the niohtclub ~.& ~no~n as MThe £dg.~). ih~ incident occurred around 2 AM when patrons were leaving the club. The ~otel ~uest who fjrst saw the fire recalled he.ring the patrons outside the buildjnQ .nd then seeing fiT~ and smoke comin~ up his ~indow. ro~tunately, he ~.$ .ble to douse the fire by pouring water down the window, .ven before the fire depart~ent came. One tjme, someone decided to use the awning bars to do pull-ups which r~sulted in bending the bars. This vandalism has been an unnecessary ~dd~d e~pense to my business. -.- 2·131 ASU STRf.f.T. I'\LO ALT". C .lur, )R'Ll q~'I'Ui I'IIO'L HI513:t~-ROO\1 • J' f-cr.·. FALO Al , " .. , I.Q·.··.,-.D .. · i,'6)i HOTEL CUJFORNJ" f"in.ally, I feel that the operation 01 this bUiliiness Tefl~C"t-s: poorly on the image of this business il...-va~ I can only im_; in!! ...,hilt imp.,...essictl5 our gue'Sts, who come from all OVIE"''' the world, have when they aT&' rud'tdy awake-ned du ... jng the d.epest part of their sleep by loud noiS@ 4nd poli~e cars out5ide thei~ ~indo~s. Throu~h the p~st ~evRr.l years, this ~re. has b~en up;raded into a very ilcceptao!e 5hoppi~g and business center. Th~ oper~tfon of The EdgQ, wit~ all the noi •• , rowdiness, vandalism, etc., th.t it h~s brought to the aT.a, negatively impacts a]] the pro~ress that hil5 been ilchi.ved through the yeilrs. I understand that there will be a hearing on August 20, 1'9'92 reg.arding the operoition of The Edge. I hope t.hat I!'!)' conc~rn5 will be taken into serious consid&~ation at the hearing. Hopefully, an .cceptable solutjon to this problem can be found. Thank you for )"~ur consider.tion. J~relY:?..L- ~en ~on~ ) a~n~rr Hote! California cc; CAADA, P.O. Box 60583, Palo Alto, CA 94306 Attn: Ronna Devinc@nz i, President 2·nl ASU !)TRF.},T. P.\lO ,\ LTO, ( :\ un JK'\ I \ lH.'W~i . - .. . '. Pmp"sals for Tho Edge Steve Gohlbcrg 117 California Avenue #D·400 Palo Alto. Califol'llia 94306 Key Issues c o o c c Edge patr""~ returning to the c,m parked near Pr,lo Alto Central are frequently noisy, unruly and drunk. People yell & scream a.' they wnlk to or stand nround their cars. Loud b,,~< level music from the Edge C(U's ure raced up & down Coiifornia & Purk Avenue, cur horns bbring away. Car al"rms go off very often. Because of t~e &lge'.\ vcr)' late operating hours, toe.1e incidents extend far into the nigh! (3 cun. 00 weeknignl,/4 a.m .. weekends). Because Edgo: guests come und go throughout the night. disturbances occur throughout the night. Palo Al:o Police are generally very respons;ve t,) noise complaints but C;ln't prevent disturbances. Proposed Solutions o c Patron I::ducntion Step., ~ould be taken to help educate patrons about haying respect for the neighborhood. Signs, announcements, etc. Limit opernting hour, Operating hours .hould be mod" consistont with the hOurs of other Palo Alto bu~ine.~ses Iocnted in mixt!d comrnerci:1.1/residential are(1s. Worknights (sun·thL"') ,Ihould heve early closing hour. My recomtllenJ[l.tio1']~ 1 :30 p.rn. on week nights and 1:00 n.m. on friday/SalUtu,,)! :01 . . -. • I i Prop<Jsah ror The I';dg< • Pugc 4 o • o Restrid~d latc nisht parking Street & lot parking around Palo Alto Central could be restricted tluring the late night hour., to residents-only. For ex~mple, pcrh"ps cors WQuld h~v~ to display a special card after II p.m. To be wcce.«ful, tile r"'tri~ted urea would have to include the lower part of California Avenue, PMk Avenue, und the public parking lot off Park Avenue. Public educaticn & police enforc~rnent would be required in the carll' stage, to make this option work . Security personnel Hire security personnel to ensure patrons return quietly to their cars "od lenvo. Visibility of ooe or two security people arouna Cahforni~ & park would probably be very effective. Lowered Music volum" after II p.m. After 11 p.m.. mu~ic volmnc, shouid b<~ lowered ,uch that the mu!ic eM not be ilen,d outside the Edge building. ~Dl • june I, 1992 Wtlliam Zaner City Manager City O{P-.<lo Mo 250 Hamilton Avenue Pa.lo AlIa, Californ1194301 Dear Mr. Zaner: J am writing 10 follow up on the comments J made about the Edge at tonight's Palo AltO Town meeting. r wafl!ed to prOl;de you .. itil more spedfic commenIS about thesiruadon with the Edge and rciter:lte my frustration and ouu.ge at a situation that has been allo,,'cd to peLSist in my neJghborhood. For some time now, I and mJi neighbor; have suffered through ex<essive late-night noise coming from t~e Edge and from its guests. The Edge operates until 3 a.m_ on weekda)~ and {a.m. on the weekend (the Edge's use permit con13in.s absolutely no limit 0n their operating hoor;). k, a result we are kept awake by loud noise & other disturbances literally throughout the night Some specifics: • N Dis), guests The biggest problem is that people lea,mg the Edge at two or three in the mOrning are frequently drunk and rowdy and therefore, tend to be very noisy. They yell and sae--.m at one another as they walk back to their cars. They stand around the cars and tslk for fifteen or twenty minutes before departing. Theysit in the cars drinking beer wiG~ the o.r stereo blaring. The beef bottles more ofter. than nOl end up smashed on the street • Guests park around Palo Alto Centnll One of the major contrlWting faaor; to the problem is that many of the Edge's guest; p>rk their cars in the area im;n"ediateJy surrounding Palo Alto Centnll-e.g. ,"ong Park Avenue, California Avenue, 0( in the public p:uking lot directly across Park Ave:-!ue. So much of the noise occur> right ou [Side my "indow. • Steady Stream Because Edge guests are coming and going throughout the night, there's a steady stream 0{ disturbances and incidents. It's possible to be ",'oken up, fall baCk asleep and then woken up again later on by a dilferent group of people. \ i . I .---.~,-... -,..---"",.~.-- \,; . . . · ..... Edge Letter -Page "} , Other There':s all the typical noise a5soo~ted with Ia!-ge amour!CS of traffic coming andgoillg, Car alorms go olf ince&>andy. Car.; raceup and dOlm California Avonue & Park Avenue. C;u homs blare OUt ,t two in the morning , Loud musidrom the Edge The Edge itself" the source of much afthe nolse. Even .ith mywindo .. ~ dosed, r C"dIl often bear the music (particularly the deep bass) pounding away until 3 or 4 a.m. Palo Alto Pollce saphat the Edge, byvirtual of its U5 age permit or emeruinment occrue, has th e right to generate a certain level of a.'Ilbiem noise. Unfommately, this so-<:alled "ambient noise keeps us :!Wake" nigh~ the law or policy ,hould be changeri • Side Note As a side note, the Edge" dt.wing their crowd from ",ell heyond Palo Alto. The Edge management has lold me that many of the if patrons come from a5 far amy as Sa.1 Frandseo and SanJO$e (and they direct their advertising there as welf). So, in many respec", you have GU tsiders creating di.s(UrbJllces for Palo Alto residents. I\-e spoken to me management of the Edge ,nd L1eyagree there are problems. Theystate their desire and willingness to ",urk oura solution. But, quire frankly, the situatioo that they are cr<'2ting is Simply beyond their control lbe Edge can not conuol me actions and behavior of their guest< once LOey ha-" len their premises Moreover, the Edge is adamant aboUI keeping their late hours. Palo Alto Police should be complimented for their responsiveness to the frequent complaints about the noise coming from the Edge ","d its guests. Despite their best effc'flS, however, tie police alone GUI nor fl.,=: thl5 situation .. And, they eanlr prevent me from beir,s awakened in the first pbce. A solution ls neeJed that keeps the neighborhood qud dur'dlg the night hours. I've listed~.ral ideas wPJch, ifpu~ued, could alleviate the siruation: limit op.,ating bours First and foremos~ the City of Palo Alto should immedlatelyllmit the Edge's operating hours to sornerhin.g consistent 'Q.ith the mIxed residenrial,/commerda! make~up of the neighborhood. Th,t loe Edge is allow [0 remain open until 4 ' .. m. under a usage pennit that contains no time resmaions boggles tIle'mind. }.Il earlier closing means that diStUrba.1Ces and incidents don't e.\1end throughout the night but instead are conr.ined to reasonable hours. I believereasonahle operating hours would be 11:00 pm on I . . ~ ! .. Edge Letter· Page 3 ... orknights (StJoruy· Thursday) and 12:30 a.m on Frid:tyiSmurd,y Tnts one step would go a long IVa) to improving thesituation 0Ja~ tbe noi;e ordinance The Edge shouldn't be able 10 =te noise .. ithou[fegard to its neighbors. If the Edge's mus:cClll be heard in someone's heme .. itb the windows shu~ ilien it ought lobe a >ialation 0( the noise ordiPance. R~ /Gte night parking &reel & lot parking around Palo Allo Central cou,d be restric;ed during the late night· hours 10 residentHli1ly. Restricted parking would ameliorate the situadon by creating a 'buffer zone" around Palo Alto Central. Witb Ibis letter, r hope r have cominced you Wt a serious problem exists, r timher hope that you can help drive a speedy resolution o(these issues through the City Hall. ram more than happy to parddpate in any meeting or conversation l;at .. ill bring this situation to a successful resolution in a timel~ "'2)1. Sincerely, Steven P. Goldberg 117 California Avenue #D-400 Palo AltO, Calif. 94306 (415) 32S.5124 cc: Gary Fazzino, Mayor Palo Alto CiOj Council -"-''---- Moyor Go,"" Fozzine PolO Aile city Ccuncli 25C Hemilton Aye. P~lo Alto, CA 9430 I MeV 13, 1992 355 Col1e~e Ave Polo Alto, CA 9~306 Deor Mr. Moy~r cnd City Council members I wouT~ like to ~rlng your ott.nlion to on on-gOing Dro~lem In our neigh~0li100d thot my husbend end I heve he~ no luc~ In SOlving. We hove lIved et 355 College /wenue since June of ! 967. It is e wonderful locetlon with one exception; we e:-e right around the corner from The Edgs donce clu~. Every night when there 1118 I1hOw we ere 6ubJected to Miss ond tresh end ,ther inconsl.derete b~h~~lor. Mony petrons perl<: on our street eM we ere frequently owokened at 2 o.n" When the club lets out to the sounds of blaring cor stereol, ergu",ents end otner loud con'iers!tlons. On severel occosions we hove hed to cell the police to quiet things down. Often, the kids drink In their c~rs ~nd throw their conteiners Into our ~erd when they're through It', Decome cltuel for us to welk eround our ha,,&; the mornings ~ft6r ,dgs concerts picking uo Deir bottles ~nd c~ns and Shords of broken gless. We've even found fest food begs w1th leflo',sr meels. We'Y! spoken to The Edge menagement ebout thiS eM once or twice over the ye~rs they heye sent someone over to cleenup the cree. Somei.lmes the bene,lor Is more destruct lye or inepproprlete. A few Urnes, we heve sctuell, hOd to yel! et peepie to stop them from urlnetlng In the busr,ss outside our bedroom window. List r,lght wes ep~~rentl'~ e rowGy one. \,e woke this momlng to flM thO! e section of our fe~ce hed been knocked over end some of the picket tips w.re ~roken olf. We would eppreciote some kind of letlan from the ci ty. Perheps e petrOi cer could be sent to thi eree to si tot the intersecl10n when concerts let out to mike sure everyone leevss ~uletiy. We're not eSklng thot The Ecge ~e Shut d~wn, but we feel somethl~g must be dDne to protect the property end the nerves of locel residents. Most of us w~rk end there e number of ~oung chlldrM in tnls cree end, os you cen imeglne, It Is exlremel~ IMoylng to hey! your sleep continuelly disrupted in the middle of the nIght. Tt1!nk you for lOoking Into this. , ' . f' May 6,1992 Owner The Edge 260 Caljforr.i~ Avenue P~lo AHa, Calif. 94JOO Dear Sir: RECSI"':r MAY 15 eJC IllSl'ECrnlIiI SfIlVlCES r run writing to you in hope.~ of finding a solution to a very troublesome and serious prt>blem. I am 3 homeowner I'llhe Palo Alto Central complex about a block from the Edge. For some time now, exees,;ve noise from guest' leaving the I-:'Ige and returning to their cars has been waking me up very Inte at night. Some speCific,; , Many Edge gues", park their cor., in the area immediately .Iurrounding Palo Alto Central-e.g. along Park Avenue, California Avenue, or in the public parking lot directly ae,oss Park Avenue . Guest> leaving the Edge and returning to their cars are often very noi,y, unruly and f,equently drunk. People yell and scre~m M they walk to their cars. Group., of people often <t<lnd around their car" tulking loudly for tifteen or thirty minutes at two or three in the morning. Or, people sit in there car." and drink beers with the car "tereo blaring. 'l11e beer bOllles more often than not ent!.up. smashed on the street. " Rvery few nights, Edgl: guests will race th~lr crus up and dQl.\,fl CnWaeni., Avenue and Parle Avenue. Oftentimes, you11 hear the car hams blari ng. , Decause of the Edge's very late operatir,g hours, these incidents e.tend far intu the night. Even on a wCekU,ij night, f can be awakened at 3 AM. Because Edge guests come and go througllout the night, it's po,,;ble to be woken up, fall back asleep and then woken up "gain later on by a different group of pta pie. Palo Alto Police a'" generally very fe'pon.,ive to noise complaints but they can't prevent mc from being awakelled in the first pi,,,: •. A solution is needed that keeps the neighborhood quiet during the night hOllrs. • .. .. ~ ! '\ ~ " '-, ' .. ' -.-;; .. fm hopeful that you and I can resolve this protlcm in a mutually safisfact'Jf), way by sitting down togt:ther nnd discussing the situntion. I'm sure thert are n number of possible SGlurions. Please contact me ~nd we can set t!p n meetjng at your convenience. Thank you in ndv[tflce for your under513ndrng and wiIJip.grle~< to help re.,olve this situation_ Sincerely, Steven F. Gold berg 117 Californio Avenue #0-400 Palo Alto, Calif. 94306 -(415)325-5124 cc: David FL.m ~ch Cabrera v'city of Pillo 7,oning Department 6861 'ar NllI --,-- ',,- -.'~. :01 .i I t I I I ~ f I I , " " Dear City 0fficiaI M • 1!1 ;.,. ~ /';,,-.r and I Palo Y came 15 {,! p.:1f" VI! L/' am a Alto resKIeat ~at :JY/ 'Yj'LJ <;Llt-'---__ _ I strongly urge the C~ government to issue the Edse Dance Club an appropriate permit allowing their facility to rerna.in open untiJ 4am. 'Thank You. !lear Gty 0ffidaI My name" _ A liec CMqg and I am .. Palo A1t" rWdeut IMng at..:3QQ1 13fVitt11" Jt-' . I mougly w!" the City governmeat \0 iooue the ~ Dar.ce Club an app<"oprB.te pencit allowins' the;,. fadlity to .......am <>pea until4am. Thank You. c My DOme;' ")'-{Sa.", kO es-kor and I am .. Palo AItor..aJeru~at $qC+"fYII~S.L ___ . I st:rong\y urge lhe City government to issue the E4"" IAnce Club an appcupriate permit allowing tk;,. facility to .--..In opm untiI4am. Than!. You. ".\J " i r r: I ' My.-.e_'D..er'l'tavC{ W ">=0ClfIildIUII&Palo Ali:o~&..iaw. "1 '-' ri-t v.-~ l. R.d._ ,~S-. J """'SlY .... <be CiIy I" ... --"' ...... tbe Edo!e o......Ool. .. ~ ponnlt aJIow;.,c tbeio-r..ca;,y to ~apeo uutil4am. ~ You. My-..e.?x!go V;llg!)'Uu;!g aodJau..Pa1o Ako...oloatJMosatSo<> M.",£JJ I SJ,;"{,,g) • J """'SlY .... tbe CiIy I""""""" '" .... tbe Edp 0..0. Ool. .............. penmt aI\o.matbeio-&oaIity to n:a:a:. apta "O&DtiI4am. 'Ihuok. Yau. M:YDalDeia 0'"1,' ,A -1. ( aodhmaPalo AIto~;,..q. -="'111'7. 1_ .-. ",\ J~_tbeCity_",_tbe Edp 0....", Ool. .. ~ ponnlt .D""""tbeio-fadIity to ~ opeD 1oIIIdiI-4mL. 'I1.aoIt Yoc.. -~ .,- M.ra.u.aolliL. .... ' ... r,~~..::..~~J.UDaPa.lo Alto ~ IMDs iN. -':..'>_ ,J ... ....:.':~.~Go:..,/ ___ _ J~· .... tbeCily_"' ...... tbeEdp 0...... a.m "" ~ ponnlt aIIoo.ins tbeir &cili!y to remaio ops1 uari1 <bm. 1bank Y OIL Myo,ame.ia ;:/eSJ,C?._ C::;ll~ .. .., and hna Palo Alto resideot lirutg at -..1z2!!... r;; .. , " .. aU: ;;Yo r .1roGgIy urgo tbe Clty ~ to iaoue tbe Edge lJaDoe. Quh an ~~ permit aDuwing t.be;r facility to ranai.n opeo lUlb14am..1Dank You. . /"/ ,-/ v/C~.J"'..;;'"c", r:'/--_C~ ... ~a~ 0;/ My IlUMX -;:r,;"",--, c/, 1".'/,..-at.'<1 I am .. P.aIo .o\kore.idea:.Iivmg_ ;"''7; ~,',;, "' I~ .... tl..Clay_to""'tl..F.Je.- 0.,.,. ,:"",",,~.,..,,,;,.n...;...-their faciltty to rtmuo opea 11Dti14am. 1hanIr You. My..... » C1 '1..", ,J ~, etc.. -f-f aod I;u:q & P»;, AItornideat~at 4'74 0 r .... { A" ( I """'I'Y .... tl..Clay "'..,...".". ....... tI.. ~ no-~ .. ~ ponnit.n-m.thoir E.cilli;; ItO ~ iOptn aWl4am. 'I'baa.k You. Myoameia (heil !4-'{t£T~ &ndlamaPalo Alto~&.q .. 202 ~,;(G"u-sf I.....,..ty .... tI.. Clay"" .......... to .... the EJ,.. n...eClob .. ~ ponnit.a....mg their lacilit)' to ~ ope 1Wti14am. ~ YOil. '""-..:---o..r~ --- My ...... ~&'j Aui _ ondl_.PaIo Alto~!Moe-.. '21,70 B",·j, It . __ " rill' ----~tr·'lao~tkc:.._y~to .... tWEdp --' 0-. 0uL .. ~ ponnit aD...qtL.ir facility to rem.ain <lf8I1..IDIiI4am. Thanl: You. Deu c;,y Official My ....... t'e II: '-'-'''-'--''-; ondI am. Palo Aho noDdeat Imng at £""Ll,-,-~,-,-"",.e;1::.>.Ll4-_~ [.trongty urge the City ~c to lAue the ..: 0...0. aub~ _oriate pennit aIlo..ing tL.ir l.cilioy to reanam open un.c:iI4a.n. Thau.k You. Myomneic (\ \V'" ,-'I \ '{\' "·'··\J:~>.~ .. Ui:aod! &m&hio .AltQ~m.aI )..3 1 r! ~-II,(·.I·" C'\i-, I ""'"IIY ........ ~,.,..0 _ to ......... &lce ~ w. .. --.. """"",..Jlo.,;,,g ti,.;,-fadEty to rarAiD. t:pD UDI:iI -4a:m. 'l1I.aok Yoa.. so..r.Iy. ~\\;::.,'_ \ I ) "CV:' '0' £\_,'~l/ r&;;-- M.Y.-me it ~ 1.20 .. Palo ~n8km~. ________________ , I..,.,.."..., .... Ciry ""...-to ........ &lce ~ C1uL.., ~ """""' allo","", theU faciIiIy to r.aaiP. <lpeIl ~ ...... 'l1aak Yoc:. My name. ~T!eqID\o \ '0 md 1-. a Palo ~-lMo( .. gil BID"" 1'If*.LJ 1.......w ........ CiryI'''a_to ........ &lce Dance C1uL .. ~ ........ dIowioorthar-J' to ranam.opea. ;ad 4;am. 'l1ank Y flu. • it }' ,""', '," '",' MYIWDI!"i."'T"'EX;{'l"f p.~~r1ea'~!rf'" aodlamaPalo AIw~lMoc.u7f(6({rSrQdf 22_'~~-'i,-:r:+.) r'D- I otNDgIy.up cLe CiI)' governonont to ..... cLe EdpQ""'3 Dan<. Club <n~ penni<.now;"" thoOc &dliIy to remain open ~ 4Nu. 1!uuk You. My..,.,... A 6",/ ••• Il ... " Palo AJtore:sidentliYiucat ~{I t.-'~-b-r1'-" <;-1. r ."""8\y wp the aty~, to;"'" the !'.dp Danoo Club.., ~ penni, allowmg theU faciJi1y to rem.aic open uutil4am. 'fhaak You. M.Y D..Une .y"""-J.hl? t;-.4'~ ____ and I.am a Palo ~ ~ ..... .: Z;"!j< ( "" ",.;"-. _ r~ .......... City 1'''''''''''"''' to ......... !'.dp Donee Club an ~ permit..o...ing theU &dliIy to nma.in open uutil4am. 11.ank Y OIL _ -':""'_,-""' ___ .~ __ 1 ___ My.name. :sf..-fJ.<~~ H '?V aodlam.aPalo hltorNleotlivmsu '-it? '-\ ( . ., p.'!.:--~,.b.l:-___ . I ~ "'I" d.. Ci:y "'.......-to ..... d.. &Joe n.." Club ... oppmpriale """'"' .ao.mc Wit r.clIlty ttl nm.J:ia ope:u uo.ti1 o4am. ~ Yw. I" I 4' , My DUDe ia _l -.":' ;: .. l ; l \~~ md. hm a Pedo Alto,.,ldo"t Iivmc'" 1,,'(1 n'jhUI /Ii<: I~_theCil;)·..... , ....... the&Joe llowoe Club .. ~ per.oi<.ao.mc Ihe;r EadIKy r.o I'tIIIWa open uutiI. -4am. Thao.k You. • n,;.,. Ci:y Official My""".';> h/m P-...J h .... Palo Alto..-.. ~ot 7.[6 """by cIr I atroogIy """ tho City ",,'OS __ to ..... tho &Joe 0-. (Y, aD approp<iat< """'"' alIo..;"g Ihe;r faciIay to remain ~ 1mliI4am. l'I:.a.nL: Yon. • -.-. /, Do..-City Official -0-• ,c ;:';;!\iCC" :d)'nameis ':''''-'~-'',,''' 'f aod4-""Da~.sk Ako """I.." IM.,.-.. '21 S @c<:cwA ,')\ &1:0':£' I ~""",d.o Cit,,~to .... d..&Joe llonoe Club aD~' "..",;, ~ Ihe;r £.ciIi1y to remaio opea IWtiJ 4un. 1hank )"ou. Do..-City Official -? ,/ ", My DIIII:IrIe ill jJ:l ~'" g P LiJ 011# ( • ..-t .aud I am a P.alo Alto,.,ldo"tlMngot 57 'S7C &-:."-"5'" q r ~ """ <he City ~t to ~the Ed,,-. o...c. cu...,..,....",....,...,... ~ tIW faciIlty to nsD&io opal UIItil-4am. 'Thank Yoa. My Dame ill Qu. .:..~~ , U pC!-.aud I.arr. a P.alo "..Ito reDV-nt Ii:viog&l: "1 ! (.. \ f rj liZ " {u""..p. ! I ~ "'" the City B"""""""" to ..... <he Edv Daocce Club iW appropci&tt! pennit...oow;u,gtheic £aci1.~, to remain opec unt:il4a.-r .. ~ You.. <, __ ,c, I/,}, ) ~"f;lJ//'.""'''''\.-1/ ,,~ '; , ,. " ,1 h .I J ,- , , ,r' , , ;-. -','" , "-, O. ".c' e.1',lI"~·!i'C" MyDCDe8 9g ut Lot-~fie-'P,6,,~~~~Palo AIto.....a...lMogat dRS) f+\ ~ s> I........" ....... a.y ..... _"' ........ Edp 0-. Cob .. ~J""DUt ......... ...., fodliry to I"I!IIIaia opea uatiI ...... 'Jlr.nk You. ~~~ Dear Cit; Officla.i MY _~ fYlrrJi.OAJ ODd I..,. Palo AIto.....a...lMogat.zQ?,£ (O/;fy;y.b 01-"4 1........" ..... tLo City............-"' ..... tLo Bdg. o.-Cob",~""",",~"",~, to nmaio GpIlD lIDC.3.fam. ~ You.. • , , !.-', " " 1[' MY ...... ;. (It!! \\JtO,\~-'" ,"andl"",a9Jo AIto--'"---.. ~-'''-IC~T''t'ilJc' Ay >C. ~"~.oue;at~-,-1rd ';}!( ., • I ~ "'l"'" aty S"''''''''''''' to;"'" <i.e Edp 0.-Cob onoppropriate pen»lt anm.""...., J'.abty to rema.iD open untiI.otam. ~ You. DoarCityOfficiol "C_' ___ ",_'_",,"'_ Cj)'; ('F PA~0 AI..TO -"'''' ...... ;, J, -'" (;""J and I..,. Palo AIto....oloot lMogu -;;-M,,J <,)";!I I .. ~ _ tLo <l\>' "~"""""'" "';...,. the Edp Dono. Cob_ ~ """,",.no..;.,,"'" Gdmy =_~4anc~ Z,Cr , Door City Official M,y __ @ffl/jJ#tfL_andl..,.PaIo Alto_lMorot i)' 'I ?Y r<! _._" I ~ ..... tI.e City .... u'""""' to ........ &!0- n.-Q,A,.., ~ pooWc ~tI..r f..ciIity to rema.i.o open 1IIIIIIIIil.-4.m, 11..nk Y (M. Door ( .." Official M,y ..... ;. c:.H1"J'?,,1;A ~.-II .... Palo Alto-IMor" 3<34$ ¥£kJ~ ~ I ~ ..... tI.e Citypu ' "';,...., tI.e Edp n.x,. a.L .. ~ pooWc aIIowiog u..;.. f..ciIity to rw:a.aiD opeIIIloEIIIiI-4am. 'IhacJ&. You.. ~(}fw~ ~ ~ -~'. 'e, gi~< c:/~;>';_ r: / ~ '11: My .... 4>ur;Ct'. L.ee aodhln&Pa1o Alto--"lMor .. z,-1~Wkf~ ~ " I ~ """tI.e a.y ro'a_ "' ........ E<lp no-CId,,,,, _ ...... penn;, alI .... mg tLeir f..ciIity to I"eIDa& "'PflD 11Dt:i14ua. 'I1unk You. M.ynameial ~IA."":: 'S .. e~.~ _ao.d 1 &m:l. Palo Alto~.hiucM p6p f. Iy.(l])( f lh' ..... l . I..",.,.J," ..... tI.e City .. _ to;"" ... tI.e Edp no.,.. Cloh "" """,opriale pe..,'" a!Iawiut; tLeir £ociIity to remai.c (.ptn UDtil ~ "Th.iw.k y","- My~i1 Ala...... f'< tJ andlama.Pa1o AIto:reAkD~. 91'-"-)~' rr\:," 5::J I ~ ..... tI.e a.,"P"'''''''''''' to ..... th. Edp Da.xe a.L .. ~ penni< aIJow;ng tLe;r CaciIit,. to remaio cpa:; \U11i14am. 'Iba.ek You. ~'\ ~, ;' ,~--j '-.....-'- " -: .. o-~Q8X;al lI\r_lo h' ..J 0"& ...Jh ... P>Io Akanoidootlnqat L/.: '" /v';Ac'C,Ay voL .' I """'B!Y ...... abe ~ __ '" _.be E.Je. r...-w, ... _ope;... pemolJ..!lowU .. <!.oS< r.dIiIy to nmaiu; open until ~ tL.a1 You. JIIy_;,~": eN6 ...Jh ... No Aka -hlos" ?7 J 1 ~ ""","" NT:> l~_lhe~_ ", ..... lheEJr Ilooce a.e ... _ .,. ... penoUt ~tbeI< fadliIy to ~~...a~ 'Iha.nk You. 0.... Cit~ 0IIi0aI lIIy ....... lo ,; C<e> t t-p"", Y ODd 10 ... Palo AItn-Iirioc" 1>.00 e ,.1)<' 51. fa 1 ............ Ihe~ .. 'a_to_lheE.Je. no.." Chi> ... _oyiato pomUt~ tbeI< facilloy to ~<pm 1IIItil4m.. TLu.It You. , , r-Cl<y 0IIi0aI JIIy'~io fer fib .,-IL .. uPalo Ako~~at")15~~lhw'+:'~1 ~{.I. r_~. [.,'''''Ify ...... tho a.~ __ to ..... .be J!4. Douce Chi> "" ~ pomUt.1IowBoc thdr EociItty '0 rml&in opem 1iOIil4am. n..."ll You.. o..r c." 0IIi0aI My.-_ r~cvr:!, ,O~~",J[""PaIo Aka...;d",t IMoa or i% {Y we;f I' /LJ • I .............. abe~ __ to ..... .beE.Je. n...c.a.e ... ~~~.:..;,.fadliIy to ~ opeu UPcl1-4am. Thudr. YOIl. DeorCityO!licial DC?,,,,,,.,, 0'" .",.,,,,, Clf'lOF ;:'A'_0 ~I..TO My,...,.;' /(~,o .,: £",-,.y audl .... Palo Alto reUdeu.t living.at ~1-~~ f%:f., 6'. ",,) f"/ -S-• laf.1'oq.fy urge the at,), ~l-to laue the Edge n...a. Club .. ~ penni,.no..mg u..;, r..aJlty to remain Qpea wl1i! 4am. 'Thank You. ~~ ~/~/ Dou C4yoe;.;.J M)."""", .. 4~1 ...J1_aPaIo AIto,......IMoo' .. ~-.kRe ~_. I ou..,.!y"'i" oLe <loy.."...,....,. "' ..... oLe Edp Dance cw. .. ~ ~ ~tJ,,;,-r.aJtt,. teo ~ opm UDtiloCam. 'ILac.k YQU. My IIUDe ill: (Y/IC ku (k AJ € I s"::' and hm .. P&Io Ako ~ 1Mas" Am " iioa::L '.0, __ ~ r """""'..,.. oLe <loy &"''' ! "' ..... oLe Edp n.. .... Club .. ~ penWt~"",", £aciIiry co n:mam _opeu....wl4am. 'I1s.nl YOQ. so-.J" vrvercU£.-/L Dear <loy Officio! ~........ id~ ~u ODd 1_. Palo AIto ........ IMar~'I &/ to"", If). . I """'IIY ....... oLe <loy ..................... oLe Edp D.mce cw. ... ....,..,..;..te ~~tJ,,;,-£aciIiry to l"SD&iu epc 1IDt114am. 'IM.nk You. • "\ My...".;" ~ i WlAi f"K auJ lama Palo AI1or~Ji..-ing.u_ C~ ~ .... \b I 1~·_theG:y ~1D ..... u..Edge [lou..., a..b an "!'I"opriate pennlt ~ their Caci!;,y to remain open untiI4am. ':bank Yau. 5""""",, ~'F~- My name is W""",\o.e... Co ('[~ c;". and I am .. Palo Altocaidew:lr.iDgat "2..1:::te ~cbi\'\ I otroogly.,... u.. G:y..,....,.,..... ....... oLe Edge Daacc a./, an apprnpriote ,....,."" .I!owioc their EadIit,. tc I"t!n1o&in upm unti! 4am. Thank You. My name i. :;:;"".. c...,/. // .... .".~ __ a.n.d I anu. Palo .AluJresidmdhingat "",' .,-S R.j (~'.-... ____ • I """"*' ...... u.. City I'''''''''''''''''''''''' u.. Edge Dance CIuh an .... 'opriate penult aIIowU.o; ""'"' £oci!ity -:.0 rema...iz. opco u.ntiI 4am. 1hau1. Yau.. Mynam-t':' be..,-~ ,J_,£"",: / -h,., 1WI'11 am.., PaI.o Ako I"eIidaJt Imr" at "3 i.:z <, 4-,.. 6 .. -+v S' • I >trcoF,y_ tl.e CIty~ to ..... tl.e Edp n...~ Clab .. ~pen»l<~tJ.e;, f.ciliry tr) nma.in apea UDtiJ 4;m. 'I1wmk ¥c;JU. i't\)"DaIDe. kJd<. "fV'&hbo..(\ _hmaPalo Alto_lMo.o'ot~ Wv--'"'" ( ..sL....-. I -..Jy _the el,y ~ ';;; ..... the Edp 0....,. Ci.L .. ~ pen»l< aIIowq-tLoF r.an.y to 1'eIIIIJIia open untiI4m:J. Thank Y 00.. My a&IDe. ill Rl.S H I V~"'" A aDd hD ... Palo AItoraidaxlMacaa biD f...1A'I f ISI.P Ill""': 1 "'"""I!Y ..... tl.e City """""'"'" to ;...., the EJo.. 0.-ca ... ~ pen»l< aIIowq-thW-faciIicy to remaia apa!l .mOl-4lm. 'Ibank You. Siaco<o!» ~V~_-_,~ --- )- , , 0-Cit)' 0ffidaJ My-.~~-~ __ .-llam.palo Alto noidooc 1M.,.-",...!Jt2... ~ '-(2j . I ~,_the City~ .. ;..,..theEdp 0...,. Club aD ~ """'"' .oll ... ;.,g u,.,;.,!.cilSy to .rvtWn opeD until.ofam. 'I'banL.: Yau.. Deu Cd)' Clfficiol /C' (/ Mynuoeia J i/~t.t' ~l:""'~'~and].uu .. P.lo A1cD ......... IMoc .. ?t"'? I!~c ,Qr . l-..Jy _the City ~ to ...... tl.e E.Jg. 0-. Oub ~..."...priau pen»l< ..JIowin&-u,.,;., &cility co Mnain open Wo1ti14am. 1'haok You. t , , t I .-----. Door CiIy 01&;,,1 lI\y """";, ,~-; (;; 'i'" l ""\.,, ,)) <&od I " .. No Alto re.ideot fiving at 5 {I R;t r; Q"",-• I otnqIy"'l" m. CiIy go.a t to __ m. Edp ~ ~ m~ J""'D'ilallowU.c rLoU-E.dIi.y t.(1o nmai.:. opeo until 04.:0. Thaok You. f'\. A '1 (-/, ~ yv, / /"--'v My 0IIIDe. Hey",.· c/ 5M" b; -__ xU am a Palo AItoreA:leat~ .. JZ'f fi.,-. ,'II~" Aug, . I """"SIl' "'I" m. CiIy..,.........." to -... tI.e Edp n..c. cu, .. ~ """"" alIoM..g rLoU-&cility to 1"I:II::I.I.ia~ WJtiI4mz.. 1LaDk You. Door CiIy 0fficW lIW""";,~;<; c..tt, and I.." ~ Palo AItoresi<la.t livqot -2<if.",~",~f"!"o...~ ___ . I "'onoIJ' "'lOom. Cioy ~ to -... tI.e Edp no-Cub .. ~ penn;..DcwiocrLoU-~, to nemaio opc:o KDCil4lm.. 'Thaok You.. . ---. ---., ... ------------ • My ...... ;. eM., ?P1v,"O aud 1 ... .Palo AIr, ......... """"'., G6 ,-, .. Ij Id "If t14 I otnqIy.,.. tI.e Cit)' ~ to -... tl" Edp ~ Oub on ~ penoil.JlowmstlW EaciIity ro.rw:wUn open ~ 4am. ThanIr. You. Myoameil 1/1'>:>1 rlt u.... a.od.I;;r,m.aPalo AIto....ul.ot Iivq" __ if v, .:;A!!!/_,,--,S:<,cf.:;.' __ _ I~' "'I"m. CiIy..-"' -... m. Edp 0-. Oub an ~ penn;..Jlowms rLoU-EaciIity to l"I'!JD&in opo:a UDtiI4ca. 'I'bauk You. Dear City 0ffici.iI My...,. .. ~a!ttN Kocr;:YQ. 0Dd1"",. Palo AIto ......... Iivq"'~"\W.,; ;4C 5'l>&Y(~i'te.l') I~. "'I" the CiIy __ to -... tI.e F..J". no-Cub au ~ penoil aIIowiog tlW faciltt,. to remain~ until-4un. Thank You. ·_J 0-Ciy Cl&ioI My ...... 7?~w 6?k •.• lI .... Polo Alto ~ );..iarg_?tJZC i.....,'<jl/...e D,.-. MIJ;.;:, QS'37.:S ! .. ~_theCity...-"'_the Edoo o....a.o .. ~ penn;.ano..;."d,.;" /'dla;)' to r--.ia.cpea umiI.c.m. ~ Y£a.. _" ,_ ......... @;'-,.' .... ',: Siaoorolyi~ 1.1'.., ...... . j ;, ~/ ~2:p,~,-c;,_. - cn~; C-·F PALO .A.L fC • \ 0...-co.)' Official Mynomeio j?oL~diL ~-it -a I .... Palo tJtc ........ IMoc'" 3Z.A","\J1JoV:-f~ I~' "'I" the c;",......,..,..,. to ...... the E.!p DonceClub .. ~ penn;. ~ d,.;" J'.ciIlty to l'1!IIWo opea uatil4arn. '11:.a.oIt Yau. I ---------------,_ .... , My n.me 1. ;;"-,""_~ '('I"" \'-~ auJ I am ... Palo Ah:o~t~at ;'~")i ~\.!>,:. ~"e I .troasly urge Ik City..,..,...,.., "' ...... Ik £4e nana aub au appropr"'-te pennit aJlowiog their £aci!ity to ~ opeo W1ti14am."I1.ank You. Myoame. h 'crt I'"'"r ... ':. ,--~Ii _DdIama Palo AltoreaidentlMngat ~:t-<~ /;\.~..:il ____ . I """'SIY ...... 1k City""""";" to;;"" t1e £4e n.-Q..h ... 3fI>...".n.to penni, aD"";"" the;,. £.cil;oy to n.main open uatil4mJL TLank You. D"" Ctty Official 'I H ':L l\o\}'uame i!!I ! '/ <':":J ___ l I OS r I aod l.am a ~PaJo Alto reUdoot lMno:';' 2'1 1:5 .. '-.2 .. 0 ,~ e~c LA . I"""""", """ the Clty..,.......".." to ..... the £4e n.u." Club ~ 'I'F",.n-pern>i< aIIowmg the;,. £aciIi:y to nmab open unti! 4am.. Thank You. .!'.ply name a --".' -='c." _' -,,-,-_"_'-, __ --;: and I am a Palo .lVtoresitlaJt w.ng.u '-1 /\ ! ~tn-ngb' IlT(e the City gt.Jv~t to issue Lhe Edge Dance Ouh an approprlat-? permit ~ing their faciJ.it) to I'"'eIIl1iD opeD uno14am. Thank You. S'mcerel;y: i, i Dear City Official '-+, ,---7 i My name is_ ~ --i i \'-'c "/_e'~':. V J;mdhm.~,P.alo Alto,.w-iMDc",SIJ';? i· ... 9-u' r . I ~,..,..the Clty~", ..... the Edce r..oo. Club an ~ penWt alIowiog th.u. £aciIi:y [0 remain opec -unril4am. Thank You. " ;:1 .:~ ,. MyDDW"_ 5«sar'l ~ t"c;k~ ___ and I u,o 41 ~ Ako....;.J"oo lime" l!'!fM?heY:';' sf 1",._ "" CiIy _, to ..... "" Edr ~ cw. ""--.. pernllt ~tlW F.ciIUy to reat.iD open tmtiI ....... 'l1.olt You. My ....... .L\,"n<S XkRt~ -'1 .. ".PaIo Aha ""'""" IMDa at 2 50 t A'" :-, t. I """'C!Y _ "" City __ to ..... the Edr nux" cw. ~._op" ~~tbe;r fadllt, to remaia ot-uotiI.obm.-Thack You. D.ar City Officio! MY_;'~~W£ .,.j~fl"!" Alto resident IMos at :2 5 ? I _~ .<:( ~ :4 I """'SlY _ the City __ to ..... the Edr n-.aw .. ___ ~.n...iug tbe;r F.ciIUy to remain ClpeD uutiI-4.m. 1'howk Y OIL .,.;...;: .• / .. -._----.--,~,- -: ~', -.! f.ly~i.a ___ f( i£i~_4!c· '-= and lam a Palo Aho~~M~'/ ~i.:I'''! z'-f----' j I",. "'l" "" City .'"........." to;.. ... the Edr 0...,. Club .. ~ pemUt .llo.nntrtJ..u f.ciIlty to ~ cpen tw.iiI4a-. Thar.k You. 0.... <;"«y O!l'>cial p.' P L [\ I. "'<o,1 v Mynamei:. iTt> ... ,-IJ J I t~~'2 v~"t:'" and lam a Palo Ako _lMng .. S:q 5" tlr- I ""'"I!\y"""the City ~ to ..... the EJae o..c. aw mappmpMate pemUt.no..;"" tJ..u faciliay to rem&W ~ uociJ. 4am. Thank You. My DilJne is _________ K.1 -c/1.C I.......... ~IKI Jam.;. Palo Alto ~t Evi.ng at ~_~_~S ~ i'-).o.":.,."J", ;!l,., ____ _ I strooglj.· urge the-aty ~lIernmeDt to issue the F.A:1ge lJance OUD an appropriate permit aDUM.in.g their facility to remain opeu until .:tarn. Thank you. ' .. My...."._ ::s:./"t"Jv".,., ~ ... ___ and h." a P.!o Aho....-..lhq-ot'4,." 1J ... ~v , I ~urp the City SO\'t1wneut!o.baue the Edge n...o. a.L an~ penni<.no..;.", tI.oir £.Ulity ::7p;i';': ~\,. ...... ;, :rlj/((L ""';6 aodh ... Palo Alto ....-..lMog .. -J3'1I1if;?;1?,sf -Ii 1""""Cfy""", d.e Ciry Il"-to ..... d.e Edge Daoc:e CJuL acappn.-opriue pennU ~ing t.LeU--Cacilliy to ~.gpm UDt.iI4am. 'Iha.oli. y~ ~\ I)cac City Official .. -, \1,...- .'1,)' ~e ie l..{j~"".T' __ ~ ____ -...lc.;~,,',>'\ (J"1and r,am a Palo AlIo~.l;,ingat~--4ile" /:-1 I .trorogIy urge the Cit,), ~en't to issue the Edge n...c. au!. <n "PI""P"--permit aIIowin;< thoU-f.cility to ~ "fl'M uotil4oun. 1'hanlc You. D<ac City Official MJ.' name is r1BXI1)£LL SO)/QOtv.1w'oV ~ I.am a Palo Alto reoiden. 1M"" at J:ZiLEo'dnrC4 c/qQ 72d, __ ' [ Itroogly urge the Oty S'O"!nuneut to issue tLe F.dge .D3.na! Ouh an.appcopriate penn.it aBc-illg their &.cilit,}. to remain open uutiJ 4arn.1'bauk You. .----.' .•. --~,"-------~. -.... -.' , "~,--., It\y n&uIIe. 8:~'-.:O1 ,j. >=rH:_:~'-,:J ..d lam a Palo Ako.............. 1:;-,<14i!,." ,'SfY-<c-t' I........" urpthe City ~ ........ th. J!.lo. 0-. a.b""~ponnit aI!owi.o-thoU-£oality '" I'tmil.iu. opm um:il.ol-. 'I'ba.nII: Yau.. __ ~ _____ i n..r City 0ffidaI Mynameia ')h,d!'!.f:UlM (/14''-1 a.J:JdJamaPaIo AIto...oJ..tImncat QQIJ Sa,'M H I """"SlY urse th. City...-........ to issue tho Edce 0..... Oub ... ~ penni'..n.".;.., tJ.e;, F.cility 1.0 n.naia open uot:il4&u:!.11aaok You. l't\v 1181D1:" :& .. 1 .,.,,:.ow. ~ ~t aad 101m a No Ako_IMosat stf ~ "",Vt. #,3 . I""","", _tho a.y.........-< to ...... tho Edge 0-. Cub .. ~pennlt aJIo"iag thoU-!'.ciDt.;' tu ...... open 1mIil-4am. Thanl You. My name ia tiNOt fiflJlfd" &ad I am .. Palo Alto nUdoat 5vmo II ...25;' )/I1t>l~ /I.,. fUr I o=ns!Y ..... tJ,. City ~ to w...c tJ,. Edge Dmoo a..h an~. pe",,;' allcwM;,thoU-E.cility to ~ 0fJ"=IJ ~..tam. Tha.n.k YOI.l. My name it -"'[,!: '"2--.14:, ", :.wd J.am a P.alo AIaoreaidentlnints'ar ,c-·. 1'",' 1/ ,., 'I ~. I """'It, "'I" the City ~ to""'" th. Edge ~ Cub on ~ penn;..nowu.. theU-FacilU,. tel n!Inaia ClpD 1.II:l.ciI-b.u. 'I'Lowk You.. D.ar City Offida] M.ynamea {l1#c G~~ _____ .aodlamaPalo Alto raidmt &mo-" S6¥ 3 ["'1Ir A.;-j-fr;.",.=:,' __ . I.tra:JsIy ucp the ag.. gowerwueut to isaure the Edp )).,"" Club ... ~ penn;. oil....,. theU-f.ciIn,. 00 nma.in opeD tmtil4.m. Th;ml You. Myaameia C,91,C;Jts.a~all...-and lam a Palo .'Ilto_li.mg", ?!4 .1&ID\,1£ I~ ......... a.,,~to"""" E:..!ae u-. (U ",,~. penn;..!Iowiog th.i.l'aciIlty to raw.ia. cp!b uutil4.:un. 1'1.a.nll y DU.. My"""",;' 1Jk-~ ODd I .... Polo A!t.._~ .. :ur~ LJ~,u......, l.......,py ........ a." .... o"""'" to.uo .... Ed..., . u-. 0uL." ~,...".. oilowio,u,.;,-e.ar;", to ~ opeD until 4mI.. l'ha.ok You. - n-a.y 0ffiWl ~'\t'rw.me~ ..... \O~,..J '; ,.e! !,nf"'~.-udliUl'IaPalo AIlof'ie.'O,~tivioea:.LL..D._...cJ. d-.-..l ~_ Q;r=--±± ~ • I uroooIy ..... th< a." go""""""'" to ..... the E<!r Do.= aw ""~ P"""~ aDo ...... tbW £ocility '" """"" «"'" 4 ...... ~,. ... S>-.J" 4),,-/1.--------- , Dca< Coy Official ___-L My ...... ;,-2a~ b·<" . ..,T ...I1",?~'p.Jo AIto_lMosat (.I~ k;'~.<1c,,6i" UI'1V3o/ 1~ ......... a.,,~J""'d>eE<!r u-. Club """!'Propri;.u ponnit ~ u,.;, r..m.;,. to rema.in open uoti1 ~ 'Iha.n.Ii. You. ~!J--~~ 'f Myoame. ____ .A[\il'Vr~r~' U w"r r andlamaPalo AltoreaidruJivinr __ 3_"2 5--C(""e"~~ l)~. I"""""" """ .... a.y go"""_ "' ...... tho ~ o-.Club""~pennit.n~u,.;,.~. to remaio ope&!..wtil4ma. ThanL: You.. ! .j , ! I I J Myname-u, '-a,.(~.N('-_ !:;}>.J...r.f' .andhmaP.alo • C" 1" AIto~ ~at f'l Yl/IlItLt'i..}-lClCf l.~ W'p the City IIP"""""'" to w... the Eq,. n...c. Cub on "f'P""lZWe!""'"i' ~ <bar r.aJity to nmaio opeD UDtiI ..... ~ YOlL S"""""", Dear a.y 0ffici0J MY~"~"""""''''' ~aodlllmaP.Jo Ako ,.".;.Io"t lMoo! '" .: ,-t<; ~ J.. \J . 1 """"IIY wpthe Ci:y ... ' u oN , to ..... the E<fo" 0.-a.L .. ~~.no..;.", <bar f.cility to remain_ opeo WItil4.m. ~ You.. s.-~, ~L-V1 r !L~j My ...... R,u...-d" V,/lI!C,IWo aodhm.Palo .~ ,.".;.Io"t~ .. .2l& tl,JJI<f",!J r ~ "'I" the a.y ... 'a_to ..... the f:.do. J:>aac. CI.b .. ~ l"""'it.n.,.q <bar r.ru;.y to naaaia opeD WltiJ-4aan. Thank You.. Drea.r City C>£!icUJ M.ya.ame.~'"' c4ch-t __ ahdI:Im.\LPW AlI,,~w.J .. 23X{ q7T'O-,<<!> . __ ' r "'ooo!Y ..... the a.y,.,...".,...."' ..... the f:.do. n.oc. a..ban~e pemUc ~their facility to ~ opeD uoUI4am. Thank You. J\\y ...... ;. %b:J'\M~-:, 4 aodhm, Palo A.l.toraideoa:~.u S.:(R I ~_ -h.' 7.(_"\ 8::i--" r ~ ..... the Ci:y """""""'"' ..... the ~ J:>aac. CI.b au ~ pen,.;, aIIowWo-their facifuy to ranaia ClpeIl unti]..:tam. 'I'hank Yoo. --. -----~-------- foiy.oameiaP\f-........ i f \ l'·~_¥-{A\"n IlUdI&nIaPalo Alto raident lWmgal ll ],,-rwl1 ftC r \If'-.-.!'...J~1_4 I ~"'JO the COy _ , ........ the &Jo. n..x. (],I, ... ~ pe=i< ~ u,.;, !>dIOy to n!ID&io open uotiJ 4am. 'I"banl You. Myname.is C ~-E'/~~~aod. lam.PaIo Alto "'""'" 1Mnc.. • CtfmE.-C . I~ wptheCOy .....-to ..... theEdse Daoa. (],I, an "f'I'<"'>priot"...... ~tJ.;r l"acilit, to rauaiu ope 1111Jti14un. 'Thao.k Y cu. My DOUnei8):;.£LCJ!!Ll i S p,/;-s, .and lam & Palo Alto reaiderLt liviug at _____ 2.!.:f2dn/rl-ih ~-t2__. lo<ron&IY "'" tL. City ~ to;"" the Edee Du.ce CI.b an ~ p=Ut allowing u..;.. facility to ~ cpw. umil4.am. 'Thank You. Dear ('...it). Clf6cioU My ........ J'1IJ< (( <"5,, ,~ andlam.aP.!o Alto reaideot L"iog.l.l ""2-3.ot; 0 ('7 L 14 -, " n~~4 i I stt"Oagiy W"g1! eJae. Cit,), govel'IlmC:Qt to'issue the ~ Uw.oe auL.aD.apprt:JpiaJe p.enrUt afiov.ing their faa1ity co remain open uotn 4am. 1'ba.n.k You. s~ 7111d£_.__ My nune" --<':jA Ie I kv f?\ HARd.oo I am a Palo Aho""""'lMogat.3 n, 5r,oktol\ F{",,~. I otroogI;, "'¥" the Gty """"","",' '0;"'" the Edee D.=e CI.b an ~ penWt aII0win0-tJ.ei,. facilit.>, to remain c:p:!n 1Wb14am. 1ha.n.L; Yon. MYIlII:me. J:.rh< L~ .. ,"", ~T'-:~e ilI'JdJama p,..'O Alto ~ ~at ~'1 ') '_ :--'" ,,:~""c', ~", ,,-.,. I otroocIY ..... "" a.y ~ to;""" the F.dge Dmc. a.b"" "I'I"opftau ~..u.",;"" their~, UJ ~ opel uotiJ: 4.m.. 11:Jank You. ,/ o.a.. a.y Official MYl2Jaeil aL-~~Jam~Palo AIIo~ .. 2"~e!1C·<I'i('vd,,jdk. I otroocIY "'P "" a.y __ to ..... "" &Ip 0-. cw. "'~ ponnlt.no..iuo tLe;r!Ocilioy co mnaia opeo w:d..4az... T1:umk Yau. , My na.me u. k30~<. -"__ ~,e.( ,,"\ l.\r-:._ .and J am & Palo A1",~U~ .. 2ff a1<sd eN' I ~ ""'""" Ui)'""""""", '" i .... "" F4< n.uc. Club an ~ penn;t allo..;"g thelr facility to ~ open untiI4am.11Mnk You.. Door City 0!lici0I t.\)'~;.)t::YU;i::::r. ~~ ...! I .... Palo AIt.t)~.IMoa'.IJ: ___ ~~;:; . I ~W'JO' "" CiI;}' "" .......... "' ..... "" &Iv' . o-.CI.L_~~~tI,.;,-~, to re:naic apeD ~ 4am.. TI:..anI,; You. Dear ('"it)" 0IticiaJ (I: () I My name iI r:" j:.. :e\) ____ and 1 am a. Palo ,'Jto~lMocat do ":W-':...IL-_. I ~UI'p! doe City FvenuDmt ro.laue tLe Edge n.-Club .. ~ ~ alWwingtI,.;,-~. to ~ <::pm untiI4am. ThanL: You.. ".;". , .' 0... Oty Offici&! M;,oame" '\";' \\S')""",;¥~ and lam a Palo "Jto~tlivingat i-Ill'.) MIr"f, t.}_~ latroaa!l'"'1!" the City..,..",.,...' to Wue u.:u.--' n.u.o. Club.., ~ penni'.no.-,;". thci.. r.cilitv to ~ open unti14am. 'I'hu:&. Yuu. • • ) .. ;.\I,j·Dl&meis __ AbIG:.L~ DNG :.ndr~'ilPaJo AlcoresiJ...nt t .. -ing.a! 4p1.? de, Li(..jJ~,---,--~ __ • I stroogl,Y urge t~ C:l~' ~I~_rn'mc·ot to w....e t.he ~ I~:e ~ 1.11) aJl ""I~ pennie afio,.vins their fac.ility to rem:u.n open Hntil4atn. ~ Yuu... Deu at" oa;.;.J "J """"" lJ.LL1'\Jc~l and I..". Palo AIt.o" .. leot iNIDe'" 'iO-g w\"M Ie ,.,{ ~l ~1 I~, ...... the Clt,' "'...,..,..,.'0 ...... the EJ.., o.nc. a..I> on oppropriat. pemUs alIm;;ng thci.. focilli;> to ~ opeu WJt.iI4am.."1hank Yau. ,." <~7<. Me. Jacek Rosicki, Genc;'ai Manager The Edge 260 California Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94306 Dear Mr. Rosicki: CityofPaJoAJto Pv1ju~~ November 23, 1992 As agreed upon at our October 1, 1992 meeting, we have exam!ned all related calls-for-ser ... rce at or surrounding your establishment in an effort to ascertain the freQuency of Olsturbances relatrve 10 specific times. We have chosen to compare the time period of July 17, 1992 to October 6, 1992 to the same dates in 1.991. so that a fair ant! accurate measurement 01 current conditions could be analyzed. Tt',is time frame not only represents the traditional busy summer months, but also correlates with the implementatio1 of security guards on July 17, 1992. In 1.991 we responded to 61 calls-for·service ,elated to The Edge; of those 61 calis, 24 were for reported dlshJrbances, Correspondingly, in 1992 we responded to 55 calls-for-service related to The Edge; of those 55 calls, 26 were fOl reponed disturbances. Tt',e time and occurrence breakdown is as follows' 1,00 p.m .. 12:00 -1:00 -2;00 - Midnight 1 ;00 a.m. 2:00 a.m. 4:00 a,m. QiSTUR.BANCE5 1991 37% 29% 17% 17% 1992 38% 31% 15% 15% A!.L-!:;ALlS- .EQM.ERVICE 1991 59% 18% 11 % 11 % 1992 38% 31% 15% 15% 273FarestAvmuc F"a.:o Alto, CA. 94.301 ·m.32!u.~ 415 329.256..;Fa-.: --.. ~ ~ "I , I ;.! 1 ,I : i j Mr. Jacek Rosicki November 23, 1992 Page Two Though only a smaO percentage of disturbances occur after 2:00 a.m., it is still our belief that a 2:00 a.m. c~osinQ time is the most lust and rea~onable. A closer examinat:on of the above figures >ncicates that a midnight or 1 ;00 a.m. closlng time would e;iminate up to 61 percent of an cans for service related to The Edge. Also, an earlier closing time would cOincide v~ith our peak staffing levels, enabling additional officers to be a'.:silable as patrons leave your esteblish ment. While it is our belief that a midnight or 1',00 a,m. closing time would be optimal toward reducing disturbances, we also ,ecognizo: the potentral hardship such an early closure time could bring to tl"19 viabHrty of your estabfishmeilt. it:5 for this reason that we have endoised a 2:00 a.m. closure. This recommendation ·!S no: only comparable to similar establishments in the City. but it also affords neighooring residents a reasonab!13 expectation of redlJced noise leve!s after 2:00 a,m. If you ... "ish to. discuss this matter in further detail, you may contact Captain Thomas Merson at 4151329·2232, CO/mIT! CC: Ouf Sundheim Captain Tom Merson Nan~y Lytle '. -\ -. j - '::::-, :..-:.;,.-. ;-" "": ,"e" E • • '. . -~. -- ATTACHMENT 3 EXCERPT of the Planning Commissic~ Minutes of December 9, 1993 AGENDA lTE~ l PUBLIC HEARING -APPEAl.OF CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT_ 260 CII-'lFORNB AVENUE !THE EDGEI: Appeal of the ,oning administrator's decision to modify the conditions of Conditional Use Permit 73-UP-36 granted to a previous restaurant use at 260 California Avenue. now occupied by The Edge. The use D€r.T1it aHows live entertainment and dancing associa!ed with the on-site sa1e and consumption of liquor, beer and ~ine. accessory to the operation of a bona fidE restaurant. ZOl1e District CC(2)(R)(Pj. Chairmcln Beflcham: Does ~taff have any additiJnal commer,ts for us on th~s issue? Ms. Lytle: Yes, w~ have some additional material at your places and some addHional comments. Joe Colonna will present those. Mr. Colonna: 1 would 1ike to call to your attentlon some additional proposed finding') for the use permit if the p1anning corrrnission is going to uphold the de~ision of the zoning administrator to modify Use Permit 73-UP-36. Also at your places, there is a clarification ~f the original use permit, which was in your packet. Th:s is in response to a question from Chairman Beecham a~ the pre-commission hearing that the conditions would not allow T~~ Edge to operate, because it specifically referenced German music and dancing. That change to Condition #2 ;s Tocated in the August 28, 1974 letter from James Glan .... ille. We also have an interpr~tation of t~3t condition from Bob Brown en April 29 7 1986. There is also some additional correspondence from the public at your places. Chairman Beect1~m·. Are tMre questions from the cammission? Corrrnissioner Oiakian: I have several q·uesticns. Is this ty~e of establishment considered commerCial recreation? ~s. Lytle: It is operating, as you see in your use permit packet, as an 12/09/92 -26- . . eating and dnnking e:"tabli.sr~ment ~ith alcohol~c beverages and live e~t~rtain~~t associated. It is ~ot operating as a commercia' recreation use. Comm~s __ ~_joner Q.iMian: The re;;son why r asked is, that type of estab1ish.llent-~ t,",ough this ltiight be cbse to it, would require both a conditional use permit. as r understand it, and a p~rmit from the police department. This one does not hav~ the latter. rs that correct? M$ l.ytle: No, t"a.~ is not corred. Ccmrnerci~_l recreaticil uses generally do not require the adult use p€rmit that YOu are th-;nking about, which is a police cJepartrnent ol'dinanee and regu1atiCln. There an!, however, certail"l commercial recreation uses that are also classified as adult uses. Those are billiard halls, massage parlors and card rooms. Corrmissioner Oiakian: So the next question, Nar;cy, is, in looking at this original use permit~ under Section 2, it says "There shall be no entertainment ." other than live German music" .. ~ Haw does an establisl'1ment that starts out a5 <:.n oom-pah·pah club end up having an activity that se~ms to be not quite the use for wl'1ich this use permit was criginally issued? MS lytle: Well, t~at history is essentially documented in the two pieces of paper we have p'...:t at your p1aces this eve.-,ing. One is 3n amendme~t to Use Penna 73-UP·36 by James G1arwille in August, 1974+ It revised the German music and dancing condition to read, "There shall be no entertainment, motion ~ictures or other am'Jsement devices or activities other than live music and related danc1ng that .. nl interfere or be offensive to the use and enjoyment of adjacent property and 'Will not encourdge activities· that will be detrlmental to ddjacent property Dr the public welfare, except with prior approval ir. writing by the City of Palo Alto Zoning Administrator.~ Staff was not satisfied with this condition when we reviewed the record. ft sounds like you can annoy people as long as the zoning administrator tells you it is okay. But it is the condition under which several previous nightclubs have been operating. Furthermore. a letter from Zoning Administrator Robel"'t Brown in April, 1986, confirms the cHy"s interpretation of this uSe being alTowable under that amended condition. HE a1so stresses in his lette~ that port1on of the condition Ioo;hich relates; to impacts and enjoyment of nea~'by properties. "Local residents and propertJ o~ners ~ave alleged t~at the Keystone Club has created difficu1ties in terms of noise generation and activities, It is my hope that any change of management would e1iminate such problems," So these are not new probl~ms, \lje have evidence that there were problems. when the club was the Kej!:tone CTub. Previously it was the Vortex, a~d now we have The Edg~. May I also mention to the p1anning commissiorl th9 police department present ~ith us tonight Merson --for your consultiltioll. th~t we ha~e two memcers of Mark Venable and Tom Corwnissioner Glazier: I have a questiO!l for the po1ice department reoresentat"ives;. My understanding, from reading throurJh all of the materials, is th!t it is the City of Palo Alto Police Department's policy not to allow off+duty pol icemen to work privately for private organizations. ] 2/09/92 -27 + • ~ ... ' ...........•... . ~. / :1: , i .-1 ~" Mr Merson.: lhat ; s corrl'ct . .komm.i~si_QI'}_eL~J_azier:: Could ,)'ou explain a little more about .. r,at is beh111d that pol icy, and eouid you also explain to me .,.ihy we appare:1tly allow Palo Alto policemen at StJnford football games. at least. I believe I st:e them there. Could you explain how that fits in with your policy? Mr. Merson: We do not allow our police off~cer) to work in an off·duty securlty capacity simpiy because it creates too much liability for us. They would be in a positil)n of being ql!Ct5i·secrJrity ~olice officials~ but 'Wholly in a private security capacity. Any iiabllity incurred would also be incurred by US, in addition to IfWhoe'o'er it -w.,·as that hired the~. That is why \ite do not do it, Corrmissioner Gh7.ier; For-the Stanford situation, they are actually on.duty--police off~cers and the city is being compensated by Stanford, ar not? Mr. Merson: That is correct. They are not or.-duty police officers at that time, They are ~orking strictly as a 10wer level of security under very controlled circumstances for the lmiVEnity. That 1S one exception that ~e make. It has been an histcrical except~o~. but it is not ccr,sistent wi~h our policy o'olerall of not allowing officers t() work off duty in a security capacity. Commission~r Glazier: Have you e'oler explored the possibility ~ith The Edge management that Palo AHa police officers could be assigned full-time to security at the appropriate hours and approprtate days in the area, and that The edge club would fully compensate you for those resources? Hr. ~rson: That is not som~thing that we would explore. That is not something we would ever get into, the hiring out of our officers to work in that ki~d of capacity, for the rea~on that I explained before. CommL~ __ sione'r Glazier: We can talk more about tnis later. I do not understand that. given that if there is a disturbance, or you want to prevent a disturbance, and you are en duty as a Palo Alto ~ol;ce officer~ and you know that there is the likelihood that yo~ ~re going to be out tnere sixty times in the next six months. why not be there and solve the problem proactively at the expense of thE club, who would prob~bly be more than willing to pay for it. ~e can explore that la~er. Commissior1er Marsh: I also have a question for the police representati'oles. Could you discuss any changes in the demand for calTs that you have experienced since The Edge implemented some of the security personnel? That happened sometime Tast summer, I be1ieve. Mr. Venable: Yes, the security gu~rds went into effect July 17, We ha'ole mostly obtained our infor;JI,at'lon en the effect they have had from our officers working on the swing shift and m'd~ight shifts when the problems have been predominant. What has helped the most is the security guards directing patrons to specific parking areas th~t are the fart~est away from residential areas. Pre'olious to the use of security guards. patrons af The Edge would par~ ;~ the neighbcrhoods and then walk ower to The Edge. This has helped quite a bit to alleviate that problem. Edge patrons are directed to parking lots, ~nd then they walk together to The 12/09/91 -28- E~ge. In that respect, dtsturb~nce~ have been alleviated. Commissioner Marsh: So IO~ ha\le exp.erienced a significant drop in the number of calls since that point? r am trying to get a s~nse of magnitude here. ~~: As I 100k at our c~lls for ser~ice in the WQy in which we record those col1s, o~r calls for service ha~e staYrd relatively the same. There is a ~ide 'IIanety of teasons for that. As we taik. to the officers and as we monitor the calls from the neighborhood, we have seen a decrease irl those area!>. Our officers in the field have told us that there se~m to be fewe~ piobierns bEcaus~ of the security guards -their presence, the deterrent effect that they bring alof1g with them. It a.l so enables our officers not to have to be there and to respond to othe~ areas within the city. CO!!!l1;ssioner Marsh: I believe I read in here that you ~11 support the change from 4 a.m. until 2 a.m. because you rEalize that ~;\ tha.t later, two-hour period there \li!ould not be a demand for servi ces as therE is occasi~nally at this time. Is that a correct assessment of your pOSition? Mr. 1~.t~J:~.9 __ I}: Could you repeat the question? CQrrmissioner Marsh: Yes, the po1ice deJ::artment supports the zoning administrator's re\lision of clOSing time from 4 a.m. to 2 a.m. Correct? (Yes) My 1OI1derstandin9, in re"diilg this, is that it is becausi! you believe that the change ~jll diminish the number of calls that you get during that midd1e-of·tr~e-night period. Can you elaborate on why you think a 2 a.m. closing 'Would be beneficial, from jiour perspective? Mr Merson: The most advantageous closing time for us would be Midnight, given thE numb€r of call s that ccc:.J:". But we thought that \II'ould b2 unreasonable. ar.d most establishments in the city of a like nature c10se at 2 a.m. Looking at calls fo~ service, Midnight ~ouTd be the most preferable. from st~ictly a police departme~t standpoint. So on balance. we were tryi!1g to be reasonable and establj:;h a 2 a.m. clcsing time, in line with othe~ establishments. Comm;ssioner Marsh: I.Jhat I ar:1 wandering is, if everyone had to leave at 2 a.m., do you believe that the n~mber of police calls you experience overall wouTd significantly change from the current system, ,,:hit::h is the same number of peopie lea\l1ng, but over a pcoriod of time? Mr. MEU::_~ __ Q.IJ..: What we belie'Je the benefit to us would be 'is that those people would leave at one time, as opoosed to trickling out o\ler an extendEd period of time, thereby nec.essitating our repeated responses to the establishment to handle whate~er it ;s that ~ight occur. Chajrman Beecham: I have a question for the police representatives also. I understand that The Edge has a good program to prevent underage dr~nking at their facility, and what they claim is a good process for ciecking r.D.s ~t the door. I wonder how this causes underage people to go other places in the area fer the drinking, either in the cars before they come into the facility or anywhere else. Do yO~ have &ny experle~ce or information that might help us to ~nderstand ail)' pr:Jb1ein in that area? 11(09(92 -19 Mr. Ker:;.Dn; Jt 1$ clear to us that -r~e Edge certainly does cilecl( 1,0.5. But it is speculative for us to try and say to ~hat extent that might divert people into other areas. Certaj~ly. the calls for service and the self-initiated activities of officei":; enccunterin;; p20ple who are ur1der the influence of drugs or alcohol ~n the immediate area is !:ignificant. To what extent the ~oor·checkiTlg r)olicy influences that is uncertain. COlMlissicner Cqrrasco: I have twa questions for He police department. In rhri~ Durkin's letter. it states that in 1992. there ~ere 5S calls, whereas in 1991, there were 61 calls. Between what dates in 1992 does Hat occu~? Mr Venable: For both 1991 a~d 1992, we took the identical tirneframe. That study began on July 17 wh€n th~ security guards w~nt into effect, Llsing that time frame to see wr,etner the security guards had any ovenT1 impact on cans fOI' service, It went fror.] July 17 to October 6. The October 6 date was chosen b€caus~ that was the date o~ which we ran tne report and tabulated those figures. We tried to taKe a snapshot during ttlose two years during what r.light be said to be some of the busiest surrrner months at the club. Commissioner Carrasco: My other question 1S i~ regard to yo~r recommendation that we close He c.lut It 2 a.m, You thought that was reasonable, and r did not understand ;'1 you sUQgested it was reasonable. let me suggest t~at if you are gett,ng 17 percent of the calls for disturbances b~tween i a.m. and 2 a.m., if you close at 2 a.m. and a large number of people depart at that time~ wouldn't you expect that the calTs for distu~bances would add up? In ct~cr ~ords, the 17 percent that you have het~e~n 2 i,m, an~ 4 a.m. might tUrn into 34 ?~~c~nt during 1 a.m. and 2 a.M. Is it not ~o11ectiye because the~e wou1d be more peop1e exiting it that time? There migM be more distllroCinces at that time. Mr. Merson: There very <ie1l may be mare disturbances a.t tha.t time, but it does allow us the oprortunity to deal with them a~d dispatch the situations at one time, as opposed to repeatedly returni~g. ~orrmissioner Carrasco: So it is a cc:·st-effective type of argument that the police department can cost-effectively deal with it at ~ne time, rather than over a longer perted of time, Mr~ Merson: Wlhile that i~ true, it also alro ..... s us to antiCipate at what pOint in time the lik.ely situations that would require us to be there would develop. So at 2 'I,m" we would kr.ow they are closing, and we could have officers in the area to deal w4th w~ate¥er might occur. So it allows us some anticip03tion time. Wlhen it occurs o¥er a protracted p~riod of time, there can be no such anticipation, and we are left to return on a repeated basis. tommissioner Carrasco: So do ! understand that you are svggesting that the two figures ire not cvmul ative? yo~ carlrlot add 17 percent and 17 percent. Do y'DU expect that it wou1d be lower than 34 pen:ent "if they close at 2 a.m,? M.r...... 'venable: standpoint. after 2 a.m. The 2 a.m. closing time doe~ a couple of things, from our 1n our mind~. it helps to guarantee that any calls that occur ~ill no longer occur. It helps with ~ur resources. We kno~ 12/09/92 ~30- · . when they are going to closE', as witn some other establishments il"l town. We can p1an our resources to be there and expedite people walking b2Ck to their vehicles and dr!ving a~ay safely. We can be there as a deterrent effect. Also, as we look at the spectrum of calls for service. quite a few of those ca11s occur betwee~ 1 and 2 a.m., ~spec;ally 1:30 and 2 i.m. If the plac~ is beginning to c10se down at 1:30 and patrons are begi0ning to trickle out so that everybody is out by 2. tho!:e calls between 1:30 and 2 can also b~ address~d. So there is kind of a double reduction there. Aha the nelgh,ors ~n the area w·n. know and haY€: a reasonable expectation as to what time the noise is al1 going to stoP. such as cars starting up, car doors slamming. tnose kinds of comclaints that we have seen through the years. COUl!1issicner Oiakia,,: I-fa~'e you had a chance to set" thG December 4th letter that was s~nt to t.1e phr!!':~r:; ::c~T,~::;5-1{jn b.:; Mr. Sondheim7 Mr. Merson: WE received that letter this afternoon at about 2:30 p.m. Comrnission~r Ojakian: Have you had a chance to read through it? r would be interested in your co~ents on somE'thing that is written on Page 7, under Point 2b. What I read into that is that Mr. SO'ldheim is ieading me to belie~e that there is some act10n bj the poiice department that prohibited security guards on thp. outside of the building. Because of that, fer some reason, tn3t led to increased ca11s for ser~ice. ~ould JOu comment on that? Mr. Merson; There was, at tnat ti:;:e, so:::o2 d·fficulty with sect.:r-it)' p~opl€ who were employed by The Edge. They were taking actual police enforcement action in the parking lots surrounding Th~ Edg~. That caused some difficulty, so we had to respond .and deal with the securHy personnel at the establishment. COmmissioner Djakian: What has changed since having that experience and an of a sudden, rt!cently, re-enacting the fact Uat we are having outSide security guards? Mr. Merson: At this pOlnt, after dlSCUSS1JnS at some len9t~ wlth The Edge managament, 'We have agreed that tney \1/111 now hale 11 cer:sed seCUrl tf personnel, as opposed to simply using "bouncers~ dealing with security iss!les there. Chairman Beecham: If there are no further questions from the comrni~s~on, we will turn to the public portion of U:e hearing. We norrr.all)' start off ~1th the applicant. Toni9ilt~ Mr. Duf Sundheim is speaking for the appl icanL Duf..Sundheil!l_-'-___ 57 Tuho Lane. Palo AHD: I am ~ounsel for The Edge. I want to thank the co~~iss;on for giving us the opportunity to present our position tonight. I ha ... e 1h'ed in this area for 19 years, and I am very proud to be a part of this c0mmunity. I ha~'e nothing but the highest regard for Nancy l.vUe and the manre-r in wtlicn she has conducted this process. Also 1 want to acknowlecge the assIstance that the police have given us, especially in the last week. As of last Friday, we had a numb€r of questions and concerns, and Officer Venable and Captain Merson have anslllered many .of those questions. Wle have had extensive meetings wherein 12/09/92 -3 I - I we have gone lJ"er miliny of the problems and concerm that we had. There are some things I wou1d li~e to quickly go o .... er tonight. Some of them ar! points you haye alrelldy raised. One is that key propoiler.ts, who earlier supp~rted an earlier closing time, now Supp1rt the current hours of operation. Second. changing the ru12s now we believe would be unfair, in light of the fact that W~ only have t~o years left on the l~ase. Third. 7S percent of our re .... enue ccm~s from co· ... er charges. In other wards, we are not re1ying (In alc.uhol sa.le.s. We. really rely .on cover charges and having the people have the ability to come into the club and spend some tim€ there. Clcsing at 2 i.m. would have a very detrimental effect on that. FOllrth, changing the closing hour:;. from 4 a.m. to 2 a.r:'!. we believe would have an adveTs~ ~ffect on tne c~tizens of tn~ community, a:c:. the CHy of Sar, Jose ~as found. Before we seriously consider a 2 a.m. closing time, I wou1d recommerjd Ulat you 911 dO"ln to Sai'l Jose while they sti~l have the 2 a.m. closing tim~ a~d see what a ruckus that creates. We have a situation where we aliow tne patrons to disperse gradually over time. A fifth point is that it keeps our young people c10ser to homp. and keeps them in an alcohol-free envjronment, because ~e do not sell alcohol after 1:i5 a.m. Lastly, tne needs of cur }'oung people also should mntter to this community. Q:le of the things we halle been working on with the pol ice (and they hav~ not necessarily take~ a posit~on on thl5, b~t W~ want to be very sensitive to their concerns). is that we would be willing, if the commission felt it were ad ... ·;sab1e, t-a close cur doors to people at 1:30. We iriould be gTad to dc that. ke€p1ng them in the establishment so that nobody else co~ld come into the club after 1:30. ~e would like to have the right tc retair, our current hours of operation, or maybe close at 3 a.m., if you felt that would make a slgnificant difference. But since ~e are not relying upon alcohol sales but are v~ry reliant upon people who come to us after they nave been someplace else ar:d arrive. betw€~rr the 11 p.m. and 1 a.~. time period. we feel we would lose a substantial portion of our business if W~ ~ad to close at 2 i.m. So if that is the type of alternative tnat would make a differ~nce to you, we definite1y would be ~il1ing to consioer it. We have discussed it with Mark Venable and Captain Merson, and 1 would like for them to address their feelings en that. Again, that ~ something tnat came up in our meetings with them this week. As r mentioned before, many key proponents who had siJpported the earliei'" closing tim2 now support ;:Iur Cl.Jrrent ~ours. Mr. Shuchat was ;me of the most vocal proponents of the Z a.m, closing time, He is now a fer~ent supporter of the 4 a.m. closing time, as is Kinko's, Umbridge Hardware, Domino's Pizza. ~ovnd Table Pizza and the Pa10 Alto Baking Company. ~mong othe-rs. In fact, they want us to sta)' open. They feel safer if we are open" The people from Camino's had an armed robbery th~ other night after we had closed. lhey would lIery much like us to stay open untn 4 a.m. They feel that if you look at the net effect of our staying open later af'id having the security gua~d5 there, the neighborhood is safer. I believe you ha~e many of those letters in thE packet as presented to you by the zoning administrdtor. lI'e believe that changing the rules new would be unfair, as there is le~s. than two years to go on the lea.se. There has been no substantial crlange in the use of the premises for 20 years. It was tt1e ~!ortex, the Keystone, and now lhe Edge. WhEn the current owners bought it, they did it under 12/09/92 -32- • \ .- the aS5ur'rIptiol'; tnat th€,)I ... auld ha ... e t",o more years or. the~r lease. Hley paid hundreds of thousands of dollars fer thdt lease. They incurred ba~k 1oans, and their investors in~ested funds based on th~ assumption th~t they would hav€ these two more years. 1c pull the plug new in the absen:e of a compelling showir.g that tnere has been a dramatic change in what is happening at that facility we feel would be not only grc:)51y uf1fair, but would really cause us serious ecqnomic harm. It would probably be fatal to the establishment, again based O~ the fact of the impoitance of the co~er charge ~ersus the alcohol. 1 j~st want to stress once more that in the zoning administratQr's statEment, it .,.ias indicated that · .... e would r,ot s~ff~r significant loss of revenue because a1cohol would not be served between 2 and 4 a.m. That just goes to show the fundamental misundt!rstanding of what l:i invo1ved here. We do not make cur money off of the booze. We are succe:5sf'Jl because 'We provide a dr-..J.g-free, hassle-free e:"1viro'lm,=r:t. where young people feel comfortable. To deal briefly with the police report, I don'l; knoW' how many hours Mark spent in putting that information together, but I know it was a heck of a lot of hours. We haye had several meetings where we have gone through that. He has come in with stacks of com~uter paper two feet hign. As Lynne Johnson once said in one of the !"l€ws~aper articles, they do Mt allocate police calls based on addresses. M~rk has done his best in a sincere manner to tr)' ~nd get some guide as to what tne differences are between 1991 and 1992. If I lock at the computer printout that they gave me that deals with our address speCifically, 260 California Avenue, which is the onTy thir,~ 1 can go by with any assurance, that s.hows we were averaging 12. calls for serllice before. Since the securit .... guards were implemented~ we are averaging under 8 calls per month, or in excess of a 50 percent reduction in calls for service. We could spend a11 night~ but if you ask Mark to show you the documentation "'".or those 12'0 calls for serllice, they are not going to be able to do it. It is not that he has not tried. It is that it is a lIery difficwTt figu~e to come up with. They are m~ch further along. Two years ago, they would nelt nave had any computfT printouts at ali. Nnw they have that, and he has gone over it and trfed to figure it out, but it is not scientific. It is his best estimate based on his good faith attempt to try to figure it out. If y.ou look at those ca11s fer services that are speclficaily ~ttributable to The Enge, they are down 50 percent. A TClt of the things we are talking lIbo~t, suc'h a.:i the extra pressure that has beEn placed on the police, we are lIerj sympathetic to that. We did tr} to provide some security outside, and when thEY told us to go insice, we offered to pro"'id~ either off-duty policemen or to hire security guards. '.,.re did not care. Right from the word go, we were sympatnst ic to that issue and raised it repeatedly. This su~~er, they did Ggree to that change~ and we feel that has made a significant difference. But in any e ... er'lt, to the extent nat H,e police are still being hassled by calls after 2 a.m., to the extent that they feel t~at it is an issue and is attributable to the area around The Edge, we are more than willing to bear the economiC burden that that pl~ces on our officers. That has never been an issue, a5 I think they will tell you, and it is not a~ issue now. To th~ extent that they are inconvenienced and there is any economlc detriment to them, we are mere H,an wi 11 i ng to pay for that in any manner that would work for them. But again, because of their guidelines, they have taken the position thdt the c~rrent situatio~ is the best that they will be able to do. 12/09/92 -33- I I t • i • i fn summary, the key pr~pon~nts of the earlier closing time now support our current hours of operatic~. Changing the rules now with on1y two ye~rs to go we iee1 would t,e unhi":". Host <Jf O\.1f f'Jnds come from cover -c!'luges, not from alcohol, therefore, the hours of operatio~ are critical to us. Changing the closing time from ~ a.m. to 2 a.m. will have a d2trimental effect, will in<=rease the noise in the community, as San Jose has found, and the ( a.m. c10sing time will K?ep our kids closer to horne, Fina11y, I just want to talk. about trte young people+ r put in my letter that Mr. Ojakian has rea.d, and I am sure most of you ~ave read, as w-ell~ that one person once said, w'! :!"lIS.t "iew young pe.ep'e not as ef!1pty bottle!> to be fined, but as candles to be lit. Unfortunately, sometimes people in decisionmaking roles feel that it is lAP to us to fill them with our i~ea of what is the best thing for them to do. Fr~nkly, I a~ in bed by IG;30 so thfs is not a real ,ssue th~t affects me personally, bllt I thin~ it h 1mp'Jrtant for us to teach the young people tne.t tn~.) srlould pla.y by t~e rules. In this case, however, I finnly believe that they have plClyed by the rules. we have really tried, in every way PQsslbie, to try and meet the needs and concerns of the community and of the poTic~. If our young people are to play by the rules, they also should haye a vQice. From the 1 etters and cards .you have seen from our young people. th!y view The Edge as their voice in the co~unity and a place they tan call their own. I think we should show the people that if they do play by the ru1es. tnat the;~ needs a1so wi11 matter to this community. We ask nO more, and r firmly be1ieve they deserve no less. Thank you. COl<'missioner Cullen: .Mr. Svnd~ei~, "hat is U1e caDac1tj of the establ isnment? Mr. Su.ndheim: 974~ and that has been increased wHhii1 the last two years, with the approval of tMe fire department. ~Qmrfliss;of1er Cul1en: How much is the cover chargt>? .Mr. Sunciheim: Five dollars per persCin, (oll1'Tllssioner Cul1!:!)}: Do you track, in any way, the number of peoph that enter at differef1t hours? Mr. Sundheim: Yes, we cj.), ii: fac.t, I had Jacek do that recently. ill.i2'k Rosicki: I am the manager of Tne Edge nightclub. Every fifteen minutes, we write down the amount of people who enter the bulld1ng. This is for the benefit of the c1ub. as well as for the fire department and the police department~ in case any Questions should aris~ from them. Commis.sion(?r Cullen: Does the flve dollan; cover the entire evening? Mr. Rosiki: Yes, the five dollars is for ppople 21 and over, and eight dollars far peop1e 18 to 20. (ommissioner ... J .. l,Jllen: After 1:3D a.m., what does happen if you stop serving alcohol? !' '. 12/09/92 ·34 ,. Mr. Rosiki; Pec-ple still enter the pn~mises. and they do pay the 55 cover charge. After 1:20 a.m. alcohol is not served, and the bar is closI:-d. The only thi~9 we serve is r.offee, breakfast, juices and sodas. Commissioner Cullen: And ""hat art! peopl~ doing? Mr, Rosj~i: People arc dancing. C.orrmiHi or,'!!I.-C.ull en; So it is the r:1Usic that they are there for ifter 2 a.m. (Y€s) Are you actuall,)' serving coffee a~d breakfast? Mr Rosik1: Yes, we are. T~e restaurant is open untIl 3 a.m, C0llll11ssioner Cullen: Tt1ere is an etiting e:.tablishment attached-to the facility. How many people really eat? Aren't most of them really drinking? M~ Rosiki: Most of them are dancing, ma'am. 7here is a fair number of people ~no are eating. !:clTI111ssioner Cullen: How many pe0ple would you estimate are there betlfeen 2 and 4 a,m.? Mr. P.osiki: People start fading 01Jt about 1:45 to 2 a.m. At 2 a,m., we have any~here between 250 to 350 people. At 2:15 or 2:30 a.m., we would have bE-tween 150 to 250 people. At 3 a.m .• we would have around lOa to 150 people, At 3:15 or 3:30 a.m., we would have only about 50 people left , CQnrnissiQner Culle!'1: Is this during the wee~. ~s well? jilr. Ro.~iki: During the week, on Thursd<3Y ·nlghts we close at 2 a.m. On Tuesday ni9hts~ we c!cse at 3 a,m. Commissioner .<::_uJJ_~.n: So we are speaking mainly about the weekends. Mr. Rosiki: Yes ma'am. Cornmissiqner Oiakian: My question has to do a littTe with the clientele yuu serv~, too, I \1.'ant to get a quick idea, sirice we are talkirg about whIJ us.es this facility. as to who uses it. DQ you kilO~ how many of the pat,rons are from Palo AHo? 'Jlhat percentage? Mr. Roslki: It is a fairly high perc~ntage, A lot of them are Stanford students and from Footh11l and DeAnza Co11eges. CQmmission.er: ___ .Qi.~}s.ian: Do you have any idea what ihat percent,,-ge might be? Mr ~osiki: Probably about 70 or 80 pt!rcent of the students are people living in Palo Alto and the ~mm~diate surrounding nei9hborhol)ds~ including Menlo Park, Los Altos and Los Altes Hill!. Commissioper 0jakian: Because you advertise in the entire bay area, if I understand that correctly, ll/09;92 -35- \ : I I COrJJlliSSlOncr Oiaic.i..i!1: B'Jt most of your clientele is not from outside Uds area? M"~ Rosiki; As I 5aid, around 70 pe'!'"cent of the-people. This is from looking at our mailing list. About 70 percent of the people come fr'om Los Altos, Menlo Park., Falo AHo, Mou"1tain View, COilllli55~C'ne.r __ Q.i!Ki.!n: r would like to ask also about the age dhtribution. You have brok,efl it dcwn into two age groups, 18 to 20, and' 21 and oYer. what is the ratio? Mr. Rosiki: About 50 percent of all the people are over 2L and 50 percent are between the ages of 18 tv 20, ~ith the excepticn of se1ettt!'d Sundays when \lje cater to age 14 to 18 only, and the alc~hol is hidden, stored' away, and nobody over 18 is allowed in He building with the exception of employees. Commissioner Ojakian: let's talk a little about the security guard~ that you have there now. It sounds like they are now licensed security guards. Ho''--many of those do you ha .... e on the premlses at anyone point in time? Mr. RosHi: The 1 icensed secu~ity guards ate stationed on th€ cornel'" of Cambridge and Bjrch, Park Bouleyard at Cambridge, Park. and California, and Birch and California. That is a total of four. Those security guards do nothing except guarding the signs and making sure that our patrons do not park. in certain areas. COllll1iss;Qner Ojakt_~: It sounds like you aqree to tne fact that at least~ the number of call s for service right now average about eight per month? Did I understand that correctlj'? Mr. Sundheim: If you look at the releva"t period, like the last month~ that is dropping off. There is some seasonality to it. So we expect to see lower numbers in November through Mayor June. So if we are loolcing at the relevant time period. but I ""'as trying to compare apples wit~ apples. My feeling was based on the n!1mbers that were addressed to 260 (;alifor~ia Avenlle 1 it looked to me like Sf') ~ercent. TI'.ere is a parking lot behind The Edge. QrJ-2 night t~at we were c10s€d, there was a brick that was thrown through a window. It ~as in the parking lot in th! back, and that was attributed to us. So sometimes it is hard to say exactly, even when the p-rintout says 260 California Avenue, wilat is ours and what is not. When you expand it, as they did, tc a broad ~rea, and try to say, this is an Edge guy. for example. one time there was an eyent where clearly the ~ictim was an Edge patron but there was absolutely nO evidence that the perpetrator had anything to do ~jth The Edge, sa it is a very difficult process. But 'if you compare apples to dPples~ th-cre was roughly a 50 p~rcent redu~tion, the w~y I look at it. COrm1is~ion~r Ojakian: I looked at the report Hat you included in here, besides having looked at some of these repDrts myself i~ ~he past. The report in here show~ fo~ the month of August, for example, ten calls. For the month of September ten calls. Tbe month of Oc.tober~ sevel1 calls. J 2/09/91 -36- ~ • -, i I i ! Mr. Sundheim: in a couple of those instances, after meeting ~~th Mark, ~e felt that they were not attributable to The Edse. They ~ut that address -on there, but WI'e feH tI'1ey could nat be tied to the activities at The Ed~e, Commissioner Qiakian: t1eJrly, se~eral of these calls are related to Th~ Edge, Mr. Sundheim: Oh, yes, absolutely, there is no denying that. It is not tnat there are no c.:-11 s for serlilce ~t that establ i shment. My point is that 'We fel t we were maki ng an improvement and making some headway on the problem because of the fact that we haYE the security guard:;. Commiss:ioner Oiakia_n: T"at still, to me, ~s a r-eht;Yely nigh !'lumber of calls for serllice. We can ask the police representatives to compare it with some of the other similar types of actiyities in Palo Alto. This is still not a very attractive number tJ look at. Sa my question baCK to yOu is, what is it that you ire 901"9 to be doing now that is going to continue to reduce this number. How do we get this number to zero? Mr . .s.undhetm: I donlt think it is reaTi:s.tlc to expect that the numbel' will be reduced to zer>o, to be hOl'est with you. __ ilh respect to other eating and d~inklng establishments, ~uch as Forty-Second Street. they are not to zero eitner. I think it is someth"ing where we JLJst have to keep trying to do it better. If you look at a lot of those calls for ser~ice, let me give you one example. There 1S a guy that Mark and I were talking about yesterday. He had a fight with t,is wife. went out somewhere else and got drunk! tried to come to The fdge. We wouldn't let him into The Edge, 50 he got in a fight with somebody o~t~ide of the Edge, fell over drunk in the house next to his, and t~at is attributed to The edge. Another person lost a wallet. Another person mIsplaced a pager. A lot of these things that are listed under Tr.e Edge as calls for service are regrettable, but I don't think it is due to the natur-e of our establishment. 1t is up to us to try to contain the disturbances:, the loud noise, vandalism, llttering~ all of whicn we feel have bE'en slgnificantly reduced since the introduction of the security guards. So even though there are calls for servjce~ which \!I'e understand places a burden on the police, which we ar~ more than: .... illing to pay for, our feel ins is that the nature of those is decreaSing and that it is the business o~nerS in tnat surrounding area who believe that the net effect of having the hours and the security guards has been a positive one, nDt a negati .... e one. It is oot to say there is no disturbance. This is not Foothill Park. There are incidents there, and It is up to us to do everything we possibly can. ~e are sp~nding Sl,50D a w~ek on security guards, and it is one of the things we are more than willing t~ do to alleviate the problem. CorrmissilJner Marsl1: As ~"OIJ kr.ow from wher. you were here at our last meeting, there is 11 plan for the development of a. parking garage en the surface parking lot ber-.ind The: E"dge. I Wi3S at The Edge about 12:30 or i a.m. the other night, and I noticid that indeed. you haYe done 3 good job of dir€cting cars to that p~rkin9 lat. It was clear that thE patrons had parked al~ost universally within that parking lot. Haye you made plans for how you are going to deal ,.;th this problem when that parking lot lS unavailable, dUi: to constnKtion? !2/09(92 -37- -' '-\ -~; -.-.. " I 1 -. ~ 1 1 • I Mr. Sundh!im: lhere are additional publlt lots on t~e ~Dut~ side of Caiifornia A~enu~ that I believe would take care cf that. Also, the two-story gsra·ge bet .... een Cambridge and Califorrda that is farther down. 50 yes~ during the constructior period, ~e fee~ th~t we will have to redirect the tl'iffic farther west and svuth. Tlien when we hay'! the Pil~k.;!'lg ~arage, we understand that we \fill have a r'esponsib'rlity ~Hh respect to the security guards in that stn.cttJre. CQ..m.i'S-s'9n~r Marsh: t 'wI'Q llld thinl<. the park.i.ng garage will be a real asset to ne Edge. Ho~ever, it spems to me that if you are going to effectively direct people to more distant parking lots du~ing the construction period, it is likely you are goin.g to have t'J put more resources into doing that. Mr. Sundhejm: We are aware of that, absolutely. Again, it is somewhat seasonal. But wnatever the feeling is. if Officer Venable call:; up, or if Nancy feels or anybody feels that there is a need for additi;)nal security guards, that is nat a problem. We are gTad to rrovide the resources that peDple feel are necessary. If anyone disagre~s with that or feels that we are d'ragging our feet un that, 1 would be interested in hearing that. My feeling is that we fully cooperate. Mr. ~osiki: ,.he additional park.ing is less than a half a b1ock. away from where people currently p.ark if the Keystone lot is full. Corrrnissioner Gluier: I warJt to say that I did ha .... e a chance to \/isit the site last friday for the fiist time. 1 had a chance to c~at yith the owner, as well as having a phone conversation with one of the pre~lous {lwners. Christoff w~s kind enougl, to shar-e with rr.e, straight out of tlis fiTes, 50m2 of the data on when people do come in. Looking at four or fi~e different dat~s, it i~ Guite obvious that the Vdst m~jority of p~o?le pro;ably come in between 10:3Q p.m. and 12:30 a,m. Relatively f~w peop'~ come in early, and very few people come in Tate. You answered the question about what absolute number ~f peo~l~ stay past l a.m .• but] would 1 ike to knOll! the percentage of your patrons who stay past 2 a.m. What is your average nightlY attendance? Mr. Rosiki: !1; 45 p.m. Some people may enter at 10 o'clock and leav2 at 1]:30 or It could vary between 200 to 300 people and BDO to 900 peop1e. k-Q.mrnis_sioTler bl azier: What is your average number of patrons per night? Mr. Rosi~;; Around 550 to 600 people. Commissioner Glazier: So on average, one-third of Y0ur patrons stay pas~ 2 a.m.? Mr. Rosiki: Yes, sir. Commissioner t;hzier: So the re\lfnUe that would be at risk, if YOl! were to close at 2 a.m., WOUld be at tne mo~t, one·third. lw~-t~irds of your custo~rs do not desire to stay past 2 a.~. Mr. Rosiki: Thdt would be a fair estimate, however, most business~s operate on about a IS perc€r\t ITlargin. 12/09/92 -38- • \ • .==:a IJI ..... _~ __ _ Commissioner Glazier: Sirice you have {)l'Inr,rj the club over ne past ofelll years, what ~as been the average attendance on a nightly basis, re1at1ve to prior ownership? It is my impression that yo~ folKs have been quite successf~l. Congratulations. But that has an impact on the neighborhood. What ha~ been the p€rcentag€ of increase in attenoance, say, tcday versu~ Uree years ago? Mr. RQiiki: Probably about a 15 percent increase since the time of The Vortex. Commissigner Glazier: lastl), O~e way to sol~e your ec~nomic proble~s, especiaily.if yOlO ha~e lots of people standing in line, I always learned in economics c1asses th.at if you hail€-ttlO much demand. you raise your prices. if you combined a 2 a.m. clOSing ~jth a higher price, you might get smaller numbers of peop~e, but your econo~ics might renlain the same. Ka,,·e you considHed that .as an aTternat ive? Mr. Rosi/(i: Yes. we ha''''~~ however, people will find other places of entertainment, sLlch as San Francisc.o, where they can stay until 4 a.m. or S i.m., or within a few months from now, they will be going to San Jose. There are very fe""" people \ftIno would ~ay a S5 co .. er charge at 12:30 a.m. if they can only stay for an hour or so. COmmissioner Glazier: But two-thirds of your customers pay $5 and l€ave be fora 2 a.m. A.lso, H is thirty miTes to San Francisco and 25 miles to San Jose. If 70 percent of your patrons are Palo Alto residents, you have somewhat of a captive audience. So yo~ c{)uld raise your prices if it were the only safe and sane pTace to go. ~r. RQSjK1: lhe market wouid not sup~o~t more th3n a SS c.over c.harge. Most people charge $5 in the c.ity of Pa10 Alto. There are some bars and nightclubs who hawe no cover charge ~t all. The minimal charge at forty· Second is boo or thrf'e dollars on Saturday night. So it would be really hard to raise our price Oti the assumption that it would compensate for a loss in revenue and also cut the hours of e~tertainment provided for the customer. CorrrniSSioner C __ !rrascCl.: have a similar Question. "au said Hat one-third of your cu~tomers stay past 2 a.lT!. Ho .. ~ver. very few people COfT"te in i!fter 2 a.m. "o:.J are 1ft 4 1 1 ing to cl use the doors to ~eople 'l!ho might cO'1'le in after 1 :30 a. m. What kind of reHnue do yOll get from l:ireakfasts and coffee? Is H one-thi rd, or .. Mr. Rl)si.k.i: It is several hur,dred dollars a week for coffee, soda, juices and food after 1:30 a.m. It is a few hu~dred dollars a w"eek. Comm'ssi.Jn~r Carrasco: How many people .... ·lio might be intoxicated at ):30 a.m. or 2 a.m. might ~tay or. past that time and get breakf~st there, thereby going home sober? totr. 1:{9.si'Ki: It is hard to say. !f the bartenders and ott1e:-staff feel that a person has tlad enough to drink, we do not serve them any al cohol . The problem sametirr,es is that people try to enter the property at, say, 1:30 3.m., after ha .. ing come from other bars and restaurants and are ir.tcx.icated. ~e r-ef\Jse them Cfltrar.ce. During our c.mwHsat'iOI'l yeste,-day with Officer Venable, there w~r€ one or two instance~ when we have flagged 12/09/92 -39- • .. ~ "~ " ....... ' ", .c.;./·::t1;" ! down the officer that \oIas there becit.!se ~orilet.ody was trying to enter the premises and was into~icated. H~ h~rl (erne from another b~r across the street. We woul~ not let him in, and the person became a nuisance. That is one of the ~easons we have asked the police depart~ent, and ask the phnning commission, to support tl;e earlier closure at 1:30 a.m. but let people remain on the prf!mises so the)' can dance off, s-weat off the alcohol In case they had one drink too much. it would a150 make sure W~ do not lose the customers and gi',fe reopi2' U,eir money's .... orth for their five dollars worth, plenty of music and plenty of room to dance. Cnmissioner Carrasco: Do you ttlink thilt If you do close at 2 a.m., there wlJuld be a significiflt reduction in the number of people who m~ght come to lhe Edge because you close at ,a.m.? That is probably w~at you are saying. Mr. Rosiki: Yes. sir. COlTlTli_~_$ior.er Carras.£Q: What percentage of reduction do you expect you would have? Mr. Rosi_k1: ~e feel we \fould lose around 20 pE'rcent of the peop1e wanting to come to The Edge. A lot of peopl~ carne betwee~ the hours of ]0:30 p.m. and ]2:30 a.m, Eetweel'1 those htlurs, j/roJably about 50 to 70 percent, maybe even 80 percent. A Tot of the people who come at) say 12:15 or 12:.30 a.m .• pay a 55 cover charge because they know they can stay at the establishment until, say, 3 a .m. and do riot mind paying the cover charge. If the music stopped at 1:3D a.m. and everyone had to vacate the building by 2 a,m., 1 think tl'1ey would not ... ant tc do that. It lS kind of expens i ve to pay a $5 cover charge if you only have one hou r 0 f entertainment left, Commissioner Oiakian: your business plans? Since your lease does ~nd in two years, what ue Are yOLt expect;ng to renew? Mr. Sundheim: No. ~e just need to see it thro~gh the two years. There is an 80 percent ~hance we will go else~here. and there is that 20 percent chance that we would stay. If we stay, we understand that all bets are off. We would lliork with the city in ad',fance to detemi11e .... hat they want. If 2 a.m, is what thej want) then ther~ is probablY a lOD percent c~ance that we would leave. That is what we are looking at. It has bee~ that way for so iong, that .... e WOUld just llke to hav~ the right to han.g 01'1 for two more years, or in a modified ',fen ion such as cTosing the doors, something that would enable us to recoup the investment that has been made. Commissioner Ojakian: Let's take it one step further. What happens tonight if we happen to say that 4 a.m. is an acceptable clOSing tlme, and the city couflcil confirms th;:.t. T.-!o yeil!"S from now, knowing that you can stay open until 4 a.m,. what is the probability that you are going to stay? Mr~_~fki: loIould you repeat the qUE5tion? COl'!ll\is~.iQ.n_~L_Ojnkian: If ym.: tnoIJgl>t you cou.ld sta,::t vpen l,mti:i 4 a.m. now, two years from now, five years from now, wuuld you 5tay in this current location and renew your lease in t~o years? 12/09/92 -40- • " \- , ~ .' " "-.. ----~- Mr. RO$Hi: ThE! first bo years we wGuid hH'e to stay b~caus.e we have major financial ob1igations-to banks and inl,l2".Etof'S. Beyond two y~an. lJur businass plan was that we would hawe X number of months or years t~ recoup (iiJ, investment. We alsl) ne~d to make a return on our investment. Th~ plan included the lease for wh~ch we paid hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is a 20-year-old lease, and we paid a premium for it. After two years, as Ouf said, all bet5 are off. If we can stay at the current location ... ith a 4 a.m. clOSing time, that would be great. If we cannot, W2 would definitely try to locate at another location and carryon the business where it is rnor~ suitable. Then the landlord would have to do something else with this location. Comissioner Ojakian: So are you s1!),iflg that the drilling factor behind being here two years from nolol versus not b€ing here is the closing time? Two yedrs from now~ if you k.new you could stay open until 4 a.m., and you are getting ready to renew your leas,= or iJiQ'.'e, would ynu stay in this location? Would you wrlte a new l~ase? 10k. RQsiki: I reaily do not know. I would need to check wiU, the stockho1ders and investors to see if tr~at is what the)' want tc do. There are a lot of probl€ms involved. 'We do not know if we would want to st'lY past that. It would be hard for me to say. COII!l'1issioner Oi.~.KiJ.i!: So at least we can say that the criterion for staying is not necessarily what your hours of operation would be. Mr. RosHi: Again, r could not answer that beyond Hie tll'O .)'ears. We are mainly concerned right MW with the two years and that .... 'e h~ve a lease requirement to fulfill. Mr~ Sundheim: In two yec:rs, we will ha'.e: a new 1ease. The lease cDu1d go up; the lease could go down. It will be a whole n2W ballgame. So whether ~e stay npen until 2 a.m. or 4 a.m. wou1d certainly be a factor, but it depends on all of the otner relevant factors, as w~'I. He might be sick of the business. Maybe the landlord does not want to allow the use to continue. What the sentiment is. Just a whole 10t of factors. Obvf~usly, it would be signjf~cantlj advantageous if it stayed open until 4 a.m., but whetner that is even t~e critical element at that point is in questton. I ~a~e been involved in thjs club w~th the prlor owners, represeryti'9 them. I understand his timeframe. His ti~efra~e i~ twc years from now. That is what the purchase price was ~ased on. lhat is what we are really lookin9 at. Beyond that, ~e do not kno~ what we are going to do. Commissioner Carrasco: Mr. Sundheim, yuu expressed a willingness to pay for police services after certain hours if it stays open from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. Are you still willing to do so~et~j~g like that? Mr. Sundheim: Absolutery. That was prapos~d when they first told us that we had to leave the outside area. ltJe still stand behind that commitment. Our offer was as. high as being wi 11 ing to pay He an hou.r for off-duty police. The number of dollars i~vDl~ed here to allow us to stay open these extra two years are significant. ~e understalld thel"e is a concern_ We are willing to Gay the incremental cost to meet that commitment. 12/09/92 -41- -_;&.0' • 71 iJ .It ~~egel. 2733 Bamoria Street. Pa1..cL.A,lto: I was the principal owner of the club c!lled Tne Vortex, which resided at the same site as The Edge. r will make a few comments, but! basically mal<e myse' f aV'ailable as a self-described expert on that site, and in an era w~en we did close at 2 a.m. It was under my direction that we s.tayed open until" o'clock. Unlike the offiters sitting here, r don't ha.ve to g'..:ess about what is going to happen. At least, I can tell you factu~lly ~hat did happen ~hen we moved the hours from a 2 a.m. clositlg to a 4. a_m. closing. I ca~ also answer some of the numerical questions. While I cannot do it fer JoCt:!K, the clubs ire fundamentally the same. r hava ~ore of a statistical b.ackground than Jacek or Duf p:--obably do. I can tell you, for example, Bill, that 50 percent of our patrons oYer the t~ree years, once we open~d a.t 4-a.m., came in afte. 12 o'clack. That was the :r.edian point in time. His may be slightly different, b~t I doubt that it is fundamE'nta-1ly different. I am also going to tell you that the average person, -if they knew they could (Gille to a nightclub for onl) two hours, probdb~y would not come. So it does have a substantial effect. So it is not the patrons who come in after 2 a.m. that they are worried abo!.!t lOSing. It is tl10se probably who are coming in after 10:30 p.m. Clearly, for l..'S, half came in after midnight, and you risk lOSing, not all of them, but a substantia1 pDrtion of those people. I think you also reed as background, for thos~ of you who have not been there, that this is ""! ~ bar. It is a dance cTub. The revenues that Jacek talked about reflect t~at. T~e bar is there as an amenity. It is secondary to the attract;n-, of dar1cing. That is why people go. The type of crowd and the demog Y 8phlcs of the crowd that they attract and that we -attr"acted are night plople. /I,lthough I cannot think about leavir;g my house at 11:30 p.m. to ~c any~her~, these people do that. It wou1d be l devastation far you to bJsical1y say, start catering to a new group of people. That;s impossible, given the rep~tation and the history nf the clJb that is there. !Jhen we opened the club, we ",ere first open on weekends and closed at 2 a.m. We did tnat for about four months. ~e had our share of problems, but they werp. relatively minimal. ~t l~a)t, we ne~er got to the point I;Ihere we. are neyl. ~e did not e~'en knc~ we COJld stay ope.tI un.til 4 a.m. because most citles have ordinances against that. We researched it, and found that you gl1y5 hcd r.otning prt!V'enting it, so we tl10ught it was a good idea to do it. We saw the success of other after-~Iours dubs in San Franclsco at t~at ti-me. There rea.lly wastI't c,tlythir.g de'w'e.l'Jped in San Jose at that time. I am tarkinQ about the 1985-1986 time frame. When we started remaining open until 4 a~m .• we noticed a couplE: ~f things. One was that the crowd control issues really \IIIent aWdy. It was not like a Stanford fcot~Gll 3ame ~here you ha~e hord~s of ?eople 1ea~ing it one time. We did have that at 2 a.m. I am guessing that our ~verage weekend SaturddY crowd a~eraged 700 people through the tur~stj'e, and that meant that 500 people were in the building ~t any orle point in time. Vou do, in your min<js, need to separote 'ffeekda.1's and ';o/eekends. It \s night and Gay. There were prob~bly 20D of those p~ople left for us at 2 a.m. So that meant dealing ... ith 200 psople lea,,.ing t~e club at once. While we would like to think that none of them had too much to drink, it dees happen occas~onal1y. But more importantly, th~.s. is a dance Club, hlgh energy, borderline ~thTetic type event in people's minds there. They go a~d burn 12/D9/91 -42- ." , I ;, --.•• ,= off excess energy. When you ask them to leave at 2 a.m. I they are ~till a little boisterous leaving for the parkjng lot. as somebody might be after a~ Cakla!'1d A':; victory at a playoff game. By 4 a.!Tl .• 1t is out of their system. We found that as the officers re'errej to the "trickling owt-of the <:rowd. it was much, much easier f{)r our own security pEople to handle. and re-sulted ii1 a fewer absolute r)umber of calls. as pf:r Tony's question. That absolute number nf calls was lower, to the best of my recollec.tion, after staying Gpen ul1til 4 a.m. I than prior to it at 2 a.m.. So Ollr feeling was ~trong that the problems ~ent down ~ith the extended ho~rs. The second thing 1 want to Me~tio~ is that the officers talked about having to return between th~ hours of 2 a.m. and 4 a.m, O~ a more repeat basis, rather than t~e prediction of a peak need at 2 a.m. While I only 1 ive about a hal f n:i1e away from the club. I .an; not impacted by it. but if I did liv€ nea~~r, I frankly do not think I would care that much if I were forced out of bed at 1:30 in t~e morning v~rsus 3:30 in the morning. I really don't t~ink that being able t{) predict tr.at I might be forced out of bed "'it 2 a.m. would be at all be[H~fic.ial to me. If t.nat were really a problem. my issue would be total closure or not total closure, rather than an hour adjustment. I was not totally satisfied, stttirlg back here, "lth the officerrs answ~r about the diffef~nce between The Edge nightclub and Stanford University. I understand, for whate~er insurance reasons you may have, that ynu cannot be employed by The Ed9€. But what J do not u~derstand is that if The Edge does ha~~ a peak need between the hours of 1:3D a.m. and 2:15 a.m .• or it is 1:30 a.m. tJ 4 i.m., why The Edge cannot compensate the city with the p{)l ice officers not be~n-; un~er the a1rect1on of ihe £d.ge, \I,·hy The Edge cannot compensate the city for that extra manpower+ As a taxpayer here, I am upset if Stanford University is not paying you for those fOutball games, if I am paying that money. I would a;so be upset 1( this disproportlonate number of ca11s caused by The Edge were coming out of my p~cket. But as Duf expressed, th2Y seem pr~tty willing to foot the bill. The officers did talk about this deterrent effec.t, or J call it a scarecrow effect. of work; ng wi th the at her secur it." guard s . [am go i n9 to guess that it may even work better with a uniformed Palo ~lto officer. If they are willing to foot the bill, or even a bill plus profitT· to the city, and 1t is okay to think in tr.ose tenr:s ;;.:; a taxpayer, why not do it? Unless there is some statute preventi~g it, I know ] ~a~e seen uniformed officers in other placf's d01ng thir,gs at private events, even if it is not under the auspices of the private enterprlse. Why not go ahead and make the adjustment, or at least, d{) it on a trial basis? Sa sitting htre as a taxpayer, I am not quite convinced about drawing the red line and saYlng, no, don't conSider this. Why not take a look at it? That concludi!s my comments. If I can anSwer questions, based on my o",n history, I will be glad to do so. COrnli~$.Joner G1..~ .. lier; let's talk numbers. Based on yrJur experience, and bas~d on your extrapolation of your exper~ence to the current sltuat'on, if we were to require them tG close at 2 a.m., what would be the percent of t~e:r re~enue that would be at risk? Mr. Siegel: Rather than trying to p·ut it 0]"1 them, r jtj"i n gD back to my situation. What 1f you had reqUIred nle to close do~n at 2 a m., I think I would ha~e lost 60 percent of the patrons comlng in after 12 rnldnlsht. So I would say. my door charges absolutely would have droppe-d bv 3.0 perc.ellL '. Thos~ people coming in because of stiyi~g past 2 a.m. are ~aing to drink a little 1ess than tt1£! rest of the al,lerage patrons, becaus.e they may h&¥e, an average, only a two-hour drinking ~lndcw. whereas those corning in ~1!orl ier might nl~e "ad i. three-hcur OM. aut b.;:cause OL!r numbers. were about like Jacek's. two-tllirds door and one-third bar and food, I w~uld haye 9u~ssed a 30 percent reductio~ in the door, and more sllbstantial redu,:tion in the drinking, bl.Jt N1 ~v~rdge, 1 think I wou'd have CfJme pretty ciose to his 25 pen:ent revenue reduction nUr.lber. And that ;5 a. let. Commissioner GlaziM: Given your understanding of the margin ~n this business. would they be ablp to turn a profit? Mr. Sie~el: i do net know his exact pict~re, 1here is one thing that has happened differently. I-Ie (hose not to spl"inkTer the blJilrjing, so 'We did have a smaller cap~c;tj than Jacek has. That is something t~at is dtfferent. I could tell y~u that if I experienced a loss of 2S percent of my dollars, most ef those dollars are incrementally falling to the bottom line. A coup1!! of extr3. door people, but that is about it. 1t is reaHy 311 gravy coming in nat front door. ihere is: no cost Of gO'Jds, for the most part. Except fOr a small bit of liquer, we a're out of bus;pess. I caMot tell YOll he .... ou1d be, but we would ha.ve beer" no ifs, inds or but' . Commissioner Oia1c.ian: Dave, I art! trying to understand your relationship to the current establishment. Mr. Siegel: let me make it clear. Th~re is no financial relationship whatsoever. fie paid us when he was SIJPpos~d to pay us. I still have a friend1y, casual relationship with th€ owner. That ~s all. We still use Ouf as an attorney in a totaily unrelated capacity. I believe in the fundamental rigllt to do business, once it is initialijl granted, unless there is a real strong reason hot to. Even when tnere is a rea1 strong potential reason not to, I wouid see a s:eries of incremental steps to see if they can move in the risht direction. E\ler.)thing I have heard here tonight, directionally .s:peak1f1g. is moving in the right direction. I fe-el that is part of tne free enterprise system. Cnmrnissioner Jli.s1jan; You have been a v,<:ry active person iJ'l the c~mrrruni tj. Most peopl e might not knnw that. but I hap;=len to have knol,rffi you for several years. Mr. Siege1: 1 didn't know you were going to b~ here ton~ght. Commissioner Oiakian: You hal,lE ~orkerl ~;th a lot of young people in this community, and several of those pe~ple are now young adults. I hear several things about The Edge throughout the community. I am sure you do, too. ~hat lS your impression of T~e Edge in terms Df peoplefs perception in the comn:unity? Mr. Sieoel: 1 would sa.)" that, by and large, it is positive. j have to spl it it into two groups.. Al so, I am probably not as pl ugged in as you thi,k I might be to the club. With the younger kid,. ~hat they wDuld describe as their youth nights. I know reasonably well through my association with little league, as you knaw. For the people who are 18 and over. I do not haVe 9reat knowledge ~f how it is viewed in the 12/09/92 -44 - cotmlunHy just verSLiS essEritially ,,"'hat I have hedrd i:l thfs heari"lg ana 1n the zl)ning adir:infstratcr hearin:g that 1 atteilded. Before -.... e e .... en bought HIe Keystone Club, \I,I{' worked lliith the Palo Alto '·outh Council, anj appeared before the Palo Alto Cit) Council in trying t~ address some of the needs of He youth of the corrm1.Jni ty. That is when we dreamed up thes.e youtn nights wnich were pre~ominantly done on Sundays prior to Monday school holidays and on Sl.l~,:Lays durirlg the summer. r presLlm.:! Jacek is doing about the sarr.e thing. Tnat \\las ilery, ilet] pcsitive. It gaile kids a feeling of being in an adult plcce .... ieh aduit chaperones but not teach~1""S that th~y knEirIi and had to see every day. It was a real 2:iCape for them to feel adult. The.y lliere treated responsibly, 'With the exc-eption of the searches that we did on the front end, coming in the door. That ~as viewed, I think, t:.y tne youth c:)und1, r think by the c.ity caurIc.il, and clearly the youth I have remained in contact II/ith as a yery. very positive thing. Let me digress for a moment, as you have jogged ;ny mem::lry. When W2' started the club, we sat down with the police department, a~d did so on a regu1ar basiS. On~ rf the things they did tell us was that baSically, call us whenever you thlnk you miQht need us. ~hiTe cur problems wel'e not as pronounced as they might be today, \ole always found ourselve.s frankly pulled. We k.new that if we c.alled too many tim~:s, something lik.~ this could happen. Yet at the same tjme, we did ~ot want to handle tnirgs that we really were not capable of handling. I heard you asklng Ouf about absolute numb~rs of service calls. We ~ad a procedure, and I don't know if they st11l use it, ,..'n~re if sorr.ebod.y came in and gave us a hard ti~ and we turned them down because we thouaht they wpre too intoxfcat~d or we thought their 1.0. was not substantial enough ·to justify age, we would encourage them to walk across the street to a pay pnon~. dial 911, and we would tell them that if an officer said. let them in, we would let them in. Ninety·five out of a hundred times, tt1e patron would not be focl enough to call the PGlice. But occasionally it did happe~. These ~ere s2'rv;ce ca1i s we could halle easily have aVOided, ;iocketed some extra money. and let that patron come in. A lot of tl:1e calls, I w{)uld bet, are because they are doing a good j0b. If you leak at The Keystone, which was a 10t tougher pl ace, I a:n guesslllg that those kind of measures were not put in place. I don't think the measures that Jacek put in place or that we put in place are fallowed in other places. So belie~e it or ~ot. in some ways, r think it is good news that there ar~ calls. It tells me that they are dOlng t~ejr job. Corrmissioner Carrasco: I am still a little bit ,,"'orried about that one perscn we migliT··save-who might b~ slightly intoxicated, al1d if he stays in there for br~akfast. ne or she would not be h~rt. In Jour opinion, did that occur? Mr. Siegel: St~tisticdl1y, it had to have happen~d. There are people who shouldn't get into their car, but do, because they really do not have anyplace to go. They don't want to sit in a p~rkjng lot. Tbe fact is that if they sat in a park1~g lot, they probably do run a risk of one of our security guys telling them to move on, {)r a poTice officer coming a half hour after we close, tell ing them to mOlle en, and then the moment they do, they are going to ha'Je a citatior. far driving uflder the influence. It is a ge,od place to get that Ol,t of your system during those hours. While it does~'t ensure that there wo~'t be the liabilities connected with drunk driving, it certainly lowers the probability of that 12/09/92 -45- !.lgnificantly. It is both the alcohol part Gf it, as you were talKing about, an:! it 1 s also the E"r.ergy part of it by allo'Vifig them to b101 .. · off steam in a controlled environment between 2 and 4 a.m. rather than their saying, let's drive fast o'.ler to Oc.nny's or fir~d someplace else that is open. Most people leaving at that hour are going home. If they have come in more than one Cdr, they are breaking up and going home. They are not looking for more action, more things to do, and are not l'1anging cut in th€ parking lots as much eo:) they wotJid 1f we ~aid, everybody out of here at 2 a.m. His was our direct expe1"ience wt1en we move.j from 2 to 4, and we ne~er lOuked back. Commissioner Marsh: Dave, you ref~renced in your earlier comments some of the incremental changes that have been suggested that might go aways t{l~'ard al1eviatlng some of the problems. loIould you like to elaborab on that? Are there sp~cific things you have heard mentioned that you think would be effl2'ct file and not overTy onerous for the operator? Hr~ieqel: ! don't know specifics, but let me tell you what I would do, If it were left to me. Number one, I would change the Palo Alto PoT ice Department's polley and allow me to I.,;se u~iformed officers. I feel they are better trained, th~y would muke smarter decisions than even the best security people~ and I think they wOlJld have a much higher deterrent effect than a B,inks type of securHy guard. Number tk'O, short of that, would allow my s~curity people to go into places wl1ere you currently do not allow them. if t~at is true, putting them in as a scarecrow in the Palo Alto city lots. Number three, I would put up barricades not just on the lots adjacent to the reside~ces but 1 would put them out on the streets adjacent to the reSidences with a sign of something along the lines of Broeal traffic only.-Those things would deter some of the parking problems that might be going on in the street, or people 10cKing for a shortcut out. It js a little bit confusing, once you are behind that Cambridge Street area as to how to get out, particularly once yo~ get trapped in that Park Bou1evard maze that is there now. So why not just b10cK it off. I wou~d not go as far as navi~g an officer there checking driver's licenses to make sure they live there. A si~ple barricade with enough room for local traffic to get by would be something th .. i would work. Again, tr,yirig to push people to the parking 10ts on the south side of Ca1ifornia Al,lenu.e as you indicated they might have to do soon anyway would be reasonable. E~couraging l,Iaiet parking wOI.1d be aMther thing I would e;:(plori:, so that your own employees iire parking cars in other lots. I don't know what the liability function of that would be with respect to the city with a. third party parking somebody's car in a city lot. It might be a way to get a few more bucks for the club or to subsidize the parking or the extra cfficer cost. When you are taki~g people out of the; r own cars and park. ing the'Tl, you have contro"l. Those are some ideas. Also, r ha~e a business suggestion, and Jacek doesn't have to listen. would change my pricin~ structure. Not i~ a way that Bill described wherein I might lose customers, but if 1 am concerned about lines and if b€lie~e I am going to end up having to turn people away, 1 would abso1utely raise the price. But more importantly, I would try to do some heavier discounting during the earlier hours to try and get that line into the building more quickly. I iTiight try to set up a situation where there are muTtiple lines with. more pE'op1e handling them. Some of this they may have done. Those, on first pass, are things I would implement. The biggest o~e is blocking the streets and having Pa10 Alto uniformed police 12/09/92 ·46· ~, , present. tl!i:JltJ!.fllerstelL_J_5...c __ ...lQlJ __ ~.9_~_ Avenue, Palo .0.1 to; 1 am here to tal k about my experiel1Ce5 witfl ihe EdgE' I have li\,/ed ir. Palo Alto for ten Y2ars. I have lived in the Evergreen Park area for two-3nd-a-half years, right at the in~ersection of College and Birch. It is a house, as opposed to an a~artrnent, arid I look right out on the street at a T-intersection. It is a perfect ~pot to see 'tInat goes on. IrIhen I fiTst moved there, therE were a f2W pf{)b~ems, nem~1y. some gri:lss and p'Jants in the front of my hOUSE where 1 would generally find bottles and litter and McDonald's bags, etc. on a fairly regular bdSis. Then one night driving nome, I noticed signs out saying ~Edge perk.ing" and paif1ting out a direction to go. At fil'st, i was con~erned because I thought I migM ha'le t:. go through a maze every night and identify myseif. But quickly, t:'e sec1.!rity people recognized my tar, and now they are a we1come Sight. Since tr.ey have postea the security guards, the probl ems have net only gone away, but other problems have cleaned up. Specifically. a lot of the litter, which I know is not all coming from Edge patrons, is gone. The frcr:t of my house is alloola.vs clean flOW. I am r1{1t the one coing it, sa J attribute it to The Edge employees. There are never a.ny parking problem.s -in the area. There are always spots in front of my house and all along College Avenue, where there wen:! not bef:lre. In fact, I occasionally ever. get panhandlers tG Iliy door, and I certatnly get a lot of solicHors cominiJ arour,d, but on Edge nights when they have the security p€op1e, I ne'Jer see them. SIJ there aie some other benefits to haYi~g them in the area. I often go to Printers Inc late at night b€cause their cafe and the bookstore are now open, and there are never iny problems from Edge patrons SD~cificolTy. There wa$ talk about having Eyeryone leave at 1 or 2 in the morning, as opposed to tridlif19 out the way they do now. I would really be concerned about 500 people all leaving at o~ce in various states of drinking alcohol. Right now, there is n~ver a traffic problem ap~ neyer a parking prlJblem. In general, I think The Edge ~as been great for the area. It is one of the reasons why! have decided t~ stay in Palo Alto and have lived for as long as I have. I have been a patron of the various clubs at that site, The YlJrtex, The Keystone, The Ed'3e. It is tile only real c1ub between San francisco and San Jose. It is the on1y alternative t{l driying 4S miles up the peninsula or 25 miles south to San Jose. It js a quality operation, recognized in the bay area as a quality club. They attract a "'ery h'igh caliber IJf talent when they have 1ive entt'rtainment. To me, it represents some diversity in Palo AltlJ, which is alwi';,ys a benefjt. I hope they "i11 be able tlJ stay and run their operatilJn in a profitable way. Chairman E-eecham: From your experle!1ce. do you think that parking in your neighborhood has dropped significantly si~(e security has been urging them to other places? Mr. Wel1erstein: Yes, the problem was thnt right in front of my house, there are two parking spots, and those were always taken. It was .always diffiCult and I had to drive well up and dow~ (oll~ge ~yenue to find parking. New it is not an issue at all. Those spots are always empty. • 12/09/92 -4 7- can see 1he Eoge guards from my front door. Th~re is a bench right a,~oss the street at the intersection, and there is ~sually SGreeone posted right th€rF and a1sc at the intersection of Cambridge a~d Birch, ~ith a guard a.,d the sign directing people the otr.<>.r Wily. So it has bHn great. Chairrn3n 8eech~m: Thank you. Walter ~eynolds, ZOO ~a'ifornia Avenue. R'212 Palo P.lto: Good evening. My residence is it €35 Starr Hill Road, llioodside. I am if computer engineer ~nd h~~e a company that deals in engineering software. Our offices are at 20C California Aver-ue, dbo~t fi~e buildings upward from The E·jge. I baf'ely know The Edge from the ~n::;ide. but being a computer-t,),pe person ~ho frequently works late, I leave my office at 10 o'clock. 11 0 1 clock., and !Yen 1 ater than that, much to the unhappiness of l'I"Iy '11/; fe. So r frequently see these kids going o'.er to ThF; Edge. -:--hrough the years, I have been rather impressed wjth them. They ire a particularly nice bunch of k.ids. The girls ha'ie their mini-skirts up about as high as they dare to to attract the boys, and the bays are ~ind of a rough bunch, a litt1e bit, but fol'" the o(;casion, they' are all slicked up. It gives me kind of a warm feeling. 5eeing them there. So r ha~e always thought The Edge was a rea; asset to Cal1fornia Aven:Je. As you know. it is a little community. It is old Mayfield, and hailing an ~ffice ther~ has been nice. The Edge has been a little village spot for the kids, it serves the community, and I have feH very warm toward it. beHeve r wrote you last August. I l'1ope my 'ietter in general support is in your folder. The reason I am here tonight is that last night, r again left late, abcut 11 o'clock, and 1 happened to notice a guy with a walkie-talkie strapped on. I said scmet~ing to him about being all wired for something 1 and he said, yes, he ~as a guard for The Edge. lt was the first I k.new that T~e Edge had these p~ople out o~ the street. So we taHed, and r gave him my card and said, if you guys eve:r need somebody to talk for yo~, I would be nappy to go down. Sa my main pitch is that I thinK The Edge is a ~ery worthy thing for tn9 yaung folks. I put it right straight back to you. hihat have you, is the commission, doni! for these young people in Palo Alto? And I put it right stralght to the poT ice force. What h2.'Je you done fer these young people in this area? Frankly, I think The E-Jge ;s doing a very good job and is :.omet11ing yOL! ought to imitate, rather than being down on The Edge. I thi nk it ought to be the other way around. VorJ ought to be sHtirlg here wondering how you are going to keep it here, how you are going to keep it doing what it is doing. It is well to ask them to police the area and all of thQse kinds of things. I am grateful for that. In waiting here tonight~ r did go through the material. First of an, it seems like the proposal is essentially from the zoning administrator. I thought an C1dministrator is sUPP0sed to follow policy, not make policy. And the pol ice department seems to ha~e a strang hand in here. You would think, from the talk tonight, that this is a great load on the police depaitment. His is a terrible thing here on CaTifornia Avenue. They must be over there all the tirr,e. let's get down to the bottom line. On Page 4, there were four occurr€nc~s after 2 a.m, in an SO-day period. The police r,ave actua~ly had to go {I~er there once every 20 days after 2 a.m .. That is ~ardly e~ough to keep them awake. So I cannot see where this is a big police pl-ob1em, r cannot see the argument that all c.losings shoul~ be at the same time. think that fli~s in the teeth of the 12(09(92 -46- general acceptance that flex tlme 15 a good thlng for traff1c. If all the rest of tne b~rs close ct 2 am, you ~Duld wa~t to get one of them off of th~t time. So I think t~e argument of having every bar close at 2 a.m. j~~t thrc~s a peak load on the police dep~r~ment that you would want spread out. So from ~hat I have seen from being 1n business ab0ut ten ye~rs along th~ street th~re, this is a good, ~holesome place for kids. I'll tell JOU one thing about every kid in there at 3 a.m. He is not over in East Palo Alto buying crad. They are dOing a lot of things there that I wis.h my daughter had dIJne, or doing a lot of things I ,,'ish I ':lad done. I think it is .a~ 2sset to the co~unity. As a businesSill.,jn a~ong there, I occasionally get a few beer bottles Gn my steps in the mornj~g. and I just pick them ~p and throw them in t~e tra~h can . .Fllz.abeth Burg, 424 _C_.9~_~_y_enue, Suite F. P.1l{! Alto: r am grateful for this opportunity to address the planning commission about the concer~5 of the community from a 25-year-old point of ~iew. I have been a resident of 424 College Avt!nue since August of 1984. I attended Palo Al to High School and also FoothllJ College. I ccntinue to be a resjde~t of this cOrmlunity. So I have seen, first hand, 3111 of the kinds of complaints that peuple ha~e been making in the letters I have seen. I have been one of those people who have called the pollee to do something about the noise and the traffic. My bedroom sits right on thc street. It is the first apartment in the front, and you can hear the footsteps of peopl~ walking past_ Indeed, I can hear cars passing on E1 C!rnina Real because it is so Quiet in the evenings. So any disturbance from Tt'le Edge echoes up arvi do~n the street and is very disturbi~g. What the mana.S-ers of The Edge have done; s sc'!!ething I tja .... e not seen in the eight years I have lh'ed there. That is, they have responded to the concerns of the cormn .. mity in a way that h<ls dane scmet~1ng to actually prevent trafftc on the street. I believe my car to be one of the noisiest on the street now as r come home late in tr~e eveliings after I am finished at woile When I was first made aware of this, I was rather dh'ided. i am against the noise that goes on in the cQmmunlty as a result of traffic, regardless of whether it is from Pr1nters Inc or Domino's Pizza. I am also a patron of 1he Edge, and 1 am happy to ~ave the currE~t owners who are there now managing. They provide some of the best entertainment. You cannot aven travel to San francisco arid Sa!] Jose arid see some of the a~ts that ~ou see here. They are also at reasonable priCES. It is i 1 ittle less, and sometimes just a little more, tha~ the cost of a movie, yet it 15 cOf'weniently located in my l1eighborhood .. I very much appreciate the opportunity to be able to attend something so close in the neighborhood of such high quality. It also pro~ide~ a place where r can go and do nat have to drink, A lot of the places located in downtown Palo Alto along ~niversity Avenue don't offer as diverse an opportunity far entertainment and indeed. a lot of the places that my friends frequent are bars. People my age go to bars because there isn't anywhere else to go besides The Edge. I ask the cO~Bission te take action to continue to encourage the responsil .... eness of local bUSinesses in our community to respond to the concerns of tMe people living in these neighbor~oods, but I ask that you not restrict the hours. I a~ orle of those patrons that stays beyond 2 a .. m., and can now feel safe about walking home in my ewn neighborhood, 11/09/92 49- • ~~ .............. . . ~ , ! due to the presence of the security officers that are there. I am looKing forward to the: development that is going 0;' in this; community that is ongoing. Five to six years. ago, Ca'lHornia ~.venue .. a:; not .a pleasant place tc be. Tfler'e was trash liP .and d:)wr! the street. and many of ttle buildings \fIIere vacant. Now I see a booming business ,,:::orMurity, a nlee eo:r'I'Hlnit)" and a good place to ihre. It rivals University ~,venue and has enhanc.ed the quallt}' of life in Palo Alto. ~ou I'-Ia .... e an eXc:1uslve oppartunity to design a coordinated response for the community in this situation. You m~y think you ha .... e to choo~e about what you wou1d like to do. Do you have to shut The Edge down? 00 you have to restrict the hours? I offer that you d{l not ha .... e to do this in order to me€ .... the needs of the cOIMI("n~ity. I am here to tell you that I would be happy if it would continue as it has been establ ished in t~e past three months, and even wor~ to meet the concerns of other citizen~. I am sympathetic, but I would also like to see Th~ Edge stay o~en. Thank iOU for this opportuni ty. ;ugene HcKe,nne!'y 304 __ 0xford Avenue. Palo Alto: One has to ask himself about thi'! pol lei'! protection for the cOm'llunity and siKh as Th€ Edge. I think you are opening a car'! of worms when you: start talking about the City of Palo Alto Po1 i ce Department. You have a budget to contend with. You are running thin. lhere is t~e l~ability, if an accident should occur, or somebody were to get shot, \fIIho pays the bilJ? The taxpayers of Palo Alto bear that cost. You better look at tnat very seriously. Number Two· nobody is here to totally close The Edge. There is such a thing as a status QUo. One might want to think about starting out earlier maybe. All bars genera1ly in t~e State of California serve liquor and close at 2 a.m. I don't see any traffic jams around town. One has to also ask themselves, which was asked here tonight~ about the garage. Does anybody understand hew that is being built? By the taxpayers of Palo AHo. It is a big phs, if it is built, for The Edge. One person was asked, \fIIDu1d you reconsider your lease after two years? r would think that would be a b1g bonus witn the garage in there, and I wou1d look at it very seriously. So as far as I am concerned, I am a11 for the 2 a.m. closure. My name is on here as McNally, but it is McKenney. ~ remember, there are 3 lot of people in ~y position who wouid like to be here tonight, but they are not !'light o .. ls. That is all r have to say. Jav Pael(~rLJ1~ ____ Cxford Avenue. Palo Alto: I have lived at tt,is addres.s for tEn years, and in the neighborhood for 26 years priQr. They can pay the police department for the ~~tra time, and mayb€ even fatten their coffers some. They can light these young candles from Sacramento to Monterey, but they cannot restot"2 the loss of property values that :some of us in that immediate area suffer. The Edge, being located where it ;5, is definitely a negative to our society. The number of negatives increases with the ti~e of night and the number of participants. l~st J~ne, a young doctor and his wife leased from me and my ~ife a piece of property 10cated at the corner of College a~d Birch at 355 College. After they were situated there, I asked them, knowing that in the future, a succes~ful doctot' would be doing some investing. I a5ked him, "loIouTd you; a.t some timfl in the reasonable future, b~ interested in purchasing this property?~ He said, ·Yes, I will check lliith my father and se-e ... hat he says.-After tfiat time, they experienced so much noise from The Edge and people !~rinating out~ide U1eir window, they b'!"'oke the fence down in several areas, and on the bench where a~e of the security guards sat, this J2/09/92 50- 1'" L young dQctor fau~d filthy, racist graffiti carved into thE ~ood. This is on a public bencn, aDd so many car alal"ms going off at va:--ious times when the participants of The-Edge would ~eave. clear up to 4 a.m. when U1is young doctor r1eedsd to:) sle€p that The EC9c becomes offe .... sive in Ollr society. It defjn~te'y is a loss to our property ~alues. If t~ey were to locate ~ut near thE saltwater and the birds an~ the ducks, I am sur~ they would get no complaints. r believe that the p~rticipants ~ould com~ ther~. But where they arE' located, I want it on record that I don't like them being th~r~. It doesn't make any difference whether it is two ~'clock, three o'clOCK or fo~r a'cloc~. Our rest is disturbed all through that period, and we don't think it is filir. Cna;rman Beec.ham: Ho", helve conditions changed over the post years? Mr. Pacr..ar.j~ It got much noisier after The Edg€: took. over. howel(er, when the complaints started coming in and we started appearing before Nancy Lytle, they established some corrective means, somE of which ha~e b-:oel1 quite effective. But there is a counterbalance there. For instanc.e, this young doctor sai~ that one of the reasons they didn't like it there any longer is that even though the noise has cut way down and they pick up the trash, and even corrected the ti'lles they ,.ould pick up the trash, bec.au.);e at first, they were waking people up in the wee hours closer to getting up time. But they don't like the appearance of a police state in the neighborhood. what was your questio~ again? (!1airman 8e~charn: Ho ... havi! conditions changed over the past years? Mr. £ackard: ~es, so after their correction, many of the problems were corrected. But it was after thlt that we lost them as potential buyers of our property. It became ar. affront w~ere they were no Tonger willing to sta,)' there. It is. because of the feel~ng, the apueitrance of the ar~a wi th the guards and sounds of people. Commissioner Ojakian: Mr. Packard, I was going over tna minutes of the loning administrator's hearing. In ther£, I thought you did a pretty good job of summar~2ing a whole seri~s of action items that you $U9gested. For instance, things like closing at 1 a.m., reducing the size of t~e occupancy by 500 peopTe, etc. Do you star1d by alT of those it~ms still? Since you have not brought them lip again tonignt, are they still criteria or things that you want to see occur ~~ reTationship to thjs op€ration? ~r. P~~kard: Personally, yes, and! am only one sl~eper in that area. There are a number of re;:!sons why we are 'l"okened up at val"'ious times throughout the night. So if it happened. ~nd ~e could finally, like the pol;,e~ say. it's o~·er. Now 1 can 90 to sleel1. or they can say, now I can divert my attention in another direction. But if it gO€S to two, three, four o'c1ock. that is all of it. Tnen we are so upset that ~e caro't sleep. George HanuL-LIO Miss.iQ.D P __ r.i..Y.~ __ t Palo Alto: I ha~e a letter to submit tonight. My support is for The Edge and lea'l'ing the hours 1 i ke the standards before. My reasnns are not very uniqLie. I work at Varian around the corner from here. I work tne swing shift. Actually, I am on an extended lunch break to attend this m~etir1g tonight. r will be making up my hours later (if you are curious). I do also go to nightclub5 in the city and in San Jose from tim~ to time. I do notice that the nightclubs 12/09/92 -51- \, -~ •........... -~ . "'" there have ~o problems. ! just don't understand t~e l:abillty of hiring poiice officers to work in ccnjunction with the nightclub. I do see it quite often, and I de see that it does have that effect ~f a scarecrow image. I rather like the idea. Also the ioea of leaving tM:;. nightclub open over a longer period of time, tne extended hcurs, does bring '1'1 the idea of gjving people a cool ing off period. I believe that the idea of what f.2ppenS in thE city is ol nice idea, a~d I wish it was al~Q 1ike that in San Jose. I do see a lot of people leavi~g nightclubs who are not fit to be aut in publ ie. However. He E~ge cffers the o~portur1ity to allQw people to rEst up, dance it off. and enjoy thems;ehes. I don't ~ven 90 in ther~ tH'1til after midnight. For me to go in therE and pay a cover cnarge and only be able to stay for a71 ho~r-and-a-hQlf is not wortn it. I dcn't go to Antonio's, becausf I know they are going to c10se right away. I go the The Edge and ha~e a 10t of fun. Otherwise, what would be the dlfference between Antollio"s and The Edoe. I have met a lot of friends there. I will be in this area for eight years next month. I met my fiancee at He Edge. It is 110t the most romar;tic place in th~ world, but tne peopTe there 1 get ~long with very weil. I can vouch for their system of keeping alcohol away fro~ minors. They paint their hand with a big orange strjpe~ and there is no 'Way they will be served. It is a safe environment fer young~r people and a fun place fo .. people. I do believe it ~s very good for the community. Thank you f()r !}earing rr.-E!. Mich,el Redmolld 4250 U Camino. (123. Palo Alto: I live in the Palo Alto Red~ods condom~niums+ George? I don't think it is that romantic either, but I met my wife there about four years ago. have lived in Palo Alto for o\'er sil( years~ bou9ht a home two years ago, and my wife has lived here f{lr most of her life, about 24 years. I would 11k€! to offer a different perspective on the rate of entry of the patrons. I am employed by The Edge and have been there alma st six years. MarlY n i g!'lt s, I joke around with the doormen about what time to serve the first drink. $om!times it is 45 minutes after 'We ha~e opened the door. This is with 25 or 30 pat~ons inside, which may help show you that they are not necessarily there to drink. Other times, r will be standing around with the other bartel1ders. and we wi 11 be \'ionderirlg whethu we 'Wi 11 make any money on tips that night, because we don't seem to be serving anyone. All of a sudden, WP. find that it is 11:30 or m~dnight or so, and we find we have gotten very busy. So from an employee's perspective, it supports the fact that pe~ple don't s~ow up untl1 somewhere around midnight. I did work tner€ when Oave Siegel was the owner. I would have to support everything he said about the months when ~·.e liere open until Z a.m. only, and the increase in business after we extended our hours to 4 a.m. Also. many nights I w111 be driving back from San Francisco, having had dinner. and this might be midnight or 1 a.m. or so. J might stop in for a couple of dances with my wlfe, but if I kn€~ they were going to c10se in a half hour or so, I don't believe we wou'd bother to stop in and dance. ] don't find myself too different from the a',erage person. I think they 'Would have the same opinion that if The Edge ~ere going to close in 45 minutes or an hour, they would not pay the $5 cover charge or the S8 cOlier charge to stop for a short period of time. I thj~k it is beneficial to both The Edge and the City of Palo Alto, as well as all of the patrons who go to 12/09/92 -52· • '\ The Edge. to stzy open until 4 a.m. Thar.k you fer your time. Boniface H_ lee. 3937 ~erk BOlllevard, p.~JQ._uhl.tQ.: I ~cved here from Hawai i and halo!e been here for" 36 :years. I lr:l've the ~hce. lo1y 5n~s have all grown ~p her~ and graduated from high scho~l, a~d have taken auto mechanics, a~d have participated in sports. They frequent The Edge quite a b~t. I am most agr~eable tc having The €dge open until 3 or 4 a.m. They work off all their aggressions. Thank you .... ery much. Briar. Sheridan, 860 ElbrjuQ.9f..WaY. Palo Alto: r would liKe to thank Dave Siegel for cutting fTly speech il1 haif. I wo~ld, 'no ..... ever, 1 ike to address the 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. closing time from a different perspective. It seems that eVJ?ryone who has come: up ~ere has skirted around the issue of people dr'l'nldng and the serving Qf alcohol. Let's faCE.' it. People go out to drink. Some peo~le have a I"robl-=m with it. iiOIJ cannot monitor 700 peopl~ and their drinking habits. If they are going to drink, they can get someone else to buy jt for them, but we do try to cut people off. I worK at The Edge and we do try to cut peop' e off ; f we feel they have nad too much. Those people who decide that they are going to drink, if .,.'e rush 500 people out of there at 2 a.m., yow are going to have a 10t of peop1e getting into tnelr cars and dri~)ng a~aj that sh~uldn;t be. If ~e ~ere to shy open until 4 ~.m .• tnese people car. dance, th€i' can ha .. 'e breakfast, they can have some coffee. some soda. and they car; gradlJaily get to the point wher~ either their minds are clear enough that they can call a cab Qr they are s.ober enough that they can. dr'ive. N.o o~,e has addressed this. yet. The 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. has all been economical_ I am just saying, from the bartender's point of view, that some of the people from Antonio's, Talbot'~, somp ~f the Dther places on California Avenue, if they ha~e been drinking in there, and they do, indeed, close at 2 a.m_. they ha¥'e a pTace to go~ blow off steam~ have coffee and breakfast, and sober' up a little before they, also, get in their cars and dr;lfe away. just waded to bring out th.at point of .... few. Pat Dote. 710 Bowdoin. Palo AHa: I live or, the Stanford University campus. I am a student there, and I do some graphics work for The Edge. I am also the g~neral manager of lCSU. I want to oddress three ~reas. The first one is Stanford students and California Avenue. I frankly would not have known about (a11fornia Avenue where I ha'ile slnce spent most of my non-campus entertainment dollars. I go to the computer store there, and I go to Printers Inc ail th~ time a~d buy my bODKS there. I go to The E~ge. but would have had no way of knowing that because of the limited amount of advertiSing that the California ,e. .. ~erlue shops do, 'Ii'~IE"reas The Edge advertises on cor.mercial radio 2nd gives the address, 260 Caiifornia Avenue. So I found out about the area that way. So from a business standpoint, closing The Edge d('1wn wOlJld definitely hurt the Cal Hornia ,~~enlJe economy. from my point of V1E:W as general manage:r of KZS.U, we do a lot of events on campus. A lot of the time, W~ have to close at 12 because of the sound ordinance at 1 a.m .• but a lut nf the ~enues on campus also close at nlidnight. One thjng that hurts ~s in dolng these events is. that p:;ople know it "is goi:19 to close early. They don't want to start out until ]0 o'clock, and they Siy, why should we bother going someplac~ for an nour-and-a-half, when I could go up tn the city or to San Jose. or we cauld go to The Edge, So you are not really tal king about a third of the people who come after I a.m. You are getting the people who just think otherwise from the beginning of the evening on l if they know that their options are limited to a certain tlme that they would like to 12/09/92 -53- go beyond. My final point is that as someone who might be considered young (I am 21), what I would like to say about young ~eople in the community is that I have been paying taxes since r was 19. If I go to New ~'ork City, I would be paying much mor~ tharl I do out here. I am a Nel.fl YOi~ resident. Also, being general manager, 1 am ;n~olved ~ith a lot of things in the area. r am very in~olved with the Stanford community. But I am involved. I am ta~i.ng on re~ponsibilities to make the cOI'll.'Ttunity a better place. I have reac o\ler a lot of Hie testimony .. here people have said, young people don't pay taxes, or young people aren't -invo1'led. I would 1ike people to rEconsider tnat when tnin'"ing about th"=! necessity of having a place where young people can fee1 comfortable and happy about going. That is on~reason ~hy you might listen to our voices as eQu~lly as you listen to anyone else. Thank )ou. Ear] Moiinari. 959 Terrace Drive,-_J{)s Alt.Q~: So many good things have been said that] don't kl'JOW what I couTd add about The Edgl? I go over to The Edg!, but r do not go there to drink, I go over thet"e to dance. Just ask anybody, I am Dne of the best! They call me Disco Carla there. ] can say that I (ame there one night about four or fi'le years a.go when it was ne Keystone, Mr. Jacek saw me from lnside and said, come on in. I said, I'm too oTd, and he said, no, you~re not. (Cine right in~ They were all nice to me-, aM they are nicer e~ery time I go aver there. I go o~er quite often, and I dance and have a lot of fun. But there are two things ttlat I did not mention the last time. One is the personnel theri!. They have wonderful personnel th"=!re, Tiley are \lery attef1ti"'e tc their job and they arp. very nice. They are jolly and you can joke with them. The ether thing is; that I don't see any lines on the outside anymore. There are a few people at the entrance, but not so many as before~ 50 that is being ccntrolTed. In fact, I n-e'.er felt there \\Iere too many~ anyway~ I think it is a great place for the kids. There seems to be generally a poor opinion of our young people, and in going over th~re to these dances and meeting a11 these kids there, a lot of them dress rather outlandishly but they ~re really nice kids. They are having a lot of fun, and that's it. So the idea of c10Sin3 the place at 2 a.m. and net leaving it open for another two hours r think is kinda Mickey Mr)use, I think that is very minimal. I think it should remain open. like it ~Oie than I e~er did now. I look farward to keep on 90in9 there, arfd r hope they can keep going the way they are. Thank you. rlarren Wong. 2431 Ash Str_~ __ E!!~Q __ Alli: I wnuld like to give you a perspective frnm someone who h~s a business on California Avenue. We are located it the corner of California and Ash Street, It is 1ocat~d approximately a block-and-a-nalf from The Edge, and about 500 feet away. Being so close to The Edge, it is pretty obvious that your decision will have a severe impact on my business, ~e are a l{ldgil'1g estab1ishment that caters to bus.iness traveHrs who generally sleep between the hours of 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. ThR rooms that we have facing California Avenue and Ash are exposed to noise that comes from the operation of lne Edge. We would get numerous complaints from guests about being wakened up during thp middle of the night. I would say must of the noise that they are compTaining about is from traffic of cars (we have a stop Sign there at California and Ash) of cars stopping and sometimes making a screeching stop, ~nd then accelerating from th~ step sign away from that carner there. If you can imagine on a f'Jll night w;U, 900 cu'Stf)mers the kind of 12/09/92 ·54· " , trifflc ~e get t~ere in the m1ddle of the night. We hav~ b~~n there since 1984. My wife and I ;;tarted the place. He: noise has always been a~ issue, but it ~as ne~er become a problem until now. ! don't know why but we nave been getting more aild more comp1aints. The Edge argues that ciosing at 4 a.m. ",,;11 provide fo'" a slow flow of people leaving the club. from my perspective as. oper-ator of the hotel, a slower flow lasting twc hours longer would be more detrimental to my business. Hoi'.! ho~el guests would be awakened sporadically for two mare hours. At least. by c10sing at 2 a.m .• the hotel guests receive two ~ore hours of peaceful slee~, which is si9nificant. Ir, regards to the noise st'Jdy that was conducted by Mr. Salter, who was hired by The Edge, I would like to comment that it is not so much the level of tt1e rlois~ as the nature of the noise that is the most .jisn:pting to my patl"Ol'1s. I guess they were trying to compare noise from a train versus noise resulting from The Edg~. The continual stopping (If cars at the stop sign ~n the hate1 corner ~~d the subsequent acceleration of cars is difficult to sleep through, e',len for the heaviest sleepers. I would like to commend the operators of The Edge for their ccoperation in dealing wiUl the-prcblems of the r,eighbors. They ha',le appeased many of them through their efforts in cleanlng up the nearby properties. However, our biggest problem is not litt£r or vandalism, whic~ can be remedied by The Edge management. Rather, it is noise, 'Which can on:l be re-duced by shorter hours of operati·:m -or by redirection of traffic a'Way from the hotel. ] would like to say that I am receptive to any SoT~t;Dn that the owners of The Edge can come up with to resolve this noise probTem. I recognize that The Edge does pr~vide some positive benefits, as many peop1e tonight have t€stified. I wou1d 1ike tn see them remain thc-re. Ho ..... evel""~ unless The Edge can specifically address our partic.ul.:r issue and arri .... e at an acceptable solution, r ur~e you strong1y to follow the recommendations of the zoning ~dmini~trator and the police department, which is tn requir2 a 2 a.m. ,losing time. I fee1 strongly that the sUrlr'ival of Ity 'business depends on a resolution of this problem. Thank you. Comrn...i..ssioner Cu~: Mr. wang, you haVE sai-G that j'OUf establishment, which is the Hote"! California, is primal'"lly for business persons? (Yes) Ar:d The Edge is open onTy on the ;.;e~kend until 4 a.m. Are the business pers~ns there on weekends? Mr. Wong: Yes~ there are guests th.at stay for weeks on end. There a.re visiting scholars, for instancB, 50 they ar~ tt1ere dur~ng 'Weekends. Most of our guests are business peop1e, but it doe~ not matter whether it is a weekend or a ~~ek day. Commissioner Ojaklar.: It sounds like this has had some impact on your business. Can Y{lU give \jS a monetary figure or some quantitative number, meaning, ha .... e you had several guests leave duri~g SDme period of time? Mr. Wong: I think the best way to measure it, as 'With any business, is through good will. I can give you an example of guests 'Who have been c.oming to us O'fer the years, and their favorite room used to be one that faced California Avenue. InCidentally, ToDst of our nicest rooms are along California Avenue. Recently, during their last ~is't, they asked 12/09/91 -55- .... ---~~ .. '-. • fer a room that faced the courtyard. That has happe0ed with ha guests ~ithin the last f~w months. ~e had a guest that s~ortened his stay because they cauld not stand the noise. In order to appease any guest who; s not happy ...... e do not charge the:;'] fo~ th.:> room. We ha~ a guest who left in the middle of the night because he cou1d not sTtep on a Saturday night. All of this happened this year. ~icn ~ingerter, 469 Grant Avenu€. Palo Alto: r live across the street from the new Ollve Garden which used to be th~ Acapulco Resta'Jrant. The matn reason that I became involVed in ill of these hearings was because when J saltW that there was some discuss1{1n of closing n~ Edge earlier~ ! became con~erned because I live ir thJt area a~d often go there at :'light. I am a bUSinessman and do comp'.Jter consuHing. I am often in that area at night becaL!se sOIT.etirnes my hours are 1 ate, and I need to go to the coffee shop and to the post office. It was my feeling that i reduction in the number of people in that area at night would r~sult in a significant reduction in the safet) of that area, as there is safety in numbers, I would like to not hav~ that happen. so I would prefer that The Edge stay open as 1ate as possible, There has been a lot of discussion about th~ noise. I~ terms of priority. I think that safety is more important than noise. Als~~ [ ha~e had some personal experienc~ as I do walk through that area at night. was through ther2 on a Frida) night, and there is a clear distinction, especially now that there are security gt.ards in that area, between the business area where there is a Tot of activity at ~ight and the res1dential areas. When I was in the res'dent'al area, it was bas~cally Quiet ar:d there was no acth'it,}', A. Tot of the sound seemed to be from the crickets, whereas in the bUSiness area, there was quite a lot of activity gOing on. There were quite a lot of patrons that night. I ~~ satisfied ~ith the security guards in that area. It does cause a little bit of a pal ice state atmosphere there. but since they have ch~nged from their previDus uniforms to being clearTy identified as Edge guards, that does help a gr~at deal in that area, so I am ~ery satisfied with that. It helps a lot wHh the overall situation. There has been ~ little discL!ssion abct.lt the podce responding to things in that area. I have some c.;estions, frolTl my point of vie~, about that. One question is about how big the beat is in that area. It seems to m~ that the beat in that area could probabT,J' be contained on til~ lower portion of the map. Th~t suggests to me that there is always a police car w~tn;n two or three blocks of that area any ..... ay. So if the police car is at The Edge, as opposed to, say, down near El Camino Real. they are sti11 ri;ht in that an:a and could respond to a call for service fairly quickly. Also, it seems to me that based on the ~tatistics I have heard, we were talking about 60 cal1s for ser~ice during a certain period of time. During that period of time, according to the statistics gi~en here about the average number of patrons, it seems like there were somewhere around 60,000 or 70,000 patrons who wenc through th~re, Sa i.t .5€ems like the perc.entagi! of calls for service per patron visit is very low, I am wondering if that is an accurate statistic. Once again, I am concerned about the security issues. So jf these people 12/09/'92 ·56· • go aWi.jI from this area~ ! am a 1ittle concE"rned that ".t might create a vacuum which would bring in vandals and other kjnd~ of people that I don't wa~t to see in the area. That might increase the need for p~ljce patrols in the area a~y~ay. So that is one issue, the security. There hay! been a number of comments about the parking. The parKi~g seems not to be a problem, 1 have made suggestio~s tJ the owner as ~o ho~ to move people away from residentiai areas, perhaps by giving the~ discounts for par~in9 in appropriate areas or something like that. So there are lots of things that have not been tried yet wh1(11 (auld be tried tlJ ameliorate t/1e pt"Gbl~ms. Also the residents could, if tl1ey ~_a\le problems, request from the city special parking permits in t~e area. It ~eems like tnere are way; tnat the city could reduce the traffic flaw in the area. ~hat does seem to be something that is already being take~ carf of, especia1jy w~th the se,urity guards tnere. Even without them. I think there are a number of solutiGns that have not been tried. There ~aye been ccrr~l1eflts made about sanitation. ihis. is an .rea of the city that is yery heavily Llsed, not just b.y Edge patrons but by shoppers end ail different kinds: of peopie, even the homeles~, in that area. It seeres to me tnat the city needs to address snme of tnose problems, reg~rd1ess of whether The Edge 1S there or not. There is certainiy a need for sanitation, for toilet facilities in that area. As far as the time of closiflg, that is a 24-hour area. Klnko's is open 24 hours a dc-,Y. The North County Jail, of CO:Jrse~ is open 24 hours a day. The train station, there are freight trains through there at night. The earliest Southern Pacific train there is at 4:30 a.m. Theff is traffic on Alma; there is traffic O~ El Camir.o R~ai. so regardless of what happens at The Edge, there is going to be noise there. I have a lot of nOlse where] live. [have an eyen worse sttuation, as I am directly iCO'OSS the street from a business that operates. ft would certainly be convenient for me ~f The Oliye Garden closed at 10 p.m. so that I could be without the car alarms. etc. But in moving to this area, I understood that it is an urban area and I am living close to an area where Uere is traffic. I live there because it is very convenient to me to have those places open. The Edge acts as kind of an anc~or store. It brings in a lot of traffic in tne area and a lot of people and husiness. That means that the bUsinesses there tend to stay open later. which is an advantage to me. So 1n additicn to the safety consideration. Which is the main thing that got me inyolved, there are a lot of other advantages {If raving The Edge there. J do not cons ider myse~ f a p.atron of ne Edge. I nave been in there a couple of times since they have opened~ but it is not a primary recreation spot for me. NeverUeless, na\ling it there, I feel, is a definite advantage to me. I moved to tne area because I like the area as a commercial area, and I would like to see that ~ontinued as much as possible. ~;Lames Thompson. 40 Newell Road. Palo_Fltq: I first started going to The F.dge about tnree years ago. I went there all the tlme and danced because it was open later. I just turned 2]. I noticed that there were other places where i would go, hay~ a couple of drinks, and it was time to go. r was not really sure if I should drive. But you had to go. If you went outside and sat in the car, you were arrested by the police for being 12/09/92 -57- drunk in pu~' ie.. If Y'"U drove, you w~re arrested for [lUI. So either ~ay. you were pretty much out of luck. So then I started going tJ The Edge becau'):e it was great,. Tw\.l o'c.lo::k c.arn€, and I could keep dancing for a c(luple more hours, It c.ould wear aff. 1 caula even grab some breakfist and have a cup of coffee. It was d great place. I h~ve been to a lot af different nightclubs 1n the bay area, and it ~a! safe. It was a good feeling. It was very professionally nHl. The security staff k,ne',.. what they were dOing, and everything was first class. So I lo¥ed going there. Then I started working there because I loved it so much. So now 1 work there. A couple of things ha .... e flot been mentioned tonight. Someone did bring it up earlier tonight but dfd not elaborate. In San Jose, if you go to a club down there~ 2 a.m. comes and all th1:! clubs are letting out. Ymr-' have several different club5~ several different bars letting out, and you have hundreds of people in the street t~ying to get to cars. Yo~'~e got horns blaring. You've got car alarms going off and people walking E~erywhere. At The Edge, tney are allowed to trickle out, a couple of people ~ere, a coup1e of people there, instead of all of a sudden. a mass E'.l(odlls fr::lm Antonio"'s, Hie Edge and several other bars in the area, all hitting the street at once. Another thing that has not really been addressed are the yo~th nights. OUT youth nights bring in a lot of the youth frorr Palo Alto. One of the things _e have to ask is, where wou1d they be if they weren't there? I am sure that on Friday and Saturday nights, if the police department were to look at the number of calls involved with juveniles of the high school age. which we bring in on those youth nights, they would see a dramatic amount of calls dea1ing with those ~ids dr;nk~ng. partying at their parents"' house when tne parents are on vacatior •• you know the stuff that kids do. But on those Sunday nights when tnere is no school on M~nday. they have a place 'Where they can go. It is cortrolled". The parents feel safe: talting them there. They know we ha\je gotld secuhty. "They dy{)p them off~ they pick them UPl and the kids have somep1ace to go. They keep out of troubl~. I lost four buddies in high school to drinking and dri~ing. It is nice to ~now that these high school kids can go ~omewhere and not have to deal with tnat. The, are not drinking, arcd they are ~b1e to go somewhere and express themselv~s and have a good time. I just wal'ted to bring those points out. Commissioner Culle~; Would yo~ please explain to me about the youth nights? It :J;(lunds to me, from what you are saying, that it , s not e.vel·)' Sunday nlght, but only th~ S.unday n':;hts when there is a Monday school holiday, whicr. ~~es not occur all that often. Mr. Thompson: No, it is primarily summer and winter. \I.Ie could not really have i youth ni.9ht for higi1 !:chool kids on a ni ght befot""e they had school. We have enough problems tryir1g tc keep k.ids in school without keeping them out late. On youth nights, we do close ~;rly because obviously, mast parents don't want their 14·year~olds vut at 2 or 3 in the morning. 1 believe those nours are 8 to 1 a.m. We do a tremendous Jmount of business wit~ parents bringing their <ids down~ dropping them off at 8 o'clock, and coming by anywhere from 12 to 1 O'CIOC~ to pick up their kids. Commissioner Cullen: Is that about five times a year? 12/09/92 -58- i 1 ! -------- Mr. Thomps!)n: No, durir,g winter vacation, we nOJ'maljy run anywhere from t~re€ to fi~e youth l)i9hts. Also, Memorial Gay. laber vay. a~d curing the sunrner, three months wortn. Wle had a special one for Thanksgi ... i;1g.. the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I think we start this $~nday or next with our winter series, Which w111 be over the ~inter season, and r think \II~ e\ler. ha'1e a sp.ecial pie-Mew '(ear's c~lebW"aticn so the k.ids can COIi1~ down and celebrate New Year's a night or two early. But it is on1y O~ Sundays or certain days when there 4re scnool holidays the following day_ C.olm'tissicner (ullen: It QIJ'as not l'e<!l1y take can: of the friday or Sat~~day night parents-a~ay parties. Mr. Thompson: No, but it is a~ opportunity for them to get to a place where ti'H~''y are-supeY'''I~sed and parents do not "a.lle to .. orr), about them. The parents can go oct and have a nice dinner and go to a movie for a change. Ms. Case: Mr. Chairman, I ~ould 1ike to a5\t. someone 01' the ccmm~ss~on t~ clarify from someone in The Edge manag~mer\t the question that (olTlTlissjone~ Cullen has asked. I feel that is appropriate to ge-t into the record. It has not been very clear about the age and who goes when. Ch~irman Beecham: We will follow that up after the l~st two speakers. Mr. John Ni~(jbalec. 3542 Brookdale Drive. Palo '!!'HQ.: I am a club goel" and I li'J~ in the area. 1 ha\le been to the c1ub when it Mias The 'Vortex, The Keystone, and The Edge. I 31so frequent a lot of San Jose clubs. I prefer the late closing clubs bEcause at the late closing clubs, you ~an ha\ie a few beers, and you don't haile to worry about being thrown out orl the str~et ~hile still inebriated. You have the opportunity to d~nce. get ;tll your e-ner9Y out of your system before you get out or. the str,~et. The probl em in San Jose (ar,d: I have had a 1 at of experience with this) is that at 2 a.m., you still have a lot of energy in your system, probably still haVE so~ alccnol 1n your bloodstream, and you have to leave, along witn hundreds of others. You have to get out, you make a lot of n~ise, and a lot of people End up milling about outside the club, beta use therE is still a lot of energy. They talk ~1th their friends, they loiter around, and try to figure out where the loc11 Penny's lS. lhe), are trying to figure out what they want to do to l(e~p the evening gain;. At tl"-e.( a.m. clubs, you ha~'e a chance to stay t.:ntil ycu na1le burned up all of your energy, you go right to your car, you are sober, and you go home. ~ou ha¥e caused no troub1e. So 1 would hate to see this club tUrn into a 2 o'clock type of club just because you may have a few spo~adic cases of noise during the course of th~ evening and a few pet.lple might get waked up. At 2 a.m. w~en the place closes, everyone is going to get waked up. So I wante<l to put in that input. Brad Adams. 3bD College P.venueL __ e.!.l.Q~tQ: I appreciate the cnmmission meeting tonight to hear us ail out. 1 also appreCiate the professionalism ~lth which 1 have notlced the questior,~ng that has been taki~g place. 1 really think it i$ i~portant that w€ seek to understand all the issues and strive for some kind of win/lliin solution where 'Ire maximjze people's ~ants. ~ith that said, I do want to raise one issue that 1 am concerned about. "-.~-.... 12/09/'32 -59- I" thfnki~g that w€ need to ha~e a 50lut!on that works for everyone, one thing that I do think is counterprod~ctiwe, and I want It understood that i don't bring this up to ding th~ people ;nvol~ed ~(cessarily in t~e circulation, but I re~e;ved on my doorstep. as a resident living close to The £dge~ a little f1yer which I assume was distributed in the area arcund The Edge, that said, "Don't let the city spoil you~ fun. Help save The Edge.-Then there wcs a little reprint of a letter that w~s submitted, a letter to the editor that ~as reprinted and left on my doorstep. ~Palo Alto passed these 1aw$ in toe last two years~ No danci!lg, no music, no smoking, no card playing. Tr.ta Germans once paHed a law tnat said that everything is prohibited except that which is pennitted. You are getting there. The n-ext raw, fun is nlega1 in Palo Alto. 1 am rat~er glad I am in Mountain View.~ Signed by the p!rson who had submitted the letter. I won't read the entlre contents of th~ flyer. I have been very impressed by Jacek and Ouf and the way their case has been presented here, but I do think that this is important. I Hink Palo Alto is to be comrnended_.in many ways as a city. I am currently a ~entln9 resident of Palo Alto, but I 1QOK, within th€ next two w.ceks, to close a deal on a home just one more block. allllay from The Edge. I must say that I beli~ve that the commission, and the c.ity governmi!nt as a \oI~o'e, rea1ly strives to balance the needs of its tlt'zens. I ~ould hope that these k\nds of things, which take a real stab at the city government, would not continue. It is kind gf a win/lose a~proach. That said, one thing I have tried to do is that r have listened to ev!rythif1g that has been said to understand what pe{)ple wa~t and what they don't want so I could see if there were some alternatives that we ha~e not yet discussed. I think there hav~ been some very c.reative and pnsitive a1ternative~ submitted bi people spei:lking in favor of The Edge. r un<:!erstand that they want to recoup thei r i jwestment. I understand that others want to keep the \larue of the-:r home and property intact. think there are people, myself included, who do not necessarily want people attracted to neighbcrho-ods who will then be kept out of The Edge. 1 aIll c1Jncerned about the issue where we speak of Th~ Edge being a security asset to the nfighborhood. Then we talk a~out the fact---_that we have drunks and other p~ople who c.::Ime, trying to get into The Edge and are rebuffed and told they c~nnot enter The £dg~. I ~m concerned obout where these people go. I am not sure th~t is an asset. 1 think people want the guarantee of security guards without the obvious environment of a police state. J think that basically, we want peace ~nd qU1et i~ the neighborhood. We want to be able to sleep. \ole want to be able to ha~'e our children sleep. We want to be able to have an atmosphere that we pay significant amounts uf money to purchase in Palo Alto. I think we ~ant the noise associated with car alarms to stop. 'We h;;;'\ie people in the community that want to dance. One thing that we definitely don't want in the (olmiunity is that ~·e don't want the benefit of the app.;al that Palo Alto citizens and the Palo Alto City Counc.il and city government have created. the \ialue that people perceive in the City of Palo Alto, to be exploited to the detriment of the ma.ny residents of the city for the benefit of a feW'. That is a concern. I think we need to look iit that. I think we den't necessarily want the same urban environment as San Fratlcisco and Sail JOSQ. TI1at nas beer, presented. 1 don't think "that is what Palo Alto is trying to create, nor wMat the citizens generally want. That is a really important th1ng to r-emember. With that aside, 12/09/32 -60- retl.lrning to the issue that 1 do think Hat \ole "'fant evaryone to lItin in th~s situation. if we possibly ca~. That certainly seems to be the t~"or of the {:ommission. I thin~. it would be reasonable to <lsk for il couple of t~ings. I wOlold say, maybe, assuranc.I?S from The Edge. Cne ,",ould be that the security guards would be kept in full force. Two, that parking would be kept far from parking lots closest to residences, in part because of cal'" alarm:; ar.d other things \!Ihlen seem to be una'Voicable. Three, that they will leave in two years and go to a more urban·corn~~tjble environment. rt reall,Y does maKe sense. I loOo'Jld like some kin.d of aSSllrance that that 'Would be the case. Four. tt1at they would continue the blocking of local and res1dents' traffic only on streets around Th~ Edge an<j ba.r1cades on the parking lots. Fille, that th:ere '",ould be no advertising (and this, I think, is an important one that has not been mf!ntioned) outSide of the 10ca"J area. \lie have heard it said that 7o---w- 79 peicent of the people are local, and the reaSOrl 'Why the plannil'19 commission should, in fact, support The Edge is becausa it is catering to a local clientele and that that is the bulk of their bl.lsiness, and that that justifies it remaining in the community, for the time being. If that is the case, then it is reasonabl e to ask for an assurance that W~ do not prostitute tne apgeal of Palo Alto throughout nort~ern California, so to speak, for the benefit of the owners of The Edge and ta the detriment of those of us who live here. So I believe that advertising o~tstde of local areas is inappropriate. Six, to cOl'1tinwe the cleanup that has been done in the cummunity, and assurance that that would happen. By all means, it is very correct to say that T/'1e Edge has done this. Seven, I 1 ike the idea that they continue to pay f,Jr the service calls, or that we nnd a way that they can, Tn fact, pay for the ser'l'ice calls. Another idea that had not occurred to me until I came here this evening (and I don1t put this as cne we should have assur~nces of. so I .... '1n not l"H.rmber it) is that they wOilld work to make it acceptable to the peo;Jle in the CDr.r.1Un'ity. someho'W, For those of us in the corrmunity who like to dance, maybe every time ~e call in because there is a problem, instead' of calling the Palo Alto Police and saying, I am really upset, as I have in the last month, because it is two o'clock in the morning and this car alarm has been gOing for ten straight minutes no .. ·~ maybe I could call you~ Jacek, instead. anc say, how about two passes to The Edge. Or maybe if I am not a dancer, I could call Jacek and say, you have made me lose some sleep. How about a pass to a local restaur~nt for dinner. Something like that. Clearly. those whD are losi~g slee~ are losing. and ihe Edge continues to win-. Maybe they cou~d address how they could help p~opie ~ip. in that situation. Much to their credit, they have taken care of people who have had property loss? according to my understand~n9. But there are a lot of us out there who are professionals arid are losing sleep. The impact is very negative, both to our business and to aur lives. I think ~t is going to be harder for indi lIidual s such as yoursel f at the Hotel Cal i forn; a, I don't know if The Edge wants tc undertake p.xtensive remodelling and double paning windcws on hotels, things like that. That certainly ~ould be very effectille. but an)time someone in the community is losing and The Edge is not in any way answerable to help ameliorate that loss, it sure appears to me to be a win/los~ situatio~, with The Edge winning. Anything that can be done to ameliorate those things. I think, is import ar,t . I just want to say that I love Palo Alto. I lo'~e lilltng here. do ]1/09/91 ·61- \ value the differences thd! we have in Pal~ Alto and the different needs. I apprec1ate the efforts of the cOmfTllssion to genuinely SI:E'k creative alternatives that maximize the benefits to all of us. ! would hop~ that we would continLie in thts vein. Thank YOLI. Chairman 8e_~: Fat, wt:'uld you 1ike to ask your 1uestion, again, of the management? Commissioner Cu1len: Would yo~ please spell out for us the hours of operation during the week.? We know what it is on the weekend. Also the number of times and hours of operation and frequency for these youth nights. Mr. Rosiki: As far as the number af teenage-nights, Here are between 30 to 35 per year. It d~pends how the ~alendar year falls. 1 inherited the policy from Dave Siegel about six years ago. I believe Dave Siegel met with the city's youth council and, I believe, witn som~ of the council people, as well as with the police. It was requested by the joung people of the City of Palo Alto. I think he talked to people at Gunn High ind at P.ly High. Mr. S~~dheim: There was a youth councilor something. CorrmissL er CI,lJill: lhere is i youth councn, but I am realTy net asking what Da¥id Siege1 did a f~w years ago. :-Ir. Sundheim: We limited the number of youth nights, based en what the youth council sai~. In other words, ~e decided not to ha¥e it every Sunday night} becaus~ the youth ccuncil told us ~ot to. (orrmissioner Cyllen: $0 how many a:r~ you ha...-iflg? Mr. Rosik~: Abo~t 30-35 per year. Commjssloner Cul"len: And what are the hours? Mr. rtosiki: Eight p.m. to one a.m. CGmmiss;orygr ... Jul len: And are they always on SUr1:iay? Mr. Roslk~: Yes, ma'am, e.'-::~ept for the 'lIJedn2sdzy cefore Thanksgi¥ing and the pre-New Year's Eve. (onmlssioner Cullen: Would you verify, far" me, the hours during the week. Is there a night when you are r1osed? Mr. Rosiki: We close on Mondays. Commissjoner Cullen: [very Monday? Mr.: ....... !tosiki: Most Mondays. with the exception of when we have a special live performance. It usually en.ds qui te early. COmJissiqner Cu1Ten: .How about Tues1jajl, Wed'1esday and Thursday nights? M.r.: __ Kosiki: On Tuesday, we are oper: from 9 until 3 a.m. Most lrledr,esdaY$ 12/09/92 -62- , f. , , F we are cl~sed, unless W~ have a special performance ~hich usually ends quite early. On T~ursdays. we close at 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, we close at 4 a.m. On Sundays, we are either c'osed or we have i speci~l live performance, which also ends quite early, around 1 or 1:30 a.IIl., or we have ~ youth night. Youth nights always take priority. Commi.ssl0TIJ!:r CuJ l~f!: Bilt if it is not a youth night, you c10se at I to 1:30 a.m. !1~RQ.li!i : Usuaily, yes ma'am. Colll'tlissioner Marsh: First, I ~as wondering if you wanted to respond to the comments made by Mr. Wong regarding Hotel California and the increased amount of traffic that he seems to be experiencing recently. Can you think of any reason for that? ~.l 500, can you til, nk of any mitigations Uat you all might make for his problems? Mr. Rosik.i: first of all~ regarding the increase in t!'"affic. That is hypothetical. Kinko's has been under new management for the past year-and-a-half. They haye enQrmous amounts of business at night, €specially when school is i~ session. At four and fiYe o'clock in the morning, you will find Quite a fe~ people in tnere doing their jobs. Again. this is speculation only. Pre'liioLlsly, Kinko's was not a Yerj thri'ving business before 1991. m€ manager was not as good as the current njanager. Another possible explanation 1.; that Printers Inc is open until midnight or 1 a.m. They do have a fai~ number of people dinil'lg and d:--inking espresso until midnight. Also we are rIOt the only establishment on California AYenue that is open past 12 or 1 O'Clock. You. also have the Domino's ~izza. I hate to say it~ but they do drh"e 1ike mar,iacs. ltJey are de1iYE!ring pizza until 1 or 2 a'clack. They are quite busy. They can do 300 or 400 pizzas per night_ That is ~hat I have been told by someone. Furthermore, Antonio's Nut House has a fair share amount of clientele, ~nd the clientele disburse at 2:3J or 3 a.m. That might be part of the problem. I hope that answers tne question. As far as helping Mr. Wong, I have talked with him several times. What we can do is to redirect the traffic from California Avenue 1ike we have done, directing people ir.to certain areas where they should park. It should ~ot be a difficult task. I will place a sign after midnlght at Printers Inc at the corner of Californi~ Awen~e 2nd Birch, and tnat should help, although again, if it not an Edge pa~ron and they are leaving Kinko's and do not read the sign, I carmot be re:sponsibTe far non-Edge patrons. By pl~~i~g a gua,d and a sign, we ~an redirect th~m towards Birch goi~g to Oregon Expressway, Or we can also redirect the traffic on Birch and Cambridge where ~eople park and tell Ulem to go straight out to El Camino Real where there are no residences along Cambridge going towards El Camino. 50 I think the problem shouTd be fairly easjly resolved. Corrlmissioner Marsh: Out of c!Jrjos;~y, did Printers Inc change their hours when they added the cafe next door? Mr. Rosiki: 1 could not tell you, ma'am, but I know they are Dpen until midnight or so. They are a great bu50fness and a great asset to the neighborhood. 12/05/92 -63- ~-.'--.-----.-- £mIm.i.isloner Marsli: ~Ias curious as to whether that might have caused some of the inc~ease. Mr. Rosiki: There is a larger capacitj now. The), used to serve 15 people and there would be a line for 20 minutes. Now they have 10 or 15 emp10yees working there, and they have a maximum occupancy of about 50 to 70 peop1e, I wou1d estimate. CommisSioner Marsh: I wOl"id think their business would be much increased. I have a. fina1 question. You have teferred a cou~le of different times to the San JOSE: club. I don't k.no~ what the nari"e of that club is, but it is e~tending its hours from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. You have said that they are dOing it because of the problems associated with everyor.e lea .... ing at-, a.m. Ha'.le the pol'ice or the city been involved in that c1ub's decision to expand until 4 a.m., or is that a decision that was purely made by the club owners? Mr. Rosiki: Club owners cannot make deciSions. It is rather the city workirg Ittith dub owners and the pol ice department to try to el(tend the hours untn 3 or 4 a.m. because a lot of people go from San Jose to San Francisco, and the people who do not go to San Franc1s:0 because of the extend~d hours of operation must invol'.le three or four or five hundred people going out into the street at 1:45 a.m. 1t is a major cause of trouble. Also, all of the nightclubs in San JDse are requir~j to have off-duty, uniformed police officers who are paid by thc club. That is a requirement of li .. ensing. I"'r. Sund.heim: Ther~ are a bunch of dubs, and what was happening was that there was a problem with the pecple leaving. Then the city, in conju~ction with the poliCE, made the determination that there woulo be less of an impact en the community if the city established a po1icy that ext~nded the 2 a.m. ciosing time to 4 a.m. Mr. Rosiki: Not yet, but they wili. Mr. Sundheim: rt is in process. ~.Q..r'lJllissi9ner Marsh: So the city was involvec in supporting that choice. Commissioner CJtlli~TJ: My questior. is for staff. As I understalld it, th1S conditiQnal use permit runs with th~ property, fiot with the lease ~nd not witn the l2-s.~-ee. So ~f \lie appro .... e this, and tne lessee Wat1ts to mO'.le, and he has said that much, in two years, is what we approve transferable ter another appl ieant? Ms. Lytle: That is correct. Commissioner Cullen: Does that make any difference to the operator or to the attorney on this applicatio~? Mr, Sundheim: Are you asking whether it makes any di fferenee to us whether it is transferGble bE',)'orld the two years? Comnlissione.!: Cullen: Does it affect your thinking about the two years 12/09/92 -64- you na~e been tal~ing obout? Mr. Sundheim: To be hones.t with you, Pat, the last six months have been such ~ nightmare that we have not teen thirk;~g beyond the twa years. Ol,.r view is that we just hope WI;" live that lor1g. Are you isking whether it makes a difference to us whether it is transferable or limited to th~ t~o-year period? Corrmissioner Cullen: Yes. Mr.I\DsiiU: Hopefully, we will find ar.c;th~r l~catioti 'Within two years and that it will be some~here in Pale AHo. Right rJow, we really do n':lt care. Mr Syndh~: Does it make a diffe~ence to you jf they say yes, this is okay untii 4 a.m., but it will only last for ho years? ~~~osiki: T~at is perfectly fine, yes. Commissioner C!Jlle~: yean, if suppo'sedly Do you still want to I have not figured we wo~k out what is leave in two years? out why you want to leave in two in everybody's best interest. ~r. Sundheim: It has been so negative for us, and so hard. We r~a)ly are sympathetic to the problems we are generating tn the police and others. We do not want to be where we are not wanted. If we are definitely given the impression that we are Iiro'anted, then I guess we would reconsider, b'Jt we are definitely nat getting a let of 'wI'arm fLiuies. So if we can ~ork something out, yes, we lMould be willjrg to accept it, but right now, it is like we are hanging by our fingers, ar:j you are asking what ~e want. We just want to get back up nn the ledge right now. Chaii'!TIan Beech.im: With that, 1111411 close the public hearing and bring the matter back to the commission. C{llTII'Iissionel"' .. !liE:kian: I lWilT start wHh a question, because obviously, Nancy has written something in the staff report from a comment r made. I am stjll concerned a llttle bit about what she has put on Page 7. One of the concerns I have, especially if we have a tenant who is gOing to be a short-term tenant, is, what guarantees off of the-cOilditions that we are going to put in ~cre, if these things come to pass, what guarantees that we will contirlue to have things like litter pickup and washing down of the sidewalk.s in the neighborhood, etc., thil1gs that we ha .... e heard tonight do exist, and thlngs I know from frankly checking ~ith people in that neighborhood, I know have occurred and have gotten better. 1 ur.derstand that. What guard.ntees that, six mOl'.ths from now, there is going to be litter pickup, etc.? ~_~: We do not have a guarantee that that will continue, but you ~avE it now as a condition of the use permit, when it was not formally a condition of the use permit previously. So we do h,,~re an ability to cite noncompliance ~ith the applicant, and use that in t~king any kind of code enforcement action. It would be administrative, i~ this case, if it ~ere litter. It would nnt be criminal, nor would it be civil. Ms. Case: It could be crimin~l. but ~~ w~uld have to weigh our 11/09/92 -6 S- , :i i resources. Any violation of a use permit 5uhjects the violator to criminal action. loIe just have to decide what was .... ortn it. There is always the possibility of bril1gjng back another hear-ing:. Tnere are certal.' threa.ts of keej)il"l9 the-se condit~Of1s a.dheri;d to. CorrmissiQner Oiakian: ObV'iously, O'1e thir.g 1 .... ar1t to do is tc mdke all of this clear tonight as -.we go about puttin9 things into th~ conditions:. At what point do ~e get to that stage: Is it after a certain level of littering, or is it at ! certain le~el of complaints that generate tnat? Are thOSE complaints from the neighbors or are they from the police department? I am not too familiar with this, and I t~ink everyone here should b~, Ms. Ca~g: Yes. we have to reach a certain level of complaints of noncompliance. It most likely would come from neighbors or people in the ~icin;ty who were being harmed by the prob1em. Police comments are also helpful as backup, but what we are -looking far. as Mr. Sundheim points out in his letters, is substantial e~idence of noncompliance, ~ioner Ojakian: So in that sltuation, it behoo\les the people who live in the area to, in eSSEnce, take on almost a police function. They ha'r'e to respond and make sure they are on record for all the probl ems that might. arise. Ms. Case: That 15 true, because our code compliance generally works on a complaint basis. That is correct. It has been our expe~ience, howeijer, that peop1e a~e willing to complain, Commissloner Ojakian: I Cdn understand that, if you are nat getting a good ~ightts sleep. Conrnl ssioner Cullen: I think we do have another a\lenue of cnmpl i ance. ~hen ~e get down to the nitty-gritty of this, 1 was go'ng to suggest it. We can review it, in six months or a year, as we ha~e with other use pennits. We can call it up and ask, how is it working? At Hat time at a public hearing, or sometimes just at the zoning administrator level, th~~~ is the opport~nlty to re~iEw the compliance without having to hav~ individuals cume in. one ~y one, and ccm~lain, They can a1l appear at the public hearing, if necessary. It does give the commission a chance to see whether the conditions that have been imposed are being complied with. Commissioner Marsh; You are probab1y not surprised to hear this, but sometime ago, ~e talked about passing an ordinance that would allow the city to recoup the full costs of some of these re~ie~s if they are specially put on applications, Is that ordinance in place yet? Ms. Lytl_~: No, in. fact, we are far from it. Corrmjssicmer Marsh: But we have, on sorn~ pre\lious applications, including the YMCA, placed some requirements for later review which ~e expect to ha\le u~derwritten by tne applicant. How ha\le ~e structured that? Can you remind me? Ms. Lytle: It has been written that trlat will come into place if the ordinance i~ there, essentially. We have the ordinance on cur list of 1,/09/9, -66- " things to do, but it has not be€n made a high priority item, as of today_ The YMCA, w~ijch is the compelling ap~ljcation for which to have it in place, h~s asked for a~ exter,sion, so we have gotten an extension on gatting that ordinanc€ in place_ That 1s one reason why we have nJt mnved it up to our highest priority. Comm~ssi...01er Carrasco: I have a question for Sue Case. Hie ilpp·li..::ant has inditated that he is ~illing to pay some additional fees as part o~ t~e use permit in order to have greater police protection. Could y~u cOlTlTlent on th-lt hsue? I do not fully understarld your nate to me. It says tndt bE:cause it is not iii policy issue, \.-e cannot directly charge them through the use permit process. Ms. Case: There are a couple of issues here. One, the issues of !'icking up litter and having secur'ity guards 1n place to direct trafflc and any of those conditions of the permit would be analoga~s to the situation it the YMCA where we cou1d follow t.:p on that, With the Y, I believe we said that they would p~)' for mitigaticn monitoring up to some dollar amount. rt was to have so~~body follo~ up with respect to the specific conditions of approval in tt1e permit. what we are talk.ing about with respect to t;'e police department, however, is po1ice runs that do not necessarily, and mostly do not relate. probably, to the conditlons of appro¥a) in the penmlt. So they are just general ~olice issues. The iss~e of who pays for our police services does not ne:~ssarily relate to either h0w effective the police servites a'!'"e or what the police service~ Clccompl ish with respect to the reason they are there. It dOE:S not necessarily relate to solving The Edge's problems. So it ~ay m~ke the taxpayers feel better about one gro:.:p who SE£m tiJ be iliUnopoiiling police time, but in fact, it mayor may not really address the issues that we are trying to look. at here. Here are some policy and potential, legal issues associated with charg~:-tg people far police calls. There are certain times when perhaps under a contract, a police department or a city might allow a special event to come in, 'ind the city would serve that event. Then the i!vent sponsor would pay for it. But t~at is a ~hole different thing from some business that genel·ate~ a certain amount of police activity over a sporadic period of time. ~e are talking about ¥ery different things here. So just asking for them to pay for police sen'ices, I think, ;s a policy issue that 90e~ ~ay beyorld this simple perm1t proceedi~g tonight. Commi~j.Qn~.r Glazier: I appreciati! your point ;is it relatES to ~iJt wanting to impose a fee for the sporadic and unpredictable police coverage which clJrrently takes place. Suppose it \lIere determined by the planning commission and the city COL:f,cil that as a condit i-on of this ~se permit, it wou1d be appropriate to h~ve Palo Aito police on staff the~e on a regular basis anytime they stay open until 4 a.m. from the hours of 11 p.m. until 4 a.m., and that they would have to cover the cost of that. That is a very specific mitigation measure t~at is specifically attributab~e to this particL:la,-conditional use permit, and we wou1d collect a mitigation fee for it. Ms. Case: There are some issues of resource management planning involved in that, just at a real baSic level, so that it is not all that e~sy to just assign somebody for an extended period of time, e¥cn though it is a limited extended period of time, Gt a time when you cannot predict how ... _--- 11/09/91 - 6 7· ... .. long that migh~ be, to allocate a certain amount of resources, even if they are being paid for it. PJndt are ",ou going tu do 'With the offlcers after the need goes away? Alloca*;ior1 of your human resoup.;.es is a very lor,g-tern: thing. It is very dHficu"lt for pol ice officers, especially, to do thJ.t k1tiO of thfng. Tom Merson can expand on t~at mere, but even aside from that, you get into issues of priorities and the city getting into a sit~atio~ where the city council would b~ bas1ca1ly asked to decide which of the many competing interests for police resourc~s is more of a priority than others. That is something t~at the city council obviously h3s the right to do, so 1 guess ther~ is no reason that you cannot ask them to do that. But I th ink ~ t 1S something that certain1y He management of the city staff waul d not recomrrend. Comissioner Glaziel': I do not feB', in any respect, that 'We should-be involved in reallocating the city police staff. But I think that if the polio:.e staff have a certain level of staffing with which they are c{Jmfortable for a gi .... en night, fer this particular situation, we ""l:ld have to add incrementally these people ~ho are sp~clfica11y identifiEd for this particular job, and they are not to b~ called upon t~ do other city police bUSiness. So I can see a case ~hEre we are net in that situat;{Jn. Ms. Case: Let me use an analogy. I might say that we ~o this. I am speaking for the police department very freely, obviously, but a si tuation that; s simi 1 ar where we do not charge extra is, there are certain are~s of town 'Where we have agreed t~ have more of a police presence at cHtain times. H<ey ~a\je to ca with where there zeems to be an 1ncrease in speeders in a certain area for a period of time. A certa ; n amoun t of po 1 ice pres ence wi II s 1 0\1/ that down. The city has gone on record at the city counci1 level as saying, we will try to send out lTI~re people. So the city makes-those management d2ci ~ ~ ons as to how they ari! going tc-alloca.te r"eso:Jrces. But it certainly has been policy, at this point, not to give any higher dignity~ if you will, to any of t~ose areas ever any other areas by charging anyone specifically for those services. Mr. Merson: Let me add Of. to that, Sue. ff ,,'e were to adopt the proposal that you suggest, 'What we 'Jrj"owld definitely havE.' to do in the police department is to add additional 5taf~ing. We are not in a position rigMt now to do that, given the current state of affairs. In addition, give~ the stiffing that we cu~rently hav8 during the hours that The Edge is in ope~ation~ 'We, from time to time, bare1y have enough officers to COver the events that occur at that time, as it ; s. That is or.e of the difficulties that we have H, having to respol1d tt) The Edge. Furthermore, if we set a precedent Tike that, it 'Would be very dangerous, because then other private bl.'S1neSSes would have to come to you and ask for the same treatment, a~d then we would be dedicating pub1ic resources to a private entity on a routine basis. Whereas WE see all of the events that occur at this private entity as problems that need res01ution, to do t~is would be to not acknowledge them as a problem, but simp1y to throw these additional resources 2t them in hopes of somehow solving it. I do not believe it would solve the problems. Commissioner Glazier: i: guess we could ask the council to do it if we felt like it. It would be a first, but it wouTd be a management headache, and p~rhaps not possible. 12/09/92 -63- ( • ---, _"' __ --'...c;..c Mr. Merson: let me expand on that a little b,t, and get back to your prior question ha~i~g to do with security guards working privately. This crosses o~er into that area. One of t~e diffjcultie~ ~e have ~ith having our officers work privately as ~ecuritj people is that there is confusio~ in the min~'s eye of the public. as ws11 as the officers and the employer, as to ... ho the per:;on wor(s for. In the case of Th~ Edge, would the police officer be in the employ of The Edge, or I%uld the person be in the emploj (If the police department? C:2rtainly. in the mind's eye of any plaintiff who wanted to bring an action, that offie~r would be in t~e emp10y of the pelice department. -~e would find o'Jrselves in~olved in any SUlt that would arise. That, indeed, i~ the ca~e throughout the country. The fdge could hire police officers now (and tney are aware of thls) frOM any other police department tnat is foo1isn enough to have this policy still in force, that is, to allow their offirers to work in their uniform znd carry their wcapons at a private establishment. It is a very fo~lish policy, and it is nat one that we ~ould get involved in. That is where we stand on that. CommiS$;o~er Ojakian: I am not one that advocates that our police department resources be used to resolve a problem that COUld be resoh·ed in other ways, I don't fe~l that that ;s what YOu are here to do ,,"'hen you have a larger public to serve. I haVe a couiJle of questions, Ore;~ about the street banler concept that a couple of p~ople have brought up tonight that ~ould p1ace barriers on some of the streets to preVEnt some of The edge traffic from getting into the neighborhoods. Is there any problem with that occurring, either from your police department p~int of view or from the city attorney's point of view? Mr. Merson: Tnere would be significant problems from the transportation department. They are the folks 1n the city who actually deal _ith signage~ traffic flow, etc. O~er the course of years, whenever ther€ have been requests for barrier installation or bollard~ or anything similar to that, it has caused great outcry from some members cf the public bt:cause it does disrupt traffic flow. So ,)"es, thHE would be SOffi€ problem in doing that. Chairman Bee::nz,m: Vic, .. ere you thinking of terT'porary t,arricades fer tna evening's events. or permanent ones? k.olTRTlissioner Giakian: Temporary barriers. which is what I think people like Mr. Siegel brought up when tal(ing earlier about during tnese events, putting up these barriers so that you eouid then restrict the flow of where that traffic goes. and really concentrate in those :a.re3.S around The Edge and towards 002gcn Exp,-essway ~n.en they were leaving. M.!:...._.M~r~ .. Qn: One of the difficulties that ~ould ir;volve is stiioffing those b~rricades. There ara some California ~ehicle Code requirements and restrictions that determine who can actually direct traffic on a public roadway. For that reason, it would probably involve the necessity of having the police department do that, which would then ha\e us staffing the barricades for The Edg~. Com;ssioner Ojakian: Then Bi1l would get what he wants indirectly. !2/09/92 -69 ; lhe oUer thir.g I want to bring up regards another comment from Mr. Siegel .. hen lie was running Uis e~;tablis.h~ent a!:: The Vortex. He said something to the effect that he he1d regular meetir.gs ~ith the police department. 1t SOj~nded like it was on an ongo~n9 basis. I guess he did tnat just for the reason of trying to avoid the types of problems that it sounds like have occL!rred periodiCilll)' herE-. Do we de that now with the current management? ~ouid there be so~e reascn for not dOing that? )1r Merson: I c.ar.nct speak to The 'Yorte)(, bec.ause that was sOl1'Jew!1at before my time in th;.s posit1on. We ha .... e consist'!ntly. aver the course of several years, met with He management of The Edge, as well as members of the community, to try ~nd address these problems. So that has taken place. COmmlssigner Qjakian: Dave led ~~ to believe that these happened on a regular, ongoing basis, and that they were almost prescheduled. Mr. Merson: l~tely. they have b~en, at the request of Out. But more or less, over time, they ha~e occurred as problems have erupted and have come tc light as being prcblems that needed resolution Cmllllissionp"t Ojakian: Would there be 'Some benefit from your end? Do y\Ju see a benefit if there is a (ondltinn that requires that these meetings occur? Hr Merson: There is definitely a beflefit to meeting when there is a problem, absolutely. Whether it is beneficia1 to have a requ;remer.t that there be a meeting is another question. I really do not know. mat might ~ossib1y impose a bureaucratic requirement that might be un~ecessary. We t~nd to meet if we need to meet. Sa it probably would be unnecessary, but a good idea. Commissioner Cullen: I will begin the discussion. We have had a lot of documentation here, and we have had a lnt of testimo~y. It seems to me that some of the things that nave been troublesome in the past are being addressed in the present. They halie not had enough time to be worked out, as it has been only three months of trial, and many people have told us that things have im~r"v-ed in that hmg:h of time. The security officers t:~ve made a big differe~lce. lhe 'Way I am l€an:ng is to approve the use pennit, but to take the management up on thei r offer to c10se at 3 a.m. inste:ad of 4 a.tli. and to hnllinate the entrances at J: 30 a.m. I have been ~ersuaded by SQJ:I1,e of the people who have spnken that if eve'rjl bar in town dumps out at 2 a.m., the pollee would have as much of a problem with a 2 a.m. closing around cown as ttley w01Jld with this particular location. If the 1 i q:.Jor ceJ.ses t~ be poured at 1: 3~ a.m. (and I know that my idea of what is a late night is not anything 1 ike this, but I was young once ar.d I have youngsters, and I kno~ that 3 a.m. does seem the shank of the evening to them sometimesj~ I am willing to have that nour eXhnded from 2 to 3 a.m. I think four 1s really pushing it a bit mud. You are g€tting into dawn. and that is not nighttime. Most of the things that have been brought up by people are in the conditions of the use permit. except that I would like to add one that 12/09/92 -70- • was suggested. ~erhaps the best place to add it is under ConditiQn '4. which is that advert1s1ng shall be limited to local media. Then I would like to add a Condition '11 •• ~Th.e ~se permit tompliance sh.al1 be reviewed by the planning commissioil in six months from the dat;e of the use permit issuanc2.· With those amendments to the conditions, I \lWDuld like to recommend that we uphold the decision of the zoning administrator, and recommend that the city ccuncil appro~e t~e conditional use permit, subje~t to the rew findings at our places tonight. In every place that it indicates 2 a.m. in the first finding, it should be 3 a.m. MOTION: COlmliss;cr.~r Cu1Ten: would ther-efore move the st;!ff recolTlTlendaticns with findings 1 and 2 and with the numerous cDnditions. For all of you who are wcr-ried .about the operation, we hav~ cOriditior.ed this with eleven conditions. SECOND: By C,)lTrnissioner Ca.rrasco., l ",'ould 1 i ke to make one: friendly amendment. As I would imagine that advert1sing is a question of a first amendment right, I am not sure we can limit it to just Palo Alto. ~e can ask the city attorney if we can do tr.at. Ms. Case: I was thinking I wOlJld immediately research that anyway sc that by the time it gGt to the COUliCil , we would have an answer. cannot answer it tonight, but it struck me as something that ~eeds to be researched. Commissioner Cullen: We <I"e not limiting their rig!1t to advertis~. only the breadth of it, M..s~ase: If tney have no objection, r will not res.earch lt~ but if they 00, I ~;ll. Commissioner Marsh: You indicated that Uley had ceme in tonight \\lith a recolTlTlendation for a 3 a.m. closure? Commissioner Cullen; Nc, not a recommendation. Th~y 1;oere ",,411ing to dose at 3 a,m. (.orrrnissioner Cullen: They also said the)' ~ould be willing to clos,=, on the weekends at 3 a.m. just now. Ill..: Case: We would like a c.larif~cation as to what Commissioner Cullen means by "local media." If she r!leans the Palo Alto Weekly onl'y~ then I think there is going to be more of a concern. Comm;ssioner (ulle~: There is the radio station that they aDparently advertise on hirT)' r~glllarly. Here is the Stanford D.c.ily. Ms. lvtl~: By ·local,-do you mean Palo Alto based? Commissioner Cullen: Yes. I do not see the Chronicle is loc~l. even though it is locally subscribed to. Perhaps you had better define "10cal~ in a legal sense, rather than I. Let's see if they object to 12i09/92 -71------.. -" ........... ,~ • \ this. Mr. Sundheim: The most effective mea,,~. as 1 understand in talking to Jacek, is that there are certain radio station~ ~here we target our advertising. It is tp target the local people. It obviously expands out into the bay area. If we wanted to hit the people we do by radio, which is the major maans that we have, I supp05e that KZ5U would be some sort of meanS. But we ar~ not able to reach ou~ target market that way. COI!r.,issioner Cull€fi: $0 you 'Would use KiBE, etc. Mr. Sundhejm: Yes, it is lOS live. or sOIil-athing like th3.t. The,) rea1ly are hitting the people we are looKing at. My gut reaction is that that would create a problem for us. That is w~y Wlocal" covers the whole bay area. We are tngeting it 10ca11y, but it does go everywhere. Commissfoner_Cuiler.: Do you do local adv~rtisin9, as well? Do yo~ use KZSU? Mr. Sundhei~: Yes. It is like the car dealer wh-o advertizes on KeSS. He doesn't really expect to get the guy from ~allejo for the Menlo Park deal~rship, but it reaches that far. ~JL~iki: We are targ€ting an audience that listens to a musica1 alternati.e, modern rock. There is only one radio stat10n ~n the bay area that plays that kind of mu:sic~ and that is HlS live. Also, we 'lIior~ very closely wit~ KZSU~ the local coilege radio station which broadcasts allover the bay area. We ar~ a1s11 doing other forms of advertising such as flYfrs. At one of the meetings with Ms. Lytle and Joe and Robert and a couple of others, we orought a stack of flyers for them to see. There are limited ways we ha'Je of advertising on the radio. Commissioner Cullen: J .. ill reconsider that addition to Condition 14. It seems to----me that they are targeting the local area in a usefu1 way and is probab1y the only \>jay they can do it. It wou1d be too expensiVe to do anything more than that. So! \!;jill eliminate that sentence. Chairman Beecham: I have a motiorl that basically moves the staff recommendations, \\lith the exceptfo:'l of setting the closing time at 3 a.m. rather than 2' a.m., ~·';Ul a 1:30 a.m. n0 entry time, a'ld a review in six months. CO!l11lissi::mel"' Marsh: I will support the motion, and will speak to it now. I have to admit when r first heard aDout this appeal, t~at is, by reading about it in tne newspaper before we ~ad access to it. ! thought about calling up The Edge and begging them not to placi! this appeal. The item had been so controversial within the community that from what I could tell~ they had gotten an incredibly fair outcon:e from the zoning admSnistrator, given the amourt of concern that seemed to be in the community as to how The Edge was operatir.g. However, as I looked at the issue more closely, 1 got pretty intrigued by it. It ~as quite c1ear that in order to open up this very controversial de<:ision which alToWE:d The Edge to continue to operate, at least in some manner, the owners would either have to be desperate or ins~ne. It became pretty clear that they were not crazy. $0 there had to bi! a very comp~11ing reascn for them to file this appeal, because by opening up the process, they ~ere 1 ?/09/S'2 -72- 1 " ,I ., , exposi19 thpmselves to much more rigorous thanges in the use permit than thGs~ gi~er. by the zan\ng administrator. J th'n~ what we ~a~e before us, to ~ome degree that we are grap~'ing with) is a little bit of a cultural clash. Most of us are probably not patrons of The Edge. ~e are tne kind of people for whom they changed the 11 o'clocK news to 10 o'clock, at 1ea5t, speaklng for myself. But altho~9h ~e may not be gcing to The Edge, it is very clear that there is a distinct Palo Al [0 resident who finds. sDmet~ing very important at The Edge. That is the youth of the community, and sometimes, the older faUs in the corrrnunity. as we have Tearned tonight. ilnd there are alsc the nighttime people. We are li~ing in a culture t~at is more apd more becoming a 24-hour culture. With1n the last few years, we hav~ seen grocery stores that remain open 24 ~ours, copy shops that stay apen 24 hours, and it is c1ear tnat while most of us are in bed by 10 o'cloc~, there are a. whole bllnch of people who are o ... t on the str.il!ets or in busin~s~es until far into the night. I think it is important to rec.ognize that. I think what The Edge really speaks to is di ... ersity. Someone who spoke tonight mentioned that. If we ar~ 90~09 to have a diverse community, ~e are going to have to be ~repared to spea~ to that co~rnunity. ihat is not al\r1ays going to be a painless pr-ocess. But ultimately. it will resuH in the developm~nt of a much ricner, more ir:teresting community. What Tne Edge does is that it speaks to a very diverse C(tJss-sec.tion of the community that we do nat always hear from or speak to. There ar-e a couple of sound al'guments for keeping th~ club open. Frankly, I would have supported the 4 a.m. closure, but I ~ill certainly go for 3 a.m. First. I buy tMe argum~nt that it ~ill re,ult in a quieter, 1~5S bcisterG~5 exit than closing t~e place up at 2 a.m. I think there wili be much less possibjlity of c~nfror.t~tion among people if they are Teavi~g over a Dericd of an nour-and-a-half with a 3 a.m. closlln'!. I think that we lIIi11 have much less of an impact on the neignnorhood than W~ otherwise would witt'1 the a'.i"er.t of 500 people a'l leaving at 2 a.m. in the morning. In that caSE, 35 people tonight have pointed out, you haye the potential of having a tremendous impact on p~ople \rIithin blocks of the cTub. Secondly, I heard tonigrlt and agree 'tI!ittl the argument that hdvil19 that late night business on California Avenw2 does prDvide a measure of safety. I ccon speak from my own experiF'mc.e. I live within a half a b10ck of a 24-hour bLJsiness in downtown Pa10 Alto. I may be :me of the few among us who hls experienced living that close ta a 24-~nur business. Although it is the 7-11, in this easel and is Quite obnoxious sometimes, and although you C2n hear people ~alking and talking in front of my house in the middTe of the night quite often, on their way to and from the 7-11, I think there is also a measure of protection that is pro~ided. 1here i~ alway3 somebody tnere lacking out for wnat goes on. I appreci ate that. ThIrdly, I buy the argument reg~rding drinking. 1 think it is better to give people an opportunity to blow off some steam at 2 a.m. and allow them to sober up a bit before th~y drl',le home. Finally, ! want to address Ue problems that haVE (O'1'le up, with the fjrst 11/09/91 -73- .- / one be,ng t~~ rea~ons we have heard for the earli~r closinc tlme that have been provided by the police. I want to say outright that 1 am a great fan of the Palo Alto Police Department. I ha~e great ad~iratio~ for them. I ha~e l'1ad many very positi .... e experiencp.s with the P"lo /I.He police over the years (~ith the possible exception of the Middl~field speed trap]). But r simpTy do not see a compell ing case provided by the police tonight for an earlier closure. f.'e understai'1d that in Sai'1 Jose, tile police "'.ave ~ad a diffHent expsrienc.e, although, Qf course, we ha .... t not verified that. Obviously. it is a little bit dlfferent situation, but in that ca~e, they are making a finding thet it .... 411 be to their berJefit in their pol ice work to l'1ave the c1o~ings staggered 50 that people are leaving at different times tnrcughout the eariy morning hours. I am ~ot convinced that an earlier, Z a.m. closure would actualT, pl"ovide fewer p\llice contacts. With everyone leaving at one time, ] think the oppo.rtllrdty for conf1 let among those peepl-e as thEY gather in large groups in the parking lots could be much greater. The second issue that was used by the zoning administrator in her decision was the 1SSUt of the neighborhood. We have certainly heard some people speak to that tonight, that the neighbors are seeking to have some of the impact~ that Tne Edge a~el iorated, I want to commend, 11'1 -parti<:uhr, Elizabeth Burg, because I nought sl'le spoke very articulately trnight. She noted that we h<lve arl opportuntty fer a coordi nated response to problems at The Edge. Frankly, the neighbors of The Edge are not going to be helped by a 2 a.m. closure if it is a roudy, bOisterous c1csure. Anybody wh,.) 9~es to bed at 10 p.m. is not going to b€: that mIJch better off if they are a~akened at 2 a.m. or at 3 a.m. The fact is that that is much too late to be waked up under any c\lndition. So what we really have an obl igation to do is to dellelop the ki nd of coordinated effort that Miss Burg spoke to and be able to address the n€ighborhood issues separately from the c10sure iss~es. I h.;ve been impressed by the evidence we have before us tonight and in the documentation that The Edge has made a. very g~nui('\e effort to do this. In particular, I waf'1ted to ca11 o~t a lett~r we had at our pTaces tonight from SuSy Sayre, who is apparently a manager of the California Park Apartments. She had a very compelling argument complaining about The Edge 1n an earlier packet. In thi$ packet tonight. she makes a statement that 1he Edge has ba~;cally cleaned ~p its act, and she supports tne 4 a.m. closure. So I supp~rt the motion, and 1 a1sQ support the review in six months. Obviously a lot of the reaso'lS why we feel a lot rr.ore .comfortable if we: decide tonight to go ~;th the later clo$ing time is because of the goed faith efforts on the part of The Edge. We ara going to have to be vi9i1ant over the next six mcnths, and pcss,bly O~~r the next years of operation, to ensure that the good faith efforts stay in p1ace. ] do ~ot have any illusions that a six month review may take care af ttlis. We ma,Y be seeing something that leads us to a number of revie~£ on a standard basis in the future. Maybe not. At any rate, I am going to live with that. C91l1ttissioner Carrasco: I agrEe with what Pam has s'i'id, artd wtH Mt repeat her cOlTlT!1ents. Here is one major issue, wrrich ~S that I think. it will be a safer place. I think we will save some accidents, and possib1y some lives, by extending tne hours and letting people get sober befor€ they drive home. If this pass~s, I think we need a use permit to end olJr planning commission rn~etings by midnight! 12/09/92 ·74· Commissioner Glazier': i.t is late. This ,$ a ve.,--y good campro'T1'ise for all concerned. Keep up the good \'I'ork, gl!Ys, but remember, you wi 11 be back h~re in si~ month$. If you don't do a good job, there won't be seven smIling, happy people wanting to compromise. ~; $ S j Qner CuJ 1 en: I want to corne: t on e tlii ng tha t was brought up in testimony_ The garage being constructed on California Avenue is not being paid for by the taxpayers. It is bei~9 financed by an assess~ent district from the businesses in the area. Ms. Lyt~~: Is the six~month review to come up before th~ commission? (Yes) COrmliss1oner Ojakian: 1 .... ill ke-ep my comments brief, as well. I feel slightly different fr{lm Commissiojler Marsh. Wt,er. i started off this issue, from all of the COrrrlents J had heard about The Edge, I \llias conce~ned about tnat operation. 1 got even more conce~ned because it seemed like their response, in regard to calling up their pennit, ""'as to attribute some of these p~oblems to the pol ice department. My experience with the Palo Alto Police Department has been nothing short of their being very professional. Slit on tr.e cother side of the coin, it is quite interesting. b~cause over the years, people are starting to get an image of Palo Alto as a community that does not toTerate a certain level of acti¥ity. Sure1y I am not one who wants to sit in a position of denying certain types of activities. In this partiCular case, the whole iSsue (ames down to, separate from who says what is causi~g what to happen, we k~ow that we have a series of ongoing problems here. In my mind, all want to ensure is that those p~oblems. are all~ ... iated, if not totally eliminat2o. That is why I would hale been happier to stay with the 2 a.m. closing. But I will go along with the 3 a.m. closing, becaus~ it is probably a nic1i: compromise, keepir,g ever-yone satisfied. r am particularly happy because if Commis.sio~er Cullen had not done this, I would have, of putting in the r€view requirement. The thing I want to be assured of, that we need to be absoTutely assured of ~8re, 1S that what is happening new teo clEan up the area, whic.ll frllm ev€rything I ha'w'C! heard 7 is occurring, continues. Because we can~ot do that through some other type of mechanism, like p1acing fines or penalties on some of the conditions in this use permit, the next be.5-t .. lterllative is that we review what is. going on over there on a period;c basis, In tnat way, the public on both sides of this issue are g..Jaranteed that what should be happening ov~r there will be happenir.g. So I wi11 support the motion. Chairman Beecham: From my paint of vie~, my conCF.rn is that before we can approve this use at this site at all, we have to be able to find that the use is not detrimental to the public health, safety, general welfare or conv~nience in that area. I ha¥e had a lot of trouble with this, but in the end, after hearing testimony from same of the residents and also the letter that ram mentioned, I belie~e that the situation in that area is improving. It is basically a downtowil area. 1t is not suburban. It ;s urban. There are tbngs that go along with thClL The fact that over the past years and over the past months, things h~ve been improving, the plans we are talking about tonig~,t are sufficient to let me believe that what we are proposing here ~ill not be detrimental to the area but will help imp~o'le it. 12/0'/92 ·7S- ... A1SQ, I agree with the approach that closing at 2 a.m. brings a big problem at that time. If t~ere are 500 people leaving. that could be a major problem, glJaranteeing probler.Js every time tnat happens. I am bother.ed still by the problem at the Kotel Cal ifornia. The testi~ony toni9h~ is that it is not decreasing but instead, is increasing. We have heard suppositions as to th~ cause of ft. ~e do net k~cw. For that reason, it is important that Pat's additional condition that we-review this in six months be maintained. I think it snould be a major-focus to determir,e what is the cause of the increasing problems being seen it that site. MOTION PASSES; Chairm,lT'J Beecham: Is there any further discussion on this motion? /1.11 those in favor of the motion to support the staff reco~ndation on findings and conditions, ~;th the changes that closing time ;s 3 a.m. rather than" a.m., '-litl-, no entry after 1:30 a.m .• and that the permit come back to us for review six mo~ths following issuance, p1ease say Aye? All opposed? That p3sses on a vote of 6 C, with Commissioner Schmidt absent. Ms. lytle: This goe!;. to the cit) cour-cll r:Jn January 19, 19n. >" .' ATTACHMENT .; PROPOoED ADDITIONS TO FINDINGS FOR 73-UP-36 FINQINGS I. T~e proposed use at the proposed location will not be detrimental or injurious to property or imprcvements in the vicinity, ind will not be detr;rnent~l to the public healtn, safety, general welfare or convenience in that, through this ame'nded use permit the existing eating and drinking facility has been conditioned to address complaints fram .. djacent bUS;MSS owners and residents, and to mitigate 1 )tter, vandalism, excessive nOise, and parking problems related to the vperation of the existfng facililj. In addition, the Council 5p~cifjcaily finds that a 2:00 a.m. clasing time is necessary for the following rtasons: 1) the neighborhood wouid be assured that noi se gef1erated or associ ated with The Edge would terminate at a predetermined point each night; 2) a 2:00 a.m. closing time is consi stent with the Cl{lSlng ti~ne of other businesses pro"jt:i~ng similar services throughout the CitYi 3) although a clOSing time Df 12:00 midnight ~ould ~re significantly r~duce Hie cills for service attributed to The Ed9~, tne Council finds that a (lOSin9 time earlier tnan 2:00 a.m. WlJuld significantly affect their business; 4) ilthough Police Department records show that only 15 percent of the total calls for service and disturbances between July and October 1992, occurred after 2:00 a.m., these numhers still exceeded aPlY other sfngle use if'l the City during the same time period; and 5) the Peliee Department has the ability to prf6ict the e~iting ti~e ~f patrons in order to have a higher police presence to oversee a one-time closing of The Edge at 2:00 a.m. 2. The proposed use ~i}l be located and conducted in a manner in accord with the Palo Alto Comprehensi .... e Plan and the purposes ~f Title IS of the Palo Alto Municipal Code, in that the Retall Shopping Combining District of th~ Community Commercial lone, and the Regional Conrnunity COlTlllercial land use deSignation specifically permit fating and drinking use~ ;n conjunction with the on-site sale and consumption of liquo~~ beer and wine, subject to the approval of a conditional use permit. • }Jr. Kent JII'..1tchell J Attorney at Law 550 Ramilt~ Av~~u~. Suite 2Z6 Palo Alto. caliiQruiA 94301 V3e ~e~t 73~-36t 260 Callfo~ Avenue Dio;;.r >tr. I>1tche11: A8--you re<;jue.oted, condition no .. 2 of uae pen:dt 7.3-UP-36 is hereby amended to read .sa follows: ~~ There shall be no ~tertainuentJ ~ot~on pictures. or ~ther amusewent ~eviceB or activit~es; other th~1 live ~~ic and rel.ted dancing: that .. "'"i.ll not interfere. or be offensive to the use and enjoymeut of adja.c.enc prope.rtYt and that will Dot be. and w:1.ll Dot encourage aet::f.vities that will be detrmental to adjacent property or the public welfare; ~~cept ~th prior ap proval in WTitiug by the City of Palo Alto Zoning Adoini5trator. Sinc.erely, JA."U::S O. GLAL~"Vll.I.E .zo.o..tng A.dminiBtrator JOG/""b cc:: Inspection Servic: es -.~. CITY OF f'AlG Al Te ~~~~[~?~n AUG 29 13J1 INSPECTIOML SERVICES Department of PlanniI'l3 ana ccmmunity Environment (415) 329-2321 April 29, 1985 Mr4 Robert Corona Keystone Family, Inc. 412 Broadway sen Francisco, CA 94133 Dear Hr. Corona: F: L::, ;" , ;. ~ i~, '.- ,. 250 Hamil ton lwenue Pest Office Box 10250 Palo Alto, CA 9'303 This letter confirms our discussion of April 28, 1986 concerning interpretation of Use Permit 73-UP-36 for the serving of alco holic beverages at 260 California Avenue. Use Permit 73-UF-36, as amanded on August 28, 1974, states, nthere shall be no enter ~ai~ent, motion pictures, or other amusement devtc~s C~ activi ties: other than live music and related dancing that will not interfere or be offensive to the use and enjoyment of adjacent property, and that will not be, and will not encourage ac~iviti26 that wi~l be detrimental to adjacent property or the putllc ~el fare.-This pe~it allows dancinq associated with live music. I would interpret this condition as also permitting dancing to re corded music, the later being less problematic in most cases than live music. I would also stress that portion of the condition which re~ates to impact on the enjoyment of nearby properties and pUblic welfare. Local residents and property owners have alleged that the Keystone Club has created ditficulti~s in terms of noise gen~raticn and activities of patrons leaving the premises after shows. It is :my IJ.ope that an:r~ change of management 't;t/"Quld ellmi !Ja.te s:uch pre·blezs !:'C' 1!S not to r;e':::essit~te a:;";icns on :r:y F~r-: to further restrict the existing use permit. Sincerely, .~ ~/) >\IJ t,~)1.o.-"""'- ROIlZRT II. BROWN Zoning Administr~tor • HOTf:[. Oe-:e:nbl5!r-6, 1992 CALI FOR:'-JI A City of P310 Alto Planrdng Commission Att.nti~n; Josep~ ColonnA 250 H.milton A~~nue P.lo ~lto, CA 94303 Subject: Thl!' Edge Dear Members of the PI.nnin; Commission: As the owner o~ the Hotel C.liforniA, located ~bout SOO feet ~rom The Edge, .t th. corner c~ C.li~ornia Avenue and Ash 5tre~t (1-1/2 blocks ~rom The Edge', it Nou~d be greatly appreciated i~ you would 'take inte c:cnside!"ation my concer-ns .... h.n tn.king iii fin.l decision on the-Conditional Lis .. Perlnit 'for The Ecfge~ l~ We are a lodging est.bJishment that caters t~ business traveler. ~ho generAlly sleep between the hours o'f 11 P~M. and 7 A.M~ Our rooms th.t ~.ce CaliforniA Aveny. a~ Ash Street are e~pos.d to neise r.sylting from the op.r~tion ~~ The Edge. A. we st~t.d previously in our letter d.t.d July 31. 1992 to the 20ning Administrator .5 weli as d~rin9 tn. September 10th poblic n •• ring, the ~oi~e, r~wdir.es. and v.nd.lism gen~r&t.d by th. patron. o~ Th. Edge hAve had A •• v.rely det~iment.l .ffect gn our bU5in~ss~ W. nave recei¥ed nYmeTOU~ complaints ~rom our guest. reqBTding being awakened in the middle of tne niQht by loud noise~ The noise nas al~ay& been a probl~m ~or us but has ~scalated ynb •• r.bly .ioce the new operators h.ve t\.!rned it "big time'" with appa.1""ently more promotions-anc! ~I(tended P,ours~ 2. The Edge argues that closing .t 4 A~M~ will provide ~or • slow flow ~f people leaving thil!' club. FT'om my pe-rspective 45 the operator of • hotell a slower-floN lasting two hours longer ~ould b. more detrim~nt.l to my business. Th€ hotel Quests would be awakened sporadically for two more hours. At l .. ast by clo5ing .t 2 A.M~, the ~otel Quests will re~ei~~ two more hours of peacef~l sleep w~ich is sigMifjc.nt~ 3. In regard to the noisp study conducted by Ch.~les M. Salter Associatesl I would like to comment that it IS not so ~uch the level of the noise as the nature of the noise that is most disturbing to my patrons. The conti~ual 2 .. 1:)1 ASH STREET .... \ LO .\L TO. ( ,-\ UFOH '\' 1\ q .. fWtl PHO.'\'£: f-USI 3::!:!·ROO.\1 • ,~ ~ t-, .-,. stcppin~ (sometimes a 5c~eechinQ stop) of cars at the $to~ sign on the hotel's ccrrer a~d then the ~ubs~quent accelerating s~u"d of cars i5 difficult to sleep through even ~or the heaviest of 51eepe~s. 1 ~cmmend the operators of Th~ Ed;e for their cooperation in de~ling with th~ problem~ of their n~ighbo~5. They have appeased many of th~m with their efforts to cle~n up the nearby properties. However, our bigge,t problem is not litter and vandalism whi~h can be remedied by the Edge's operators. RathEr, it is noise ~hich can only be reduced by shorter hours of operation or redirection of traffjc .w.y from the Aotel. I .m r~eptive to any solutions that the owners of The Edge can come up with to resolve my neis. probl~m. I recognize that The Edge dce5 pro~ide some positive benefits to the community and would like to see them remain there. Howevery unless The Edge can specifically .ddress our particular issue .n~ Cdn .,rive at an accept~ble solution. urge you stron91y to ~o11o~ the recommendations of the Zoning Adm1nis~rator and th~ Police Oep.rtment which are to require a elosing time for Th~ Edge of 2 A.M. [ feel strongly th.t the surviv.l of ~y business depends on a re501~tion of this probI.m. Thank you fo~ your concerns in de&ling with this issue. Yours \;,u.ly. /./ t;?;-~!L'J Warren Wong \ " J ~-'~~ .... '-" •• ' . """"'" ' .. , - December 9, 1992 To: Zoninq Administrator Plannin9 Oepartment City of Palo Alto From: SU8~ Sayre, Resident 2273 Park Blvd. Palo Alto. CA 94306 Mailin; address: P.O. Box 60555 Palo Alto$ CA 94306 Re: Appeal of conditional u~e permit for The Edge. I previously testified regarding problems associated 'With The Edge in our neighborhood and on the pL'operty belonging to Cali tornia Park. Apartments along the 2200 and 2300 blocks of Park Bouleva:d. Althougb I recently resigned as manager of those apartments. ! have a continuing interest in this issue as assistant manger and as a resident of the area. The Edge management is to be commended for working to £~ ;minate most of the problellls that have been so offensive. The us_ of !Signs directing patrons to park in areas, away from our buildings has been effec~ive, especially when security personnel are in the area to urge cOlllpliarJee. There have been a lot fewer bottles left behind and less noise frQID pa-t:rons.. When there is a problem, The Ecige management has been swift in responding to my concerns. My understanding is t~at ~his app~al concerns the closing time of 4:00 a .. m.. I feel that the current clcsing time should be kept i.f security personnel are out on the streets until all patrons are out of the area, if DO alcohol is served past I: 30 a .... , and if no nev patrons are-allowed into the premises after 1:30 a.... The ma~agement has told me that these conditions are the policy now and 'Would remain if their ap~al is successful. I feel that drunk driving 'Will be le5s~ned closing, and that an earlier closing might to leave en mass, raising the potential management bas been working to eliminate. by ~etaining the 4:00 a.m. cause a large, noisy crowd for disturbances The Edge Please feel free to contact me at the following numbe~ if you have any questions or wish to verify this testimony. (l '. ' ___ -'lim -----~ .... !::-~~~ (415)328-2B15 (home) (415)329-3839 (mornings) I ! • ATfACHMENT 5 DOTY & SVl\"TIHEDI December 4; 1992 Planning commission 250 Hamilton Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94301 Re: The Edge_ Dance Club .nne "'dance club") Dear Planning CQ~ission: r. ~: The issue presented by this appeal is: Has the Zoning Administrator provided "substantial evidence" that the curr-ent hours of operati.tm has: caused the dance club to operate in a manner that is "detrimental to the public health, safety and ~elfaren. A. The findings of the Zoning Admi~istrator dated September 24, 1992 (the nFINDINGS 't ] did not provide any evidence, much less sUbstantial evidence, that being open between the hours of 2 a.c. and ~ a.m. has caused the dance club to operate in a manner that is "detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare". B. In the Report in Brief dated December 1" 1992 -ythe "REPORT") r the letter relies exclusivel)~ on the higr. number of c~11s fo~ service as the justificatic~ for the ~arlier closing time. C. t:atlolithst.ar.ding the claiM :made by Chief Dt...rkin in his letter of November 23, 1;:-'2 ("CHIEF DURKIN LETl'ERa) and the heavy relia.n:::e_ on that letter in the REPORT, as of this -writing, the police h-ave not provided us .... i th a:w evidence that Q..\lX .. l.n9 the last five mOIJ_ths there has be_~_n_.9NE call for seryice 'Which relates to the fact tb~_s1.~nce c.lub is oo~rLbe_twE:en-.!.be hO_hir$ __ m_Q.L......Z ~m. and 4 a.m. And even if there are one or two 'Which for 'Whateyer reason they have but have not pr-E'_sented, it is r.ot the 15% figure in his letter. If there ha~a been at ~ost one or two calls, it then rais~s the issue how critical it is to the police to have the earli~r. fixed closing time. Planning Commission Oecember ., 1992 rage 2 o. rn March 1991, the police demanded that we cease outside security. Immediately after~ complaints frem the citizens so~red. In July 1992, the police allowed us to resume outside security. In_ your entir~acket ,......i'.Q.'l)_Q..n1y have one citiz.e.n complair.t after the S~pteMber hea:t __ in.g regarding th.~ activit~s of the dance clJJb and no citi.-zen c01"1plain~ __ .§..j"ilE'd ..... ith !hLPclice indica":.ins t.h€-re is nois~ aftpr 2 a.m.~ E. Consequently, since tne-re clea=ly is not 51.lbstantial evidence that the current hours of operation has callsed the dance club to operate in a manner that i$ fldetrimental to the public health, safety an~ welfare~, the conditional use permit should not be amended to require the dance club to close at 2 a.m. III. IAQr§' A. There is Dot. substa.tltial evidenc~ __ J.J1at the current hours of operation has cqused the dat";ye club to c':leret:.e. .l~ manner_that is "detrime.nta1 to thlF! public health. __ .~~ __ fety and 'Welfare". 1. ru;,.andar:d to be 'iJ$ed. Pale Alto Municipal Code {UPAMC~} Section 18.90.080 states the Zoning Administrator can aItlend tr.e use permit upon a finding of "SUbstantial evidence" that the use in its current form is ndetrimental to the public heal th, safety and welfare:"l. ~ FAMe Section 18.92.050, ir. conj llnction 'With FAMe Se.ction 18.90.050, states upon the filing of a~ appeal. the Planning Commission shall make findings ~based ~pcn the facts pre~ented at 1.i"le public hearing". The Planning con·r.,issicn then U,c.K1'!'S i. t.s recQ-::\r::.e-ndat ions to the City Councll arid the City Council ~aj i~pose con~itions "as the facts 'Warrant."4 PhMC 18.92.060. \~':J~ 2bove PAMe secti'Jns. are attached as Exhibit 1.) 2. Z-QD..ing Administr~-,tor hap failed t.o meet the standard. In the FINDINGS, the Zoning Ji..d:r.inistr-ator recoIrur.ended the dance club be required to close at 2 a.I!' .. every nlght. However, in the FINDINGS the Zo)}ing ).,d:-;inistrat,.9J_mco:::pletely failed to g.Qyide any fact$-. to support her rs~comrnendatio["l. tn the REPORT, the Zoning Administrator relied almost exclusively on CHIEF DURKIN'S LFTTER. Thus, the Zoning Administr3tor's sole basis for recommending the 2 a.m. closing time is CHIE~ DURKIN'S LETTER. ;1 ~. I Planning Commission December 4, 1992 P.lge 3 3~ The PQlj .. ..£~ have not I2,.rovided any evi_g_~nce that ~g has been an" c~lls for ~vice .... hich re_J~_te to t~~t;,.jhe dapce club is eDen between 2 and 4 a.~.t and if there have been any calls for service dUring this period, they are not st~tistically significant~ a. ~yidence. In CH!EF DURKIN'S LETTER I he stat~d l5% of their calls for service at the dance club related to the period atter :2 a.m~ This letter ..... ·as in response to our repeated requests going back to September for docuroer.tation t.o support their position that calls for service after 2 a.m. was a significanT. problem .. Ho-wever, ",ben 'We aSked tor documentation to support this claim J the calls for service report submi"tted to us 8'{ -.1'HE POLICE showed that THERE HAD_NOT BEEN ONE CALL FOR SERVICE' which relat~ to the fact the dance club ~~ open bet~een 2 ~ and 4 a~ .. (~~e Exhibit 2 attacned.) The police claim there a~e other calls for s~rvice between 2 ~.m. and 4 a.m. which relate to the dance club but that are not shown on the report. While we admit this is a possibility. despite repeated requests for information to support this position, the police have failed to provide us with such evidence .. In fact had a m~~ting on December 3. 1992 ~hich was adjourned by us oecause they still were unable to provide Us ~ith evidence of one call for service after 2 a.m. However, basea upon our careful monitoring of the surrounding area by our security guards and the records we keePI if there have been calls for service during this per iod, the nUb.):,e-r of calls has not. beer. statistically Significant. b. Police M.lsconduct. Unfortunately ~ the conduct of the pol ice in this process t~as been extre_mely disappointing .. i.. 1991. In 1991 Palo Alto police officers "Were (al conducting warrantless searches of patrons, (2) calling th~ owners at home after business hours on non-essential business (3) e~ptyinq the club on a rainy night to take a "head count" (see Exhibit 3) ir..m-ediately after -we had written a letter voicing our concern about the other ~isconduct (see Exhibit 4), and (4) handing out business cards to our employees and patrons indicating if they had any concerns about The Edge or its ~anagement. just call that number. Ii. ~ete filed again~t u§. Untx..u§. statements: bY_n'pg1ice tl13t;.n_..Enuit.s Nancy Lytle told us in the prese.nce of • Planning commissiop Decemb~r 4, 1992 Page 4 thr-ee .... itnesses that the police had told her "there has been a la ..... suit filed against The Edge oecaUS'5! of the way their security gua.rds h3ndled a patron". This of course i::;; not true. We presented this statement to Chief uurkin on October 1, 1992. He appeared t.o be quite concerned about the allF.gation. He indicated he ~~uld look into it and get ~ack to us -·he r.ever has~ 111. ~90Usncharqes by the-t2.91iC':e of narcotics ~. In the report of the police to the Zonir.g Administrator in July, 1992 the police indicated that there was a problem ~ith narcotics at the dance club. {See Exhibit 5). This also was totally false. iv. ~J~_.charqe5 of gangs. At the public hearing one of the residents stood up and said the police had warned hi..:.r to stay away from The Edge beca.use gangs hung out there. At the public hearing the polic~ made a half-hearted attempt to justify this totall)r fallacious claim. c. in this process, at opportunity to pour Conclu.~ion~ Far from being a calming effect every turn the police have taken every gasoline on the fire. And when this conduct is jux~aposed over the fact th~ir refusal to allow us to provide outside security greatly increased the problem, it is no exaggeration to state there ~ould not be a problem here if it had not been for the conduct o! the police. To the extent ".re are unneeessari Iy adversely a ffeeted by that cor·l.uct 'We .. ill seriously have to consider the various legal aVfnUe$ available to us. 4. In.. your €'tltiX.Q.._pacy.et I ),0'..1 o:",ly have one citizen £.....Impla.Jnt after the S<::!-R..t. __ erober hearin~.:rnqing the activities-.9nt t 1e dance club an4 no ci tizt?n COlJtPl2Z . .,l,.nts [i led -wi th the pgl ice i'1dicating there is noise._JLtter 2 a.m. 5. Key_ proponents 9J_~n~nrlier closing tiT:1e .JJQ.Y_nsupport current hOJ,l.r:~. o..1.~ratio.D.. M!". Shucf'.at \ras one of tne leading neighborho.)d voicE'S calling for an earlier closing tim€:. ftowever, he currently is a proponent of the current closing time. (See letter in CITY PACKET.) The balance of the neighbors and business owmers, including Kinko's, Canibridge Hardware, Dominos, '~ho recently suffered an armed robbery on tne night we ~ere closed), Round Table and the Palo ~lto Ba~ing CQ., among ethers, also support the current hours of operation {see Exhibi~ 6 attache.d) . "~---"-"" ."" "i'"< " " e ,_ .. ,,~'. - Pla~inq co~is$ion December 4, 1992 ?age 5 In additior., there is wide pllblic ,support in the Palo Alto area com::m, .. mity tor the current hours {see E._Xhihit 7 at.v!ched and the CITY PACNFT). 6~ ~an Jose conve_:rting to 4. a 'nm..._ closimL..!:i!n..g. Additional eviden~e that a 4 a.m. closing time is preferable also is exemplified by the experi~nc~ of San Jose. After carefully studying the issue,-San Jose has determined a 4 a.m. closi.Og ti1!1e will be les$ disruptive to the comm\d!'ln.5,..!Y. Consequently I they ar~ in the process of changing from a 2 ~.m. closing to a 4 a.~. closing_ As David Siegel noted in Exh~~~ ~restricting the club's hours will HURT, the local reside~ts, not HELP themn~ We strongly recoll"..r-.end if a.nyone is setiously cont.emplating endorsing the earlier closing tim~/ they spend at least one Saturday evening at 2 a.m. in San Jose~ 7 ~ Fet_~ining curr_ent hours is_ cri tica 1 to o~X. fi:twm::iul vi,n~llit.t~ l!Ii. Sine,e 75} of our rey_en...u_e is derived _Lr.Qffi cov!fr charge$, it is cri.ti.-9.ill.v important ~e r .. gts.1D.~xte!jged ~. A significant pcrtion of our patrons come to us bet~~en 11 p.m. and 1:15 a.m. since most patrons come to dance and socialize (!!l..§Laver~n~ns than 1. 5 dl::nlnks ocr patron_ and most people who attgnd come ~ith at le~st one and so~etirnes m~ny !Liendsj if ~e were to close It 2 a.m. ~e would lose ~ significant p~rcentage of cur clientele~ i:, CiS:.Y.......:§.tL@Jd not be c.btE'Lnt'~ ch;:.nge th_~_ rules without c9Jup_elljrlq rE"as9JJ. When ioI"e bought tI""~e business several years ago, th~ purcLasf? pricE'_ .... as bas.ed. upcn the current hours o{ operation. We only have t~o years left on the lease. If the city ~ants to ChaTl.gE the rules at the end of the t·"",:) year period~ ... ·e ""ould have no strong objection. Ho ... ·ever. for the city to change the rules Py amending a provision of a permit "Which has been in effect for almost twenty years, ~ithout s~bstantial evidance that. the current hours of operation has caused the dance club to operate in a ma.r.ner that js "detrimenta.l to trle public health, safety and w!?'lfdLel<, 'When the most serious proble-ms occurred after a change in police pelicy, .....,e believe raises serious legal property rights issues. 8~ RedlJcedm_n.9urs would be n~ loss t.o tr._~_I:::-~. The magnitude of the problem that ~ould be created if the dance ClUD ...... ere forced tc close early and the absence of evidence to support • Planning commi£sicn December 4, 1992 Page 6 the position of the Cit.y is such that the City soon · ... 'ill find itself in protcacted litigation. We believe i~ is not in the best interests of the City to ..... aste over $10e,OOO in this manner. We ~ould pref€r a negotiated settlement. In addition, if the bl.!.siness 'Was forced tc C'lose because of the :?:,educed hours, it .... ould mean the City .... 'ould lose: * $1,300,000 in taxable revenue annually, at a time the City supposedly is concErned about its narraving business tax base; * Over 3D jobs tor our young people, th~ group hardest to employ; * The most closely supervised and popular place for our younger peoFle to go. 9. Alcohol-Free Facility. No alcohol is sprved at the Edge after 1:15 a.m. Consequently, the patrons that stay at the Edge after 2: a.m. are not drinking alcrJohol. Providing an alcohol free facility in a controllej environment seems to be a much preferable alternativ~. lO. CU~l;:_~nt hours keep ou_:r;_--y~_ur:g people closer tQ home. If our operating hours are cut back, ~e ~ill simply be requiring people to drive farther. It \o,'ould seem much "o'iser policy to try to keep our younger people off the roads and closer to home in an alcohol-free environment. 11. Xh..§ ___ ..ll.~eds of our yeung P __ ~gEJE .. Iso should rr,atte:r. Robert H. Shaffer once said: We :zr,ust vie .... young people ;,ot as empty bottl~s tc :t:e filled, but candles to be lit. Unfortunately ~ some.times people .... ·h'J are in decision making roles think they know what is best for adults u~d~r the age of thirty and try to fill them with their values. There is a very strong bias in th~ older portion of the Palo Alto community that stro~gly believes ~young people do not need to heve a place that stays open that late l '. Or as the sale l,=,tter ... ·r iter o(.lposing the current hours essentially stated nteenagers do not pay taxes and therefore their voice should be given less weight". (Even though most of our patrons 3re taxpayers.) The de-cis ion to reduce the hours may be the correct one. However, if it is the correct decision, it should be based upon the facts. For if it is not based upon the fact-s, it is merely based upon prejudice and the arrogance of power. • 71.1 '.- Planning Commission Decemoer 4, 1992 Page 7 1 do not believe this City wants prejudice and arroga~ce to be part of the legacy it passes on to the Dext generation. B~ Previous probJ&tTls Wh"-ch relate tc t.he period before 2 a.m~ ha'.e been solveLby the acti.Q.ps 'We have t~X~.J1. 1. NOTICE ~TER. In The Notice of Hearing Letter froD) the Zoning Adrcinistrator dated July 10, 1992 (the "NOT::CE LETTER") and reiterated in the REPORT, the Zoning Adreinistrator set forth the possible grounds ~hy the use permit should be amended. As will be shown below, all of t-nose concerns have been addressed by the actions taken bl~ us. a. si tuatlon before 1991.. Since 1975 or thereabouts, whether known as The Keystone l The Vortex or The Edge, the facility has catered to the under JO crowd, and sinc._~ 1975 thE! currellt hgurs of operation hav~ o_een permitted. ThE! most significant change that has occurred OVE!r this period has not come frem the activities ~t the facility or a change in hours, but the addition of t~o major residential devel~pments near the dance club and a change in police policy in 1991. b. The co~Jaints raised bv the citizens in 1991 and the first half QL1992 are directly linked tOm a change in police policy in early 1991. The primary focus of our sec~rity personnel alwafs has been '\Jithin premises. However, fro:n at least 1986 to March 1991, under two sets of o',mers , security guards ~Quld go ou~sid~ the facil~ty en an as needed basis. This system vorked extremely ~el1 and the neighbors ~id ~ot raise any significant concerns regarding n~ise or litter. Again, during this period, the dance club had its current hours of cperation~ In early 1991, the police informed us that tco~ that paint forward we ~ere prohibit~o from providing any security outside the premises. Since the police did not want us to use our security perso~nel outside the facility. ~e offered to hire off duty pOlice officer~ (as is done in many Say Area cities) at up to ~60 per hour per officer to provide such service to our patrons and the neighbors. Howeve~, this otfer vas rejected by the police on the grounds that it ~a5 against their polic.y. (Although that is not accurate, 2S off-duty police are used en a regUlar basis in conjunctio~ with athletic and other events at Stanford. ) Consequently, we were ~ot surprised when shortly after this ne .... policy restric-cing sel:urity outside the premise~ was , -.'-- Planning Commission Decem~er 4, 19;~ Page 8 impleroe."'Jted, thr=re \,',15 "" significant increase in citize.'l cO!'Jplaints. Tc cut back oU b hours ___ Q.~cause the pQ.lice 'Woula not ~J,-1.Q'~_..Y.§ K_.12rovide seO~...Q1Lt:.side the building would not p~ unl ike the City punch'ngJ.Ql.1 in the nose a __ n9_ then finjnSLY.Qu for bleedingn_ql] their carpet. When the complaints increasad., ·.,e ilIll!lediately contacted t!le police a~d requ~5ted that we be allo~ed to p~ovide security outside the facility or hire off-duty officers~ 'rhese requests again ~ere denied. c. }.ctJ,.9.Ds taken by us __ in 1991. Give.n these restrictions, 'We focused our a1~tention on ",'hat other actions .... e could take to reduce complaints. Aft.er a set of meetings -with the police, *e agreed to take several actions 'Which had a direct, negative impact upon our business. These activities included: * Reducing advertizing * Increasing the cover charge .. Establishing a dress code; d~ sta __ ~USn after 1991 chnanges. 'de then had a follow-up meeting ~ith the police on March 28, 1991. That meeting had three purposes. First to determine whether the ne .... policies redu~ed the number of disturbances. S~cond., to again request the right to provide security or off-duty officers outside the premises. And third, to discuss the inappropriate co~du~t of one of certain officers I that includ~d (1) warrantless searches of patrons, (2) calling the olrrmers -'!t he·me after business hours O~ non-Essential business and (3) emptying the club on a rainy night to take a "head count" immediately after -we had · ... ri tten a letter voici ... g our concern about the other misconduct. At th~ meeting th~ Assistant Chief (I) indicated they were satisfied with cur ct-.anges in policYr (2) rejected our request for outs ida security and (3) stated that the misconduct allegations would be addressed internally (the offending officer soon after ~as a5si~ned to traffic). e. First actni.QJJs taken by us i_n_J_9...21.. We heard nothing further until the spring of 1992. At that time we received complaints primarily about the noise lev~l in the residentia 1 neighborhood _ 'we immediately contacted the pol ice and again expressed our ~illingn~ss to hire off-dtity police or ,---, Planning Commission Dec6~ber 4, 1992 Pa"]e 9 security guards to keep the pat~ons away fro~ the residential areas. Again our request was Qenied. We then met -in person -each individual ~ho rais~d a concern and also had meetings ~ith the police. As a result of these meetin9s ~€ focused o~r efforts in t~e fol1o~ing areas! i. N<;::>ise Redl!ctio~ Within the FaC!_li£i. ... ----. within the facility ~e: A. Completely re-built the ~alls facing California Avenue; they now are double walls, fully insulat<ed. B. Insulated the back doar ~ith sound proof materials. C. Clo$~d all skylights. D. Placed sO\lnd speakers in insulated boxes. noise in various areas. E. Installed sound drapes to minimize i1. .s_sc:_urity Within them Building. security within the build~ng ~as broken do~n into three areas. First} at least two security staff ,"'ere assigned to monitor the patrons entering the facility to insure they ~ere of age and not under the infl'Uence. Second, six to eight security staff ",,'ere assigned ~o the inside of the facility to insure the patrons ~ere behaving appropriately. Tnird l twc· security staff with communications equipment were assig!"led to th~ ill".meaiate exterior and irur.ediate back parking area. 1l.1. Appe.arancnLpf E.xterior. Since our activities outside the facility were severely limited by the police, ve fccused our activities outside of the facility on litter remov.!l. As a result of our meetings with citizens and the polic~ and the activities identified above, Lieutenant Mace was able to indicate to us in a letter dated June 5, 1992, ~I appreciate the cooperative spirit witrl 'lNhich you have responded to the neighbors in the California Avenue area and to th~ police concerns". 3. POliCn? __ <:Illow out~ide sec_4.ri ty in JulY __ n19n9.2,. On July 13, 1992 \Ie \lith the Zoning Administrator, the. police and other City officials. At "1:,_h.~.t If<eeting. the p.~ agreed n _t.9 allo .... US_tel._ provide _?~cu:l';ity gUot"ds outside t..he nre,mt.se_s. .1 • " ~~"':"> -~!> ":, , , Planning Com~ission December 4, 1992 page 10 _.",_s ( We felt this cbange in policy would have a significant impact on t~e calls for service a~d we requested the city give us a few months to implement the changes and retain our hOt,.;rs of opE-ration during this period. If it 'Was sho .... ·n that after this test period the 4 a.m. closing time still \"as causing a problerr., ~e ~ould be ~illing to change it. Howp.ver. the Zoning Administrator refused ~o give us tioe to see whether this new policy would change the level of complaints. 4. Concerns raised in l:':m'i'I.~ETTER have he:en resolved. In the NOTICE LE1~'ER the Zoning Administrator set forth the possible reasons why the conditional use permit would have to be amended. We have re~olved each and everyone of those concerns ..... i thQut changing the mc;::losinq time. a. Calls for Serv~ce. The NOTICE LETTER indicated the City was conce~ned by the high number of calls for service. In ,July the security guardS ..... ere in place, dir<C!ctinq traffic away fro~ the residential neighborhoods towards the public parking facilities. As a result, there has be~n a fifty .Q!!t"cent de-=rease in the calls for service b~_twel::!_n June and Novsmber. (The documentation ~e have been provided shows the average calls for service between January and May 1992 were 12 per month. Compare ..... ith ~xhibit , ~hicn shows fo~ the four ~o~th period ending November 4, 199~, there were 6 call~ per month.) (Certai~ calls for service which referenced 260 California Avenue for the period covered by Exhibit 2 included calls for service. in the afternoon or on evenings ",hen ,",'e .. 'ere closed and the police have not related them to the Edge, cor:sequently, they are not included in the totals. The police also have tried to estimate ho',,; li'an;{ calls far s.ervice in the general area surrounding the dar,ce cJub are related to the dance club~ However, it merely is tJ"leir esti'!:",ate, they have admitted they do not have th€ means of accurately measuring those calls and there is no ... 'ritten record to support their conclusion.) b. Hours of ope-rat ion. The NOTICE LETTI'R indicated Jlresidents in the area have cC'lmplained that loud music 1 especially bass tones, coming from the dance club keeps them awake until closing" and "large crowds leaving your business at closing time increase neise levels ... .'it[;.in the residential areas". As .... e have indicated elsel,.·here in this letter, to the extent it 'Was a problem; it is not a problem no~. -------.... -~.,-~'--, "'-~' • , , , Planning Commission December 4, 1992 page ::,.1 c. ?atron .P....£:r-king and Nois~. The NOTICE L£T'rER indicated parking in the residential areas ... 'as a concern. The Zoning Administrator agrees "With us that since ... ·e have utilized the security guards, parkir.g in the residential areas has been significantly reduced. d. Litter. The NOTICE LETTER indicated there h~d been a number of complaints regardjng litter outside the Premises. As ~hibits 6 and 7 show (and the Zoning Administrator concurs), since we instituted our litter removal program, litter has not been a problem. e. Live ~an~d Recorded Music. The NOTICE LETTER indicat€d there "Was loud music emanating from the dance club. The loud music ~~s one of the major reasons the City ~as considering a change in ti'le hours of Operati':m. Since tho:! installation of the insulation, music from the dance club cannot be heard in the residential areas. sincerely, GMS: low: INN2-02. ,sUlf .~ _ ... -_ .. _--- Exhibit 1 Exhibit 2 Exhibit 3 Exhibit '" EKhibit 5 Exhibit 6 EXhibit 7 BXHIBITS TO \EtTER TO PLANNING_CO~ISSION PATED PECE~ER ., *9.2 PAMC Sections Calls to Service; July -November 1992 state_m~emt of Police Incident; March 21, 1991 Letter to Lieutenants Bolanos and Bonander Palo Alto Police Memorandum Letters from Neighbors and Businesses in Support of 4 a.m~ Closing community Letters and Petitions of support ." ,', lS.90AJSO. Rev0C3{ion. extension. Iram;(cr.:biliry. and <lut:uion. (::!) In any case where the condir:cns of :I \'.:;nar:<:e or conci~ior;al tlS~ permit have: root ~e:n or .are flot bdng complied witr .. t~e loning adminis'J:.I.tof sh:!.ll set a d2te for public hearins and notice the public h~aring in accon:!ance With Secllon 18.90.030. Follo.,.,tnr, such heanne. but ('let more than ten. ..... or1.i.ug j,a.::u-afrer the cor.c:\Js~'::l:1. 0 r the h-=.a.rin,g. the zoning J.armnis~rator shall make findings of whether the conditions or tne variance or conditional use penT1it ha\'e !'lot been or .are r.o( being cC'mpliec! v.'I",h and render t.is d-:cision te" revoke 0< mo-dify such \ ariance or caDditional use permit, ~b) In .any c:a5.e where. itl the judgmtnt or the zoning admi,.istrator. subsur:!ial evidence incic.a.~es th.at the use cConducted pur;uan: to a cor.di tional use permit is beb~ <;,:;n<lucted in a manner det:imental 10 the public h~alth, 5J.rety and \I.'~1:ra!'e. the z.oning .drninistrilcr s.lull set a date fOI a pubDc hearing and notice the pub!~c ht:l:.iJ1,S ir. acco:d .. nc~ with $coctlon ! 8.9i:J.030, Following s.uch hearing, bUl !1ot more than te:1 workir.g. d~y;;: after the' c:cnclw.ion of the hearing., the toning administrkM snarrmake findings or. whether the llse has been conducted in .. mann~r detrimental to the pubiie health. 5<\fety and welfare and render his decision whether or not 10 modify the conditional LIse permit. 11'1 deter:Tlinin~ \lChether th~ use is c~!'1ductecl fn a mannet detrimental to the public health, SJrety and we1faT~, the zoning a.dministrator s,h,all consider, but no! bt: timited to, the f<"lIo\l{inB~ ~~~~=~~~n,jn- lls.e pt:nnit which has not been useci .... ithin One year fol1owirlg the effective date thereof. sh.i!:ll become' n ... 11 and void a!1d or no effect unless a storter time period sh.JI specifically b"! prescribed by the conditions or such variance of ccndltiCno.! llse permit. The zor:ing admininrator may, .... 'ithout a hearing. extend such time for 2. maxi mum period of one additior'lal yeu !Jnly. upon application fiJe:d with r.lm berare li1~ explntion of tht: cme"year limit, or the t:Xpiri.lion of such hmit 2S may be specified by the conditio!'1S oi th.e v;;rian~c or conditiuru.l U~ permit" (d) A U~ permit which has not been USt'1 for zny period of coc year.Jt mor~ shall brcome !"'.ull anc! void. At !lJch tim>: as lh~ z-ont!1g adr.ltnistl"2toT dete:-mines that it is most likely thai';' ust: pe!"1TliT 'has nor been I.!sed for a year at more. the zoning adrr.ini5.trator shall notify the property o ..... ner ariC hold a public h~arinE in acco.dance ..... ith s.=ction 18.50.030. At the time and placf set !or such hearitl£. tl-,e :z.onit1E 2dmi:lisu.ator shzll hei!:!' evidence on the U5.C' .and/or nonuse of the use peomit.. WithIn a reuom:::le time. bW1 ncr more 1han ten working days 2ft~r conclusion or the heart:"1g, the zcnir,f; .. dminiSlro.to. s.~,ati rn.ak-c:: fi!".cings a:'ld rence~ 2. dec:isi<::n en the errectiver.e,s c; l~e us: p':rmiT ~oT:'::-e o~ :r.~ cec~skJ:1 cr lh~ z'C'nir.,; e.:lr.;;:-.:$1.:ztor ~:".an bo! rr.aikd t.o t:.! prape-tty o· .... ·r.~r a;l::: fO eny orhe pe~~o" requesll:':§ 5i.:d·. r,o~ice Tnt c'!ciStor. o( the :<.or,irg z:\:ninis'(ralor rr.2y be zppe.11('c in ~:::C(l-,c· an<:~ wi,h Chapter 18.92. le) A variance gr.ante~ pursuant to thi5 chcpt~r shall exist for [he lir.:! or ~he exis!i~E .!truClUre or su;;.h !oln.:cture 2; m.ay be ccnS[l'lJctec purs,"a,,! to n·,e vuizr.ce app:ava~ ur,!es, a dirreren'( time perioG is s?edfied in the iss..:· ar:ce or the \';oriance:. A var;2r,ce [rom the parking a:14 ic::dil'1g regulalior.s shall be valic only d~:in:£-'(he perio.c or c~ntit,~ed cpel'.2!i'8n of the Llse andjor SUUCI\':~O:: fClr \./r,ich the "arj;;.'lC'E' wa~ gr;;.r.uc, (Orc, 3-455 H 55.56, 19D: O,d. 33.c:S H J4. 27, J9E~, O"~ 334,] {17, i5SJ, O~d 3064 § 1 Cpar:). 1975: Ord J04E (pi:), 1978) • ,,,,. 18,92.050 .4.<':0(,(1 ~,:, cor.lmissioll, Upon (hI" dJtc ~CI for iloring. (he pl:lnn.ir'i; comfT1i<;o;ion shall c()nduct -2 pubii.: t1(',:.ring (hereon, unie!.s. for auSl:', th~ cammi'ision on thaI dat(' continues the maIler. Upon conclusion of 'he hearing on the appc::l.I, the commis~ion shall m.1ke findinGs and recomna"Hd to the city council th,H the decision crlhe: 1.on:ng adm~~i5:tralor be arnrmed, changed or mooliied, or i.n lielJ tber!:or, make S'':C!l ot\-:er cr .additiona! recommer.dation.s a!' i: ,kerrs proper. The rindings of the: commi,sion shan be subject to th(': provisi~ns or Sec;ol"!S 1890050 and is ~0.060 and shall be su1;'r:-:ine~ ~ the form c-r a r::cmrntrICztior. 10 the city ccunci!. (Oro. 3048 (part), 1978). 18.90.050 V~ri:mcc Fincl:iTi£5 :md cor..;!ttions (a) T:'e :z.or.ing a.:'minbtrator may grant a v ... .;:znce from the site de·,'dopmer,t :-e~!llations, th~ parking and loadi.."g re£ubtio:i:s, or the. spc~i.aJ r-::<;.wirements of this ti~le QPPu(.;3ble within any (Ltricl if, from the application or the fans pn:-sf.:me:d at !.hI! public hearing, he fjnd$: -(I) There an e.xceptlonJ,l or c).traordiTia0' C;'Cl.:.lTI$la:lCeS (·r cDndi~;On$ appLic.able 1.0 the property lr.'i'ol"ea t!"jal do nol .ar.';J!Y &e:'le:~.al:y !':l prope:--t.,y i:'J the: same <ii."rricL (2) The p4nting of the: .:1p~hcalion is nece:),;$.J.'.," for the pre~e, ... ,'ation and enjoyment of a sl,.;b~lntj.;;.l proper::y right of !he appliC'..ant, z.nd to pr~vent unreasonable prope.rty loss or l1nnect'~s:>,:y t.2!rdship (3) The p'a."1tir'E-of the ilFpljcalio:l will no, be C:;::rimen~a! or mjl,,;r;ous to property or uT'.provemen~ ir. the .. icinl!)' at.a .... ill r101 be delrimental te, the: public h~a1th, 'tafet)'. ge:leral \l-:elfue. or wn\"~nier:ct (b) In granting such "~'ia.lCc, the 2on:Jj~ aomi."'lislr'2v-" :7'.",." impc':se such reasonable condj~ioJjs or ~strictjons as ~,e deems .appropriate or m:ces5ary to protect the pu bi:c he~ lth. s~felY. g~ nil' r~l ..... df:cre. or oonvenk .. c~, and to $!::cure the purposes 0: trois ti~Je. (o:-c. 30.;5 (pa:1.fr 1978). 18.92.060 Action by cir~' cc~"cil. Upon n:ceipt of the re:co."'rlr':lendEtk':-1 or1he pl;!Mlng commi5s1ol"., tt,e city courod! shzll cor,s:der the appeal w:U";.r, .. _ tlJftv da.Y,.L.or rectipt .of the reco:7;l"lencatio:-. by tr.e cily cie.-:..: The co,"nc~ may. II iB option, c:ol"!duct z p",blJC heJ~-jng on the malle;. 11". conformity with the provisions or this title. Yh!:' CCL!licil rney b~ motion reverse Qr affirm wheUy or p2T'1Iy, (J, r,.2y modify ;any ceci:;;on. ae<ennl.'1a;:lon. or reql"ireme"t n:cc;mne;",acd by the pl",:,-.rcing cOIT.mi$~i8';"1, "n,j ,rna,:. m~:e S'L:ch de,:isic,. O~ ceterrr.i..%t:o:c or m,,) i:Tip:;~e Sl:Cr-. COr-ClllO;".S 4'S the fa.:ts "';:;,,<.nt .... i;h ~sre('r. !Q t~~ :;;:,;:,~ .. 1 .ar.~ to I:"le :;,pprc'.".;,: or ceria! cf ~I-,e: c:;:;:,:,'~r.c;", (e-: ',",~i~~c-e c" (·o~.;:::l> ".af t:'."e pe:'7;-:,jl, ~.;;,: the c'tCiSion or dt::e';";7',~;;:·,:'r; 0:" .he c'~:,';".:-i.~ ,":" . .eL; !:;,e nr.": If s;.an:ect ty the CC~j'.':::: 1,,;;:,:,:; aj::,:.:,e21. tne \,zr.2'I-=e O~ C(Ir:.-:.:l,:'r:aJ L:~'" pet .... :·,]l $haU be. e.freC'tivC' irT:m~,~iale~y. !'-',C):ice or the c0ui".d·s deC:~l':J~ ::.r..aj1 t·: mail('d lO the origi"al JpplJCar.l, 10 t:,t pe:sCl" fL:::-,& tr,e <:ppe<=.l .... ;,d le ""y olhc!. P('T:;'Ot1 ...... ho t,::;, rl;~~ 2 "'T.l1:"r. r<,:;u('~l t"'~.~fl"; \\":1'" 1[;[' c~:, ck::> (Ore 3'J4?~ (p.....-'). 19'7~1 \ h1 h-,,\LC Mel() r'(!l t(·f Ot.f'1 S2 C~l_lS FOR SER~ICE SUMMA~r t'£~I~CI-i CR~r£f-;lpl 260 -CALl~('tR:NIA fAV /' / I • ( '~ H"I, rjlll' ", I ...... ,', .',UI ll" I:,lf I 1 rl'r 1'1\1(1 ._VUIT 11 illS". fI".: I'H' I (11"(11 JON Ui'.SI:ffI1"1 ION .)I\Nll"".I!lfl III ~/'n_ 1.0Clli!ClN' :!60 CIILlFORH!1I IW I'ill_') I'II.IQ f"-''-[I;'' ll[Pf'lR'"I,111 ~,WI JHfllfl~l' OfTLJHI. k[l'ot,', . -, '.".--_ .. --_ .. , ,'- ¥;'-';(U"-010k "" ;'I~" r,t-I1i< ~QT or 111l_ [:~\I£-MiIOf ~\IH()~ lllRDUOH "'P'II vnl!cu:tVIJ .'!;:nfl) fiLM'" IOF~I/":! I.OI:l\fION' ?,\IJ rllLlrORr-<!1\ 101.1 f~-~''I~,-{li,:> NI< ~;>:'~; HJt: tU(l!; l~'4."(\"'-',1 ltl_;o;~(\\(flh'tc\\\ 111\~\.\I<fl' l'dLllC!RHO Rffll'(I!«tJllo O!!ITUld.'/lw:.r HVI"i'I',-;' 1.~"'I1~H ~ql) CiIIUrOI'tHlfl AV "i'~-;''''~·IIH' In; ;'Jill L{llIli "lIf.H; I\r 1IW r,(I(l(, flltn II"U[I' In, 'II'P \ N:nlll))H 2t.O rl\L1rI)R~"\ 'III ",L;'OJ·,~m,rI If" 1-'i;1~, liMn ji~I'Pf[,f R£;,aVf:{1 IlI,nt'H LUltllu~ ,I,IClCi, 1'1;:0" l'EHltff) 111:111 til' ..,1i\IH':U. nIl IM,r'f \lIi "1'<: lOU,nI.'H' .,,:no (:nLlf(lr.tfTtI 111.1 t.h ,'/O··llillr-t I,n 01,",(1 .. ~'"lr; 1\' Ill" rOIlr: ow (, ;'1,:;1-'(; CI'Il.t f'I IIII;THI Or' 11)01 ,'1.I_\.fI~.O ~~'U I'·t r.OHlllur.:1> M-r, II[I\Lr ~l'~,I' r.lflrlJh lUI "fV~ 1 «(I\\'UII> :'toD \:I\U(QI<Nllo I\V ','--~/'l-O')f'lr. "'I 1I1~1 1' ... ~r.ll~U fIlJlf Ifl9IDf' 1.1[11[1.1,1' II"PORJfn U'. OfTIt:lRII !lrM<(:ltl;:1) VCiIIr.LI' I "lim. Mil w~_"1 {I~. MIl! 1(.lI 0\.",:> lIkMHIH' ='bU r/'.t.lrflRNlfI /IV \I.~":'!U--U('M' r,'/,! OIJI !i' fl!1\[. Tri'1\1l ol>lJ]10 IlIiO U' IifltJ'l"If,C(lIm O]UI1(l, 111((0 HIHI "'\IN .I11T1. f N; 1'(;;>"'". l'ut-P' I OU~;.'lj{]:;'i', ( ';'>(111) I'llh(_'(~(,\'/f$t HI! 1/'1:' 1.rt:"!I[)!t. :'t.[) (1IlIf~IIHln ,IV Q:·_~]~'-l\<):lr, r.:1'1 j)n~] ,,1;1,1 ']10;:[(1 tn;"UV[O n;,On V'II ~111UUI 'i""IIIlAI. U(<;III,,"MKf '0171<1") L<\t.:,\T1m.. ')1<0 1:1lI Jrl'l!'tilfl ,w 9,>:!71--('~1 Hr, ;"]",;1 flit; EIJIJ" , n,I'1 llI,rjlIrlO!.Odttl, IIIJ"'~, ftl'I,F:"'iH, (I ill"'r·'I'IINer y, ;0-"",;, IOe<\lI<ll-l! ;'t-\I f_h\. \I til ... }", (," "~---"I"""'} Ilr, ~,ll.' rl"_ [on", 1_,)1)1' nu'l(' flll,lllll! -->-. ,·',/C'.' l '>1 ." 10U, .'t.ll l'O! \1 "1'1"1"0 "., ''-','1 Y'''4,I.£\(r.ltj~ ",II' ""-11' I",."'j,I, (-(,'il-I< Fr .... " Ilfl. 0,1(1,1'1. ", .. ll/L " " I'· I' I.'I'l( f,.orn( 91:I/\I~ 1,<;\CI':;\Ok, :>/,$ 1:(li"F{lIml(, 1\', ~~-<'t,~ .. 'U(I,< I," If., ... 1,I"':ttlil I Oli~ JII!JVI.I"I' I li:fN!H ,\I JII! I (I'll_ (IInllJ"p,\tI(T 'I,l/ly.' l(tt' .... I\',\~' .'1>\1 CII1.1\'!H,i;I'" 1\1.1 ~ ~." ;',", J "j't,/, HII ,';",:; ) I" I 1'1,1' . !(I \'1 I("'l (,lll!.II 1 If; 11t~ Il1r "(1' tI'>1 Nfl Hi \ rl'm: Cj~Ttnn ~1I'11Jt:(>.,r 'f'lHIiOCH,U AU(IJ.!CIIC!H.t: HlIl[lI4IH,I: "F:Ilr>:oOl1.j Ill'fll, ,I· UIH.,I I\U~'l'(:HIIH.(" iKIIKl!,;." ('''I.O'IL,II I:!/Y~ P£ilIll)NI,j ['.AU'AI.,I, 1:'/~1 !'CII[I', ," '<l:lIt "I' ,. oilL-h.;.!.I:<),l: IJnl'lOll,l, 1.{'\jU-,.,/, l'nl.IHJIH.C 'WUlNI'(("",1' 1-""1 CA'!I III,' ---.-.. ~ ... ~--- 11"[~· ulflP "I<" Ct'; ,· _____ ~_r. __ ~· ~ :H!>_\ :!:!tl3 -;>'~"l) ~ .. ()~ ~';'U '~;:1~; }-~::., ,",'~' 1~J;' ;'P,~ H~.\ :"j~y ,'.1;11 '-'I ~·f' [j'}(I"i' ll;'IJ [J,'." {l14~ U-,}" 0;:11 !loll! 01.11 {':in r.! II O;J:!O 'I(I~'" :'J!d ;'_I~·' ;']I~: :'J!U ":~.,, }_l.t" :',." :'1-:;1, ;01"0 "'" J :n~!l [1(11 .... uUO:' \1111 J UUU!> lIul.! t ." , \ t .. .' , . :;,\,:':t~~,~~ ,:,., j • L~l',j, >Ii",), , , " o · " · · . , " " -. . -04 •• •• <4 i~ .; • .. . , ~ ., ~. · ., " ., " , • ., '0 i i • ~.t; .-, ':i ~ ::>::>-~< .-, eo::=~ ~,.-, ~~g g ;:Q::: 'to , ; • . " C< . . ' ~,2,2 ~ g~ ~ ; .,. ... ~~.,. .~ ~;::~ g . 8 , . • > ./ '''-'.'A: __ ,_ .... _ ... ' ...................... _'-_ f-: :s ~ -:r ~ ~ • \ '~---"' .. ' .. ' ..•. ' -"';, . " " " .. \ / 3 -------_ .. -.--... ------.-.----~ -,-._-- .::.~WH.(p·, . 1H£ ... _ ?&""oAU 0 FiP;_./A.1&:'b'/l~ -·17lLV __ rl.S._Tt!_.Ct ... O:=;' E.. T>{c. POqRS 4.vD 6c':C -E..vt::}2..,.,r;oJ)'! OUI OF /I-IcCLu0 I . ul,1.5 .. /.10"1/1 i02-/./-/G' 71/6' ?..47T<'O.-vS -_ .. 'c'."UOA/<s .. r;~[J W/'iTCf/l~ .. (lIe:: ]3//cK,. T-Coi2.. ! .v't://EZ S/tjW /f Pa..IC-E CFF leeR. Gf2-Ft!2E/.1..1/i./ tUtTY A / /1 .-.c, U Co U N'TE 12 • f7 :;5[1/0/1 c:D ' ! I1C Y .' f ,1-[) /1Ic:. l:CCrJv'5C TtIEII2. '/'.'.1·9 DS 1/.,/42-E /.1/ ;Wo, J/tCKET POq:ciS MUi/i/vt) tt/;/ILc-TileV' WE?' ST/1,vi"Vi·r;· !iT {f1?/C'!2 ))()(7/2.. ()/vc C"r.F/~ u.7T'5 iA./ TNc l,u;::;BYJ bl/7'" / O/[)9j-S(c-E 8//0 u/;rti /j .c(-"!/'/i7~f' E/777'E!2, {/!-/(U: ! ~1/i9,c:; T7'"Y"I/'/'; '1(-,,'"; T~/F-'J:)fTf2r'A/S Tc; I F-j1"r/----/:.'/c ':'"r-/-r/ I /j F;~L,~/ ;j:,'-7IZ- rAni,;,';"s c: . ,' .. , [ :-( ,;;c (Fe '5-'7/D., r· (,! 1-1I1T 1101[: r,','f /:. !:;o j v':; O.A'; 1111S 1:5 ;..,-,,;,.'c')_'II-,"·· ., .'/" /' .. _/.-'.:) ,".' --"[' .... ,(,J, f'/ .. Nj'{Jt'-!'jv --<.._-",C-f . ..-f."v" J _.' (.., !,"'i.:: k_ ~"'-:/L_,J" _~ n r-_ ALL 7r!f<;C (eT') IV Hnc, ':>7-:' 7f(C}2E .f i36/.f13 HI J.!L/T/ i'iFTFK/lil Pnifu,v') lfF') 7Yt' i-::I//u'//,'()-I .1~I!.ED O/T/CEI?'" lu.v K'(I!-'/ 1(','-/11 10't: ,:-VKL COt.///T ['/-10;, #r r;;/7/ c· '. :' (' '.'f ,.-: "1' z::( .:: ;/-.:> , ;,1 T}t;:A.../ UJ{>1/-I, : (' I: ,-~ , "- • .. . , -. . : 1:(J;}~ji2f:-:'A'&~ __ i~avt-iJ:liiw /</A// r/k-~A ! .5:4 ':.A/iG . ii{)ffJ'~' L!,' 'CLl R. n..rj './.-1<; ,~t-C . /. VL _ ..' __ ~--"_. _ _'11/ rId I'I! 'S _ . ?v'7· ..-j-v . 'II ff;,tf-LG .. __ .JE -iH6...-COPS .l!/1v 1//Y7)!//.A;" fJt-:17C,-; J V .])() .If,{4~f Tcof'tE .. (;/aE,~ _C()/.{I-v'C,-u~ TD /of£" . ,.'),</0 ;15,0>./<." /'-/c /1 /7iEY UVL./l: Be _ ABLe TO .. Gt:T ~/f(;:" //./, I 7?XO Fh'f II /.1)0/</ If -flJ/[/tv';. .I r /s .i./? /c.-~ .-mE CO; 1/ Fcl.cr_7JI1[E:~./6-v_ j?J!~. mc r;1/5~J7[/4./1J,e. ()~ $() lfoPt.J:; _UJFS/lJEL 5C~r/'C[ ;7.lCY li/EJ2E: i~r' .1A/,1/u''r-EV ffl t//f,//A/() TO 57/-1~ Iv. 7i-/C._l2C!/A/ ./1-/,-:0 _.Jl./fl/~ .. liI£li?-: tV!5'//!..v Or c/Vrc;R./ /l/A/A.'(D~--r-!~T"t:72<-:://?Z::-u, / ..0.'//'" v /l ,·2' L.-v,'-... .J t--. CVI '-- l;;? t-/ /7 /' /--::: .7Jf{:;L Y/ J J/ ~ rr-{;11Z j .~ . I e ~"-'~--_. '-'~ .. ~~"' .. ~C. II: ~,:>,. Gt~,,-:;'t .. $,,"~~[I ... :::I .. ::'J III t"' ... Q ...... _LJ-:;. ... ~:!; DOTY & St.."'NDHEIM ..... 0 " .. C"'t .. C-~ .5-~"'<:« ~ ... '0: ;lOC March 5 t 1991 'Lieutenant carlos Bolanos and Li~utenant Jim Bcnander Palo Alto Police Depart~ent 275 Forest Avenue Palo Alto t California 94301 De~r Lieutena~ts Solanas and Bonander: Our office represents the Edge j a night club on california Avenue. Our office also represented the premises when it was under differ.ent o~ership and known as the Vortex~ We did not reoresent the business when it was o~ed by the Coronas~ As the attorney for hoth the Edge and the Vortex I have been very impressed with the quality of the officers of the Palo Alto Police Department l and the professionalism they hav~ shown~ They have worked closely with us to protect and serve the people wbo come t~ our club, and have taken the initiative to work with us to solve any problems thQt have come up. However, there is one officer, Dan Ryanl who does not meet this standard~ I have spent a great oeal of ti~e try~ng to understand Officer Ryan's preoccupation with the Edge. At first 1 was concerned that unbey~ownst to mv clie~t and met there was a Inajor problem ... ~ith the club or activiti"'!s occurring there. Ho· ... eve.r, as you and your officers apparently MO.', there is no major concern. The mor~ I looked into this matter I the more concerned I became. Apparently officer Rj'an's obsession with the California Avenue night club goes all the way back to when the Coronas owned the business. I cnly have heard rumors about what transpired at the club back then, but whatever those issues were, the current owners run a clean club. yet that has not stopped Officer Ryan from engaging in s~lective enforc~m~nt against my client. The follo ... ·ing are just a few examples: 1~ On J;;:,nuary 20, 1991, Officer Ryan told the club to close prior to closing time. loI"hen the e.mployees asked why, Officer Ryan indicated he was tired and he did nat ·..rant to ",'ait until the place was scheduled to close. He Said it in enough of Lieutenant Carlos Bolanos and Lieutenant Ji)"[l. Bonander March 5, 1991 Page .2 tone that thE: empL;yees closed the club ___ lit t" aUAst a threatp.ning immediately. this fact. ~e h:.ve the employee time cards to substantiate. 2. Officer Ryan. r~quested that the Fire Marshall deputize him as a deputy fire marshall. In all my years of practice, this is the first tir.e I ha·.e ever heard of an active pol ice officer making su~h a request. 3. In furtherance of Officer Ryan's "new duties" as a deputy .fire marshall, I have received reports he has been sitting outside the club with a clicker, counting the numPer of people going into the club. There was one occasion ~hen th~ Edge ~as cited for having too many people in the club~ However, since that day We have had meetings with the fire department, and as Mr~ constantino can tell you} they have no concerns with our operation at the present time. The gtestion is then, ~hy does Offic~r Ryan? 4. Officer Ryan has been ~anding out his card to employees, telling them to call him if they ever have any problems with the club. 5. Officer Ryan r€g"u.larly works th.a club under cover. Obvicusly he not only has a right, but a duty, to inspect thl'!! club to insure ~~ are in conplia~ce with applicable law. However, the frequency and amount ot time tie spends a.t the club when he is under cover is excessive. 6. Ofticer Ryan has telephoned the owner at his house after business hO'.lrs, t\o.'ic:e in one night, OJ, ~atters tbat clearly could wait until the: fcllo\o.'irlg business day. This raises seme issues that ~ l".ope the two of us ~,ever have to discuss. As I nentioned, in general, ;"'e are very happy with the cooperation we l",ave received from the Department. Ho ..... ever, Officer Ryan's conduct presents a serious issue that must be addressed i~ediately. consequently, ~e request the following: • The Police Department communicate to us as soon as possible ani' concerns it h.as regarding the operation of the club. We ,.0'111 'Work closely • .'ith you to insure that all such issue:;,; are re=olved imroed.iately. * If there are no such issues, ~e request that Officer Ryan be reassigned. isr. ,. Lieute.n~nt carlos Sclanos an~ Lieut~nan~ Ji~ Bonander Wn-ch 5, 1991 Page 3 1\s a. footnote, until officer Ryan is reassigne.d, e.very time officer Ryan is on the premises we ~ill assign a security offic~r to accompany Officer Ryan to answer any questions he may have~ Thank you for your ti~e and ~e look !o~'ard to receiving your reply. sincerely, DOTY , SUNDHEIM AfL1-U '11J. ).MJlw.~ ( 'IT') George H. Sundheim GM5:sp:IMN-04.LTR ~ ;' _ .. .'. , . • .. .;:...~~~""'-,; ... -" ........ --~------- P)_LO ALTO POLICE DEFARTHENT ME.HO.R1U-"D UM TO: Nancy Lytle :rROM: Mark Venable DATE: July 1, 1992 SUBJECT: Police Concerns ~ith The Edge As I promised in O'.U" June 18 meeting, attached please find a Calls for Service" printout regarding The Edge for the first fivs Inonths of this year ~ Unlike reports we have previously forwarded to your office, this printout encompasses not just the specific address of The Edge 1 but incorporates a larger geographical area surrounding the b!lSiness. Sergeant DeStefano a!";d I havE: highlighted those Police cc.lls that are specifically r~l~ted to The Edge and placed a question cark adjacent to those Pol lCE: calls that maybe related, :but not docU"m2nted, to the night club. J..s you will see, there is a substantial number of peripheral disturbances re:q'.li=ir.g Police attention. Lieutenant Sue: Mace. Lieutenant JOi"l Rerncondez anrl Sergeant To~ Destefano, under the d.irection of captain 'I'om M"erson, r.ave been coordinating the Police Department's efforts to resolve citizents concerns. Each of these coordinators has forwar'!ed to rte a description of their prior dealings with The: Ed;e cn"i thei r recommendations for future regulations. As per C'I.,l!-Frior conversati~n, I tave synopsized these for yo' ..... PROBLEMS GEN£RATED • Fights • Noise • Vandalisn1/S·.lrglaries • Urinating in public Minors drinking alcohol ~ Trash left be~ind 'Speeding vehicles Narcotic use • Fersons drunk ir~ public Tne Edge page three PRIOR CONTACT OV~r the y~ars the police Departoent has endeavored to ~aintain a ~orkin9 relationship ~ith the ~vner5 of The Edge. At times this open dialQ9Ue ha'S proven to be beneficial and has resulted in pote~tial problems being red~ced or alleviated4 Our Department has net entered into <'.ny vritte.n agreements 'Wi th~he proprietors of The Edge. Police representatives have met and continue to meet witt" repr~sentatives of Tha Edge to discuss mutua.l concerns~ In the course of these meetings, our department ~akes recommendations and quite otten these suggestions are implemented in a. spirit of cooperation. Unfortunately, these suggestions aften serve as te~porary solutions to long term problems. Often' a letter from our depart~ent is sen~ S1hcpsizin9 the agreements ~ad9 at ~a~h meeting~ I understand that yOQr office r~ceives copies of these letters. If there should be any .further questions regarding tne Police Department's jnvolvement with The Edge, please do not hesitate to contact any of the above coordir.ators or ~.e at extension 2:337. Attachments cc: Lynne Johnson Tom. Merson Sue .Mace Jon Hernandez '10m DeSt.efano ; . May 6. 1992 Owner The Edge 260 California Avenae Polo Alro, Calif. 94306 De.1r Sir: RECE/lilOi) MAY 15 mz IMSi'fCTlON SERViCES I ~m writing to you in I1ope~ of finding a solu:1on to.n very troubkso!]1(.; and serio;']s prob!c:m. [lim a homeowner jn tbe Polo Alec Cemral comp1cx. nbout a block from the Edge. For some time now, exces~jve norse from gl!ests leaving the Edge und returning to their carS has bee~ waking me tip very late nt night. Some specific.<: , Mar.y Edge gue.<l' pnrk their cars in the area inunedir,tely surrounding Palo Alto Central-e.g. <lIang Pork Avenue. California Avenue. or in the public parking lot directly acro.\\ Park Avenue. Gue . ..,t~ knving the Edge and returntng to their cms (lre often vcry noisy. unruly and fr"'luemly drunk. People yell end -,Cream a.< they walk to their CO". Group.< of people often ,rand or(""d tbeir cars talking loudly for fifteen or th\rty n1illutcs at t\VO Or t.~fCC i.l 11le morning. Or, people sit jn there C,1n;, nnJ drink beers v;ith the car .q~l"eo tJbring:. ~Ihe beer bottle.s more often than not cnd tiP ,mashed on the .,treet. C Every few nights, Edge gllcsts wiII mce their ems up ~nd down Cc.:liforni3 A \'enue .:-.nd Park A "Ve<'.ue. Oflentime~J you'll he;.;," tie car hO!""{1~ btfl.rir;g. o Dec"usc of rhe Edge', vcry late oper"ting hours, these incidents extend f<l' into the night. Even on a weekday night, I can be awakened at 3 AM. Became Edge guests COrlle and go th,ougl,uut t.oe night. it's pn."ible to be wOKe" up, fill! back esleep ond !flen woken up "g"in I,lter 011 by" different group of p~orle. PEllo Alto Pulrce :'Ht.: gencl"aily vel)' respon~jve ttl noise cornpl:lfi"lts bllt (hr~y CillJ't prevent me from being n\.v.1kelled iii tJle fir6t pl'lce. A solution is needed thut keep:; th~ J1c1ghborhood qLiir::t during tilt night homs. \, . . i Heyilr G~~ F~21jnD hie Alto City Council 150 H~mi1tcn A~e. Pelo A'to, CA 94301 M~!! 10. )9,,2 355 (011EQE Aile Pl!lio AHG, Ct. 9'::30t, Dear·Mr. Mayo .. and City Co unci I members: R E eEl VEL' MAY 1 b JSS2 l~iSPECT1ClN SEi1ViCE I would l1ke to bring ~(lur otterltioli to en on-going problE./1 'i'"1 our nEighMrhood thot mg husbond eno I hove hod no luck in 5cil·jng. "IE heYE lived d 355 Co11fae Ayenue sirlce June of 1987. !t is E wonderrv11ocetion with one exception; we ere right ~rcund the corner from The Edfe (jence club. Every night when th£rs is e show we us subjectEd t{j riols; eno tresn en::: Ot.hEr 1ncons!dere t.'.J b~nevjor, He(l~ petrons ~,!rk on our 5V~st ~nu \fit:. ere freQuen\lu ewekeneo et 2 e.m. When the cl"b lets out to tne scuc,os o( bi,.ring c~-r stersos.llrguments end otner loud ccnVHsetle,,'is. 0'1 severe) occe,icns 'Ii" heve hOd to coIl the police \0 qui"\ thinGS down Qfl.en, the kids drink In their (crs eri(l t.hrow t~eir cOriteirl2rs into [lur ~erct ~hen thsilre lhrouoh. It's tiE carne ntu!i ter us to ¥i~1!( f.rcur,Q Dur ~1(Use thE morn' nos eHer £oos cor:certs p'jckjn~ up beEr bctUtE e;-.d c~ns er,j sh!rds 01 broken g!eiS. Wt"ve e .... en found fest fccc begs 'N:th h:r~::I,.'Er m~el$. ¥le''I€ spoken to Tne Edg€ meilegemHt ebout this f;",-,.\:;' C~t:~ 0r -twicE uV2f trrE ~Eers they h~'~e sent someone OVH to clsenup t~= ~,€~ Scmetlrrles the: behelilur Is ~orf (i'estrlJ:tivc cr iri.~~;,,"'C~"';!:2, A TE'f: UrnES, we r,~l,ie t!ctueliu h!1 to lien et ~,e:,pi$ to stop H",;,,,,,,, frCorr" L.Tl~etln;} 1:1 l.h:; b\J~h2S out5~de our becroom"wlndGw. L~.;t n!{jht wes oc"re:,,:t!u e rowd\~ ane. We woke lM:, mornfJ;Q to (lnd thot ~ .,etlon-of our fenCE ne~ 6Esn - knocked OVEr eno some 0' ihe picl<:s\ tips ,,"'" broksn off W~ wo111~ epprsclete £Qme klnc' pf ection (rom the cH~. Ferne';s e petrol ceT could tIE sent tc the eree to sit e1 thE iniErsection whEn ccncE-rt~ let Dut to mek€ SUiE eve~'one ie~YJs qu;etl~, Y.I{re not ~=kjng tr:~t Th:: EO;2 b2 s~ut dowr" tut we rc:e"1 sornethirrg must be cone to prote:t the ~'n:';'e:-t'd er,:j tne nerves cf lGce~ resldEntS. /lJst of us wDrK end there t r,'~'.'1lb::r cf yeung chIldren ~n this. cree end l:S uou C~n lm~c~rle, a Is extremEh .. ' tnn(i~1:1'::; to. fleYE 1!0ur ~leEp continuell~ dlsruPtc[ jn 11-]E-middl~ of n,c rn-ght -¥ . ~,-"-;-, ,"" ~. Tr,enk ~ou for looking into this . ~, June J, 1992 Wullam Zaner City Manage1 City of Palo Alto 250 Hamilton Avenue Palo Alto, California 94301 Dear Me Zan er: 1 am writing to follow up on the commenr.s! mad!';' abot;( t.~e Edge at tc!1jght's PaloA1~o Town meeting. I ~:a.Dted to pro\ide you v.it~ more specific comments abOut L1e-sitIl3rjo:'l. with the Edge and reiterate my frustration and outrage at a Sltuation that hllS been allowed to persist in my neighborhood, For some time nowl r and my neigbbors bave ~u5e[ed through excessive lote-night noise combg from the Edge and from its go.,-", The Edge operates until 3 ,-m, 00 weekdays and 4,'-ffi, on the wedoend etheEdge's use permit contains absolutely no limit on their operating hours} A!; a result, "e are kept ."aloe by loud noise & oth er disturbances literally throughout the nig!:t Some specit1cs; C Noisy guests Th-e biggest probJem is that people le'1'ring th~ Edge 2t tWO or lhree L1 tI~e ITiO,r-:1ing are frequentiyd:unk 2I1d rowdy ,-od l~erefore, t.end to be ,-erl' r.oisy, Th ey yeU '-'ld screaD 2t one another as they walk back to their cars, They stJJJd around the cars and talk for fifteen or tw~n[yminutes before depar.mg. They sir in the caIS drt.L-li-:.ing beei ~jth l1e ill stereo blaring. Tne beer bo;:ues mare onea lhl.'1 nor f'rJd up .swzh:d en lhesrn:::t C Gue.slS park around P.alo Alw CC:1traj One of the major cootnbutif:g facwrs to the Fcbieo is thar l':12.ny o(L1e Edge's ,f.JeS"E.S park r.he~ ca.rs i.1 the area imm-ediarely surrounding Falc}Jm Cent-raJ ~ e,g, a!o~g Park Avenue, California AveDue l or in the pUblic p~J king lot. directly a':::ro~: P2I~: J..venue, So much oft~e noise OCcurs righ~ outside my v..i.ndow. o St.eady StIeam Because Edg~ g~est.s .are coITling and going wDugrlclLlt l!-.'e night, there's as [eaJ, suea:Tl o(disturba..1ces and incid~nE, It's pOSSible to bo: '9.d:er. up, fall b3(k 2iltep a.lG [[.en ';I,:oken up a,~ain later on br 2 differEnt group of peopl(' , .' Edge Leuer -P'.ge 3 worknigh15 (Sund:t,--Tnursd:tY):lnd 123~ a.m. on Frid:tyf.iJturd.,y. This one step wcdd ga.a long way tc Lrnprm'ing the situation. OJange tce noise ordlruma 1be Edge sho;]Jdn'c be wle to create noLse 'OI.ithOUL regard to i:3 neighbors if l~e Edge's music can be heard in som~one'5 home ~1L~ (he ~indow.s sh~(, then it ought to be.a viclarion of the ncise orai..1arJC't. R<StrU;ted /ale night parking Sw=et & loc paoong around Palo Aha Central could be res~.ricred during the lare night hOlm to residenc-cnTy. Restricted parh.ing would ameliorate th~ situation by creating a "buffer zone" around Palo Alto Central. . With !hi; lener. J hope 1 have con\Loced you Lo't' serious problem e.xis15. I funher hope thac)'Du can help drive, speedy resoiUlion of LoeS' issues through the eiry Hall Jam more than happy to partidpate in a7~t meeting or cO;lversation that ';l.ill bring tills siruadon IO a succes5fu1 resolution in .a timely~"ay. SlncereJr. Sleven F. Goldberg 117 Cwo"",!.v,,,,, #D-4DO P,lo Alto, Calif 94306 (415) 325-5l2t cc: Guy Fani.·lD, f.~;::;Ct Palo}J1D City CIJl.:ilci! . ,.-._,.---- • .. : "-""" -, .. _,.-.. _------------' ..... 3! Steve Goldberg ! 17 Culifornia Av<:nue#D-400 Pnlo Alto. Cnll fo'nia 94306 Key Tssues o o Edge pl1tHJrI~ returning to the cars parked [lear Pe.Io Ahl',) Ccnln! nre frequently noisy, unruly and drunk. People yell & sCreJrn ,1\ [bey walk to or ~tand around their cars. LO:ld "",., level music from the Edge Cnrs ure {nced up & down CaiifornjiJ & Park Avenue, eM horns blaring aW~ly_ Cm lllarms go off very often. Bccause of nit: Edge'.<; vcry bte operating homs, the('E" incid~nts extend rolr illt<> tile nigtt (3 'U'L on we~blighL,/4 ".Tl\.. wcekend~). Becml."':-e Edgl.': gu~:..;ts comc and go throughout tbe night, di.sturb,mces oCCur throughout the flight P'l!O Alto Police nre gencraily ver.y rt'sp'on:c.lve to noise com~1;;li:-lt5 but ~;IJI'r prevent dls1urbi.1nctii. Proposed Solution.1 o Patron ErJIJC('Jr10:1 Steps CQuid be taken to h~lp C;UucZlte pi.l(rons. 'lbou.t ll~l',ing n.:spc;:t for the neigtlbOfhuod. Sigm, Dnnoum:eTnents. etc. Limi: lllJer.1ting flQurs Opernting ~Ol[j'S should be. nwut consistent wlrn tile hours cf or:'ier Pnlo Alto bl!.',ine.~~e~ Ioc<lted in mj:x~d comm:;rcj;-tIlr~sJd€nt1al .1~e;:L~. \Vorkrliglli.'i (-;l:!l·tnurs) _<;hould h,w~ e2.~jy cJosing j']l.]ur. !vry It':c.."o111I1lenullti'Jn: j :30 p.m. 011 w..:ek n:,gbt:;; l1nd i :00 n.r:l. Oll frlQ;:! y/':) :1: lICU:1)' " '. • \ the copy centel ..... ;." -:' . /( November 25, 1992 City of Palo Alto Members"O!'?l'annlllg Commission' P.O. Box 10250 250 Hamilton A'·e. Palo Alto, Ca. 94303 To whom it may concern: This Jetter is to express our concern regarding trle Edge's after hoU!s per1nit being revoked. Besides L>,e Edge being a long time customer of our store, they also help promote commerce on the California Ave. business district Their vast advertising brings mi.1'lY potential consumers to cur area. It would be an ecoronical mistal<e to close the E.ige earlier. It could force the Edge to cl05€' its doors and hinder the econvmi: gyowth in the region. The Edge has installed some ,,-ery effective procedures since it bega..1"l. ge~""-Lg complaints from the local residents. VI'ith the added security guards around, they heip curtail most loud beha,~or and have been doing a very good job .t keeping the ne'ghborhood clean. One of my main concerns is for OUI night-time employees. Our store is open 24 haul'S a day. Many of our ccr\vorkers who work nights have expre~!'ed a concprn for the.ir safety. If t.~e Edge clo~s earlier, the security guards who work ~ate at night ",rill not be around. In light of tho! recent robbery of the Domino'. Pizza it is a good idea to hep these uniformed security guards in the area. I ask you to ple aS2 allow t. ..... c: Edge to keep its Cl.lIrent operating hour::.. It does not negati,'ely effect this local business in any way. --ml.:o·s Copies /) c.alUomi::;. Ave. 'oIo)Jto;GI 94lot .elepbone -415 328-3381 fu415l28-7518 OPEN Z~ HOiJRS .-,-";":'0 Sincerely, /))~#/¥.g~ William L Burt .A.ssistant Manager :J , . CAMBRIDGE HARDWARE CO. P .... LQ Al..TC, 'CALIFORNIA !l4:;iO£. ~~( f\'\,{\"<'. b-ef"> c1, ~ O~ '174.. ~ r-0. 20~ \'6d-~ J d---SO ~.....J-~ ~ -ri){o 80w q 4~ <l 3, ~ \'('\eMbe{S, -:L (.J. "'" ~e. Dc..! (\.€, c') f ~nc\:y:. ~J-cJctU W\>,'C-~ \'" C\.';OU0-A -\-t\(. CoI1-0..e, C&U\(V\. --M'v. f.Jcy . ----;;-wou.l~ ~ --w s,c.:Sz... --t("ecr-~fe. ~> ,lJ(,)er :Xe.0 0..0.5 (,\c:cC:''K.J+s 0--0 ~i'c:)':}.-h '-l'-+:J I cJ'Sf'-<..&+(G\\ 6\ 1".:.sCA,J..,--LJ- t'l ('N\ --11\C S"'--kl~ Db --\-{. ~t'}<. 5== ~0C.. },eco-l ~<U.e A W lJ,--h. ~ r S .eU...c~~_ ~ h'J-Ve ~ -h ~(..u_,)-. .-~ iYLv,,-j iYJ.s.rl'Je ~ ( xYv 0 '-'--i'IA...... -h\J1. ~l C\t -:1: S-<c... Ua -f '-t -h-< r <. ..I ,) "J '" -. I >y .--0 v)' 0.Y""'-<;. I.e", ...--", X "-..-C: '-( , ',,,,,---,-( '; • , ?lz~_ ~~ qA.<X-. -TV CG..LS.-. \y_\ £... -l" {X(~ ()"'-A ~ V6 ,:1.-0-l, ('i"lr" ~--<.-0J>I7~ C1Y',) l) .::> \ Y'",--R ( ...J7 ---1---r !f '"'I-'-r,,, S-,-, • J, .. 1':t' Vi,,!,O ,\LT(, H~"r'\,:, ~_\' r!~,- ~ .. :: (,~'~I"-"i1::' \".'~~~:..l~' P,j'" ,,:' ( \ .l~::,1 1'~:51 '~,_~~_:,,; I', :,. ,. 1: }(;.,-:~. r,,·l.'.,: t Mt:!..!lIher;; l..if the Pl,(\j,llil:g P.O_ Box] 025C' P~10 AIIO, Ca. ~4303 f:::: oi PatD AllO I~ tl.? i (;('lmc-10 CI~ll altenrj'.-'n ((olt !h.: EJ,£c S:,;:'lt ('leD wdi bc ~lvsing carTier ~lHn ils lj'.:,ji~i0nJ:l 4:i}') A~l !jr.t~ \\'f;:.! the P.::d,.) A!r,C: Bake.}' C ... 'I, b;:gin (lur c13y (f. j .~)) ..... 1'"/1. \i:t' :';l',C ~Jei.'n &\'V.:l.r~ or [;:"l..:' (..13 trCJ?S (: 0I:; th-e Fe' g"=. ~!e.: l'.!.s:1:.': lilt:. ~,'J: ~ '.; }''::';: :)u:: £,},0p-;:; (ld F' a:--k (ht':)r '-ar£ n-eit!' our ~b.'':''F \Vc h3· .. ·~ nc-'. u 3; J11; ,fH'~::' e)'.ptn~r.cc,'1 l.D~.d 0, G:::::::n.;\.'.iv: td"i~'ic:r. \Y.= ft,t': I:~.: ::-[~ir f':;:;~"..:n.:t :-,;;;;':~: .1":~L1.:!:;ly ~':fV!' .:::::~ ~ j~~!,-rc'H :;" '.VG:..' ,:: .. :-~-f:;,;h':\-:"~l.-h :-'-~:-I:.;i'~l:. ;; srI(,r;giy f:-. ... ·,:,,; th~ E..~~~ :-~·;;hl C!~~, :~. 1. t~,;::. :e4"'C~' "", , " ";:--._ .... , , :1 ~ :1 ',' j ! ,J · :.- Dear Plaruu.ng Cornrn.isslon: r 'would like to go on record suppcrting the £.dee dance club's ability to ::itay open l..:..."'lril4a: The Edge' provides C.Jifornia .'''".\"ellue ~-"\'i~h a needed in£I.u..""1: of people 'who then be como:-familiar \\-l the other plac"!s of busin~s in the c.eighborhocd, Because mcst of the Edge's r.~i€,hbors are small ope:.tlo,.u..s, "\ve don't ad"-{!rhse vez:.' much. But the Edge dU's, .. nd theret:..\" .aids in the positioning, Cahfornia Avenue in peoples' minds as a place to do bu~iness, e.it, sbop, .and ha:..-e fllil_ 1 ha .... e nev· had .a problem, having the Edge as a nei€hbor. and I dOfl't see "I:h"v a be.a.h-hy buslnc,:>s should t restricted without ('Qmp.elling re2.Sons -especiaUy 'when those re~trictions "would haye an ad't"en effect on other businesses in the a..-ea. Thank you for consideri.ng my opinion. <md please unde:-st'.and believe the Edge is an .25set and don't ,vant to see it forced to dose u a result' of unfounded polle re\;sio_ns. Sincereb.- Richard Garcia Comics & Comi"C, Inc .40.5 Callfornia A\·.?:nue 415·328·8100 '-I n - David We"neMote~n 350 College" Ave:1ue PaliJ AIto, Ca. 94306 NO'lembf..r 25, 1992 Mr. Christopher Oorkln erner or Polke Palo Alto Police Department 275 Forest A,'enue Palo Al to, Ca, 94303 Dear ChieF Dorkin.: J am writing to you as a oollO'!'med resident of E ... ergr.etn Park and as a neighbor of The ErJgrr Ni.~htcl\lb on its behalf. I um::!t;!n;ia""ld that yon are in fa .... or of r-E'l:tri..:.ting The Edge's busines:s hours to 2:00 AM from its CUrrent. 4:00 AJo.1 cios-mg time and. that thls chang;:-of dosing time would fOra! the ~nt owno;n;. to close the dub and/or r.;loc.ate outside the city . .Let me first slate that i live a.t the intersection of BIrch Street and College Averrue so l.am dearlY in a position to experience firsthand the impact The Edge has had on the ceighbarhood. 1 am a member of Lie Evergreen Park Neighixl.hood A~5ociation and I have lived in this neighborhood for over two and one half ye.ars ar.d in Pale Alto f,ir over ten years. I wou1d like to let you know that since The Edge h Ii S been allowed to pol3t securi tyltraffie control at various key neighbort.ood l0C'2.tions (B:1"eh and Q"Xford as w",U a~ m.v intersection), the inc:ic1ence o( noi~: lOitering, tr.u;h, and dUD patrons parking in the area ha.s not just dropped, it has virtually disappeared, Prier to this presence, problems. were not great, but they did e'DSt from D.tru! to time. Today, one would not even realize there was a. nightclub "in the immediate area.. .Private neighborhood parties, aJrplanes, .and CalTrain CTeste more nOlse~ FurtbeIlll.OTe, they have cleaned UP. and continue to dean, tr<ish and litrer that is probably not even from their·patror.s. They have been a ""rT)· g::.od neighbor and I encoUTage their efforts to rezna:in La the eommwtity, The neighoorbood simpl." f~ls safer, e-spectafly in the late night/early morning and I att..'"""l["u!.e this to Tr...l! Edge's se-.;uri~'y pen-onne1. Because there are no problems, I behE'veo that you :should enrourage es-tabhshmeni;;; like The Edgt -rather than diso::u.l.rag<! them. Ther-e a.-e certainly other reasons to eilCOurage The. Edc.e.. their presence is a reminder that PaJo Alto is not just a subllrb of San .Francisco, that there is mght Me 0,1 the pCClln:sula, ~hst _ we value diversity, and that we support a variety of hf~styles and interests.. Fu~er. T"lu! Edge has alwaj·So bei!n regarded by me and many others as a pro:!;Jier music dub whieh features national as w-en as local talt"nl Their reputation clIt;ide of ~he a::-ea is out.:Stancng arid kefps our city in the lDl..lsi..: innll'5try spotlight. I, likE many, belJeve that Pale .-'\.lto should not be solf;ly li.mi~d to being: home 1.D.a world class university. a great shoppinl5: center, and good n-stau:rant:5: Th€rer01"f.!, I respectfully -reqtlc:!st you to do ever)"t.hing in your power (0 pre;H:rve ttJs important part of ol.!r community by aliowing Thr: Edge to remain Opl!r1 until 4.00 A..'\! cc.: City Planning Commis.Elon Jaeek Rosicki, Gene.aJ Manac-er, The Edge 7 L (I ~ f1 ,I q , I i [I ."' -" , ".-~------" • , .' . . . ~---~-. ----------,.-.. -.. '---~ David C. Siegel -.. ------ 273.] Ramona Str~et • Palo Afro, Cafilornia 94306 December 1, 19n Planning Commission City of Palo Alto P.O. Box 10250 Palo Alto. CA 94303 Dear Commissioners: Tfi.. (HOME) 415·321·5-"87 TEL/FAX IOFFICE) 4 rS~321--39:' As a resident of Palo Alto a~d as a fermer local merchant~ I felt compelled to ~Tite you with regard to the status of The Edge nightclub on California Avenue. I have follcwed closely the situation regarding their co~diti0nal use permit and spoke at the hearing held by the Zoning Administrator a few months back. I fe~l that closing the club or severely r~stricting the club's operating hours will benefit no o~e a~d hUrt several key constituencies: • The club going raside,.ts and non-residents of Palo Alto will have tc ver .. ture to San Fro~,:::i.sco or San JOt"e to aet the type c'! ent€rtainment offere'.:i by The Edge. This hurts the q'.Jalit_y cf 1 iie in c, suburban tCwn that c,ffers some limited ~rban a~enities. • The high school aged res~dents who take advantaQe of the periodic yo~th nights sponscyec by The Edge. Th~ alterr..ativ~s to these n~ghts i:lclude private, e,fte:) uT.l.supervised par'ties, travelling to the (less safel urban centers, et al. • The reside:-;ts wr.o receive 1:er~efit £ro~ t~e s-a.l~.s tax-=,s, alcohol t.:x-es, b'",,"sine5s incone taxes, ar-.c. real es:ate taxes genera:.ea by the ongoing bc.:.siness Most importantly, tho; gro:...!p you a it;'. to help, the r:,ea=by residents, will rJc,t be aided at all by restricting tee club's oper.:J.ting hours. Closing after 2 a. Poi. reymits a slo' .... fIco· ... ' of patrons exiting, well after alcohol ~as ceased being served. This results in better se-:uri ty as fewer patro"s need tD he monitored outs::'C-=. the cl Lb and fer lm .. 'er ch!"J.r:ce of noi se generated by crowDS'. It also permits pco.tro':-15 to burn off all "excess en.erg',f~ tl-.us lowering the cha~~e ot excessive noise in the parklng lots. R-:'strio::ting the clubs !;OlJ~S will :E1.)21' the local res idents, no~ Hc-LP them. .' ·" ..... • _._.....--...... - Mr. ~ary Fazzino Mayor. Palo Alt{' 250 Hamilton Ave. Paio Alto, CA 94301 near Mr. FazziDo~ lrl':c~ Grltlles 749 Mor-e:.o A""e. Palo Alto, CA 94303 .(413) 322-767' As a Palo Alto -re5i~ell.t. I'm a~are of the controversy .anc concern gene't"ated by a fe~ fello. residents, regarding the establis~~nt. The Edge. Appare~tly, some neighbors have expressed cC'ncerc about: both the noise ana securi'ty issues in relation to the night t:::lub. As a fomer: eonc.e!'c producer: ane:: ongoing t!!l1s:!.c patron (of over 30 yearsl), I'd like to mention j':.lst a fe"oo' reasons ""hy I feel The Edge provides a valuable c~uD1ty s~rvi~e. Some years ago, I Iolatched as a small minority of residents hound.ed rne Varsity The.e,t€!"s fanner manage-!:lent into abandoning .... eekl?:ld evecing CO:lcerts. This zeal was. I feel. lrispla;:ed. Instead of realizing the benef:fts of r:roviding a "ce'c::::J.un:'t.f center" fer-y~iJQg adults. a felol people managed to rJin .... hat .. ~as a -pleasal".t E!x?er-ieo.ce for people of all ages. !nere was a mix of teenagers, college age ~dults. and people ~f any .age who simplY e::ljoyed a festi'lTe atmcliphere. Today. The !dge i.s thE closest venue t:o 'w'hat Tn@ varsity resp-resente(L 5ecur1t.y at the c."!.ub has been fner-eased, nuist:: from the room is bar-ely Iloticeable~ and maoagel!lent is res?,,'~si.ve 'to t:.E poE'trons. 50 responsible. in f.a.ct~ that they p-rovide coffee and fool!, so tr"2.t I3.nyon.: leaviilg ca!l depart ir: an ale.rt, caI-'able manner. This conce!';:] insures the 5",fety 0= those t1:.at choose to take advan!:age of ~anage::lent's genErosity. Finally, businesses il". the area, such as .Printer's Ink a~d Antonio's Rest.-:mrant, a!'f! benefited greatly by th,", r1u~be!" c~ pa':.rons thi3.t The Edge. dra .... 's. I ..,ould encourage yow to loo~ to loOays to \""'0:-;0:. witr: The ECgE. f:€<:;:it;g 5=-"11 :'L.;S'::ne.s: alive adds to the rich cive:rsity t:-,at .... 'e knc-... as Palo A::'tc. Ti"le Ecge is a ;"2-:t71~-: i:-. that m:':R. Pl.ease let tile "kno"l.-CJi c.r:v upto~it.g meeting regerding The Edge, su~h as zOr'.ing, or any c~ittee that might need a participant tc a-:lalyze matters ".tElate.-i to 'Ihe Edge. T'nan.ics again fo. your attention to the matter~ CC: Nanc) Lytle-Zoning Admin!strato. Chief Christopher D"u.rtdn-Police C'r,jef 1179 N oc:l Dri ',Ie Menlo Park, CA 9.w25 Members of the Palo Atto Or; CounciJ 250 l-Wnilcon Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94306 03 September 1991 Dear Honmable Members, _ ............... -- I am writing in ~sponse to the propOsed limitation of hvW".sIdosir:.g of the The Edge Nightcluh in Palo AltO. I am very much against this action be.."3use r feel that The Edg~ is a gno .. :u ::I5set to the Palo Alto community. Because the Edge is kx:ated so close :;0 where r rive, r no lcnger have to drive 30 miles to San Francisco in order to hear the latest b musk, see the r:losr innovative bands (many of which appearexclurlvely at the Edge and do no< play anywhere else in the Bay Are.), or just "hang out" after hoUl"S in a safe environment wim mends. One of Lie most posicive aspectS about t.l-te Edge is thatpcopIe are pe.opl~ then::. There is no ""black or white", there is!1o "'rich or poor"? there is no "st:ralght or gay'", there is no hostility towards anyone different or umlsua!. OD a.'y given nigh~ Yl)U can socialize with peopJe of different rar.es, colors. ~ds, and abilities. (I sa)' this because I had :l very enjoyabl::: evening there not to long ago where r d.ancec half the night w:th a very charmi.. ... g man who happened [Q be in a wheel chili.) The Edge is a pl.ace when:: everyone is unique, and I truly believe that pot many "nightlif~-oriented" establishr.lcnts in this community can say they share the Edge's progressiVl::, '"90'3" am!ude. As a member of the Arts Commission for tai.e City of Men!o Park., I applaud ui.e Edg~ {(lor providi..'1g: a place for musical artists and patrons to freely e;::press them selves. If you go to the Edge. on any given night, by 9:30 you Vrr'ill ~e a line stretching out the door of people who 2Te "Waiting to get inro the club. You ..... ill see iii. privare seClE.ty company parrolling the side streets making sure tl1at patrons pm quickly and quietly. In addition, you ""iii also see members of The Edge's securiry staff walking around the b!tY.'ic and through the sic.e streets making s~ that p:atrons get to ;am! from t!Je cub safely, a. .... d aIso ir.s-ur.ng :..iJt paa-ons socialize in the dub, and not outside. Upon leaving the club, f hzvl:! ..... imes':;.ed the Edge's sect..::i!y staff picking up line; not only from their own park:lr.g lac, but also ITem neighboring p.ivate ar,d city lors, and throughout the side Streets. "''!lea you enterthe ciub,i.here is an inSW1~ f~lilig ofsafery k.co.use about every 10 feet !brought the club, there is an e ..... er presenl s:.cLUity gua.rd.. Thesc security guards comm141icate with each other through exper,SlV(; radio h~ad sets and walk.i.e-talkies which!'eal1y proves to me that the owr.ers and managers are very concerned about the welfare of their-clientele. In the past four years that [have ar!ended me Edg(", r can remember seeing a s.erious ahercati·:m oruy SllK time:. The Edge provides a positive and peacefll! aDnO':iphen:: when: people do not have to worry abouL their personal safely. Limiting the Edge~s hours of operation would be a serious eCQnomic blo' ... · that ....... ould no doubt eventually force the Edge ro ceas-: operatic-no 1nJs is a btatam effort on the pa..."1 of a few rusgrun:Jod residents to manipuJale the Edge into closing. r have been a paO"O:J of the establishment Jocated at 260 California Av(;nue ever since it was the Keyslone Palo Alto. I ..... a.s aho a patron when it was called the 'VOne".,. and now r go 10 the EJge. One of the m:)$t unique aspects of the Edge, wh..i\:.n ;sets it apart from oth er bars or clubs in the area i! UUl it is open "afler hours." I like knowing that ifsom(: friends and I go out to a bte dinner or movie and don"t feel like going home, we: can always go 10 the Edge where we kno~' \.,:e -.:.,ill havean enjoyabie time. I know people whocommUle from as farr.onh.as M:u"in and from a.s far south as Monterey to,go to the Edge. ff .I, ~-'--------"'';~' -2· the Edge were to close:, we would be losing an c:sl.1bushrnen.t t'u.t very positive!)' contnoules to our commuru1Y, and that would be quite unfonunatc:. FU'SI it's the Shoreline ~n MOUllt.1.i.J1 Vie ...... , and now this'? It's tltt:Il,)' ridiculollS. 111 my opinion tbe:se residents need to learn ho ...... [0 lille 2S a part ofa commwury, where commmunity means respecting the diversity of your neighbors.and sometimes sacrificing for the: bet'.er of the group. !be Edge has already proven that they are respectful of their neighbors, and they have sacri..'1ced mon: than enough. V/''nar mere can t.iey do? Not too long ago, I remember readi."1g ali a...-ncle in the Palo Aho~ that sung the flrai~s of the Ede<:. I[ y..-el"llS to me that the: nwnberof Palo Altan.s who waru the Edge to limil their hours and/or ctvsc:!re greatly Ol.!tnumbered by tt,e people: who view the Edge as 'a positive establishment uniq'U.! to the community tha.t shou!d-be allowed to remain open, business as usual. i hope: that each and CVl:ty onc of you will have the cha.'1ce 10 experience the Edge. then J a.m swe you Vr.iII fed the same v.oay I do. Thank you for YOlrr consideration in this ma~t. I will be: at the hearing on Sept~mber 10th to voice my opinion. Best Regards, Stefanic A.P. Pompom Arts Commission The City Of Menlo Park cc: The Edte Managemem c.dricChin 364l~K""" Polo AI". CAl4.Wl 3ft»" IS • !1M ~;: C&--A andP..w Alro C11j.,eo .. ncU 25Q ~n Sbff'l' PaloAllo. CA~6 la.:.'?T"f:lll!'OnofThl!.E~. I.am·JsoISl'ln.bd~ il'1 BiDb"'·I!'1d.~:r.erSU}I ~.!oj."e!" r ... ""Tl C'~--:;·~??;.~tO ~~'! ~c~odi-1 c"~~!=~'!:~~t..."1ci h~iIn,~ ~. In ~ tr :;imilti11g, j.'n.a",,= ~dsl:oorut~i-le ~.: S-rM.h:d~~(na.tj£yov ~~It..." ~lffllf'Mnt, yo~-ril1:h"'01' ~tnoe d..·~.!'i"0(1!'J prtr.::ln!i. ~~ii-""lJ:, ~M: r.err.e, 2. ... ~;:C-:-..e ~~-:-: ;t-i-:-.b, 1f:e:,".z:oe ~"' ... ~tL::;: pt..~5.i.:.-r. briM ftU110 d::.'*. "!"ht Oei:t'to; tl:~ u flOTCO'ftlr01U:cibytne &I:::~i IOci::.Ti:., ow. :m~ ~y_ ."!'!i~~ ~.rls it. (!~,,: 11:'1 ~~..,.,~, I:o!~: Y"~"!'O !l-~ £:eh!'f:~1'11J, hl~rH.) S.:..c:ic5 .... ·f"~i.~ ooT,..f!.ecli:c!l;)yL-; r ....... n~~nt~t1, b,,"!r.o.ifld~;'; 0_. iorac:oncn:1t e;:a.rnp!t oIvnar noi~~.5VMI(!" ycu ref tric1 d..-:1'"I~1'1t. k>oi:-nc i£niJe:::-r',....<11'1 S~ S'ta11hd ~ l'Ior 1..r..'"!T"lfT!i.l1":tly cf~~. Lo.; s1:Jd. .. o;:t; C:.:j'rT~" fr.:m the Cl!51 of ,! e...t.-.-.;...,.~.u:·..::!;..;.~i."~"'!', 2r..:!~Hl:1;obE:=~~I(!~fas5i.::f'~ ~~ :"r,~s~ ::-,:Pi:: }.:;.~. Ye\ ~ rney~ no t'egWa:ciz!r:i:J."ges1a:bk!"hfm:nr, :P!-~f. ber.c~e::btC lIS l-r~OOU ftw1 ~~ :lp:!..~o-'Jp Met ti JI!!~C£?U<I I!..' '17!0!!&. 1Mo~h the: r;:01'lr:el'lmtbn of ·ptrr~.ii~}r~;ir;:?~ !lI,., ,-ru~l1u..:wmmu!""'.it.i ... "';-al'J:~o:!::''1(,:I'll:ii.~. ct-fIrZUenab.lb:h111~d ~ ;'~ i:lbttl~ c:'rut:a...4>!~C1"..c$. J. ~..", (rn: ""'~c!'~ pa.!':"O~ from 1':::.o;.m, file """,TTreof p..--s.tr il"i FsJo .Ab:l ..... .ll.ri~. Sinc:~ IMII!" if no .!'UdH~d. ~1~'i! p1-~~~ the..l-'Y'.Jlui~il'l1he ~ an!~.00d5 ofp.lb A..I.:o, p!..4¥.i:r; ya.-;is a::!:;.to.~m-:c those:wb .. ~to ~1'!"he ~ cirhE~. The m.,.'TT".o.....1'o(oSi!-nse:s; iIll"ldonended ftsidemnrillinc:ust 2. ~~ .... .illhaVElinleOtflO~. !tt.is~ 10 1WV~u&s" One, ~p0.rtit5 Vi11b.o-mo~ ofienfM 10 t~e-eommm~. I'w, 1~.I.mde~ .,.ru11tend.-rM~E p;.rtits, e~t.:lf~O~elJ,t'5t"?-~~~. te!mead:!'1ut~S~~1IO!~l!-1O W1ri<I au. pn;lo J.n< . 3. Si:1~ 1ht:5e pa:rti.o!.s nzole:k-SS .st~i..l."': .. y, .F01:ce re:sou..r.:~ W'll rzi'!! 1:O!:l-= i--,"l"'2:a.ce:Q F~'he::m,):'l!:, Ih'i!.Se plttieJ 'I.'iti no·r;"a;.tIa.a ~ lvcs.t0I'l; h..'"1ne.::-resOu.:t:e.5"Y'Jl M3'tI! fo b~ ~P-l1t~arin:I~ p-"""ti'!!~ • " Petition In Support Of The Edge Nightclub. RE: p<?rmit 73-Uf··3(, WE, the undersigned reSidentS of Palo Alto, strongly urge th.e City government to issue the management or lne Edge nightclub an <lppropriate permit 1lllowin<) their facility 10 remain open until 4am. Signature Ni:1me {print) Address & Zip Phone # !-------------_.-. ------. t. ___ ~t[~ ;J1f['1u/ '<' ~ C; .;#.// "'" ,y J T';/ a // :> c'/ (.M,,, r --.----/ 2'I .... S\ev'z. W'<-M!'Ci).A.Q ( 3i'l\) ::14 II ;; 1::1 """':::'0 \;2,"",1 ~)5-iC{'! i ~~ Cd. ~\)t.-", 1<." c ... tl~ :J;)d.. &£'" c. ... :;:2.~S.:::'~ 3.1' , , . I ..... . i" ~~1 •. -"-C' . < . ",:1..---<.,,:-~ ... ~.~,_. C<..."\ ._", ..... ..;".'\ ~ .... "3<'\""'''''-\7 5. 2' ~ f.1?~ ~d l. tW)y)('v.(,f-) :feR Eri(<<14GvW'lQQ v(?Yb/~(\o 5"~-D:tZl 01 'if S/llY[rp(!r' /2./10 Z..1{,:? i1rlRdW) STPniflNlli Lt..'.!'! !lt7 v., 7. ,,-,, 3. {,plw";'!:> II -',''' .?3. /.;61 (jtt.,A-.!li/( &~ pit:, . .~jljD'f) W,tJf,:6<<:,-t "19/vl4/4o q!.J,3I){ , In.;{ '( 'J . !!q£t.. /4/ S);;' ? .I "Clf. / • , I' . Petition In Support ~. The Edge Nightclub RE: permit 73-UP-36 WE. the undersigned residents of Palo Alto.' strongly urge the City government to Issue the management of the Edge nlglltciub an appropriate permit ~lIowing their facility to remain open until 4am. Signature Address & Zip . 'Phone it 1~ ~~-CJ!})J.t.-. '-1)(1.'0)'-';1-bertl1 Ljt'l{ OITI'f{ dvf t/1J -/'373 2. /(ti4-td:,c, Lee}1;t:J" ri1'{'ct:.J';" jc{JC#/L--{Ot-b OAAzI, ",g "r/Y7~ ~'50~2-+1'-f l31~Uk~ l 4·<2/~~--~ I I' / 5. ~Ji£C!JOtff /l.NC,rt-VJ--.1.G 4/7-::1, MOCk(J/jDY. </<13-f;I</-R fJ\CCI(±, ( bdJ:--.3 )~Cl L-D lAul r:,jJ.j) V J i I 'I /C e:, '{1_i' --I-/.... \ 1.0 "'i -:C7010 (,"°,00 ;" ~f7-o <;1'6 l,I!,~ 06 6·1 {/it:;~-J2('tl'(; I/f,"/!/fJ' '[l7?! C'o{~/f0f 5?'3:.2J/--?;Z~ ,= (. ' I:!;. \-" <',~ \ \·'V7.l\c:,\~'t\\O U.~30? ~" .. -'----. 71~0 ±~§)§_\_;'('I'll(\0 C,;:',f,-\;0 1\2~6 (Yd\,I'!.l1¢t)4·$)·~ 8./ f/l A'Kt A 1=1 GUEKM \ \'\1 f~'lfLL c T ~111-\ \ ep,lA I>.t;rt> Cj4~?;, C~~ 3d(,~.}Od- I rJ [2 ' )'-'1 ( ,) '1, I "nil .JCQ I ,I 41,!; 91 U "If IXI ... '.-1 II.\-I( { , . 1 i " : \ I . i , , \ 0.1 1II •• t... (11,,_. I~I r jL..J.:~\ 1_...... \'",1", ~ 'I ~ ',{ • 1'I1N7~ I . .:HVQ £01>'ll't \1'141 STA!\£D€D 4 CJ 7-0 '1 t \{_ I D· to x ~O? 3 5Tif;tvPo rLQ -"7 r; i4-1>, 4rifJ1 ',,- ~" "'\ .. :.: / " , '. .~ -' -,. .' ; . Petition In Support ot The Edge Nightclub, RE: permit 73-UP-31> WE, the undersigned residents of Palo Alto_ strongly urge the City government to issue the management of the Edge nightClub an appropriate permit allowing their facility to remain open until 4am, Signature Name (print; Address & Zip Phone If (J, )' 'II Q."I':> 111'1'1.--f','elJ j)r /Cl (1 I I C, hG'f',. P, ~,~ '" *,,,,/' CVI~;;-if e/'7 -L{ 570/? ! / te' \,>0 K C>(" t?'&"'?-- ',/'17ak J_ _ _ ~.,f~,ft!.c,,-, 1{I:f?£l4 tjf?-2 D,rya Vl Lc,'1, shire GSa L{}leW\~I' I\v< 1'1 I (111/",/, 5 y,i: ?A 'Illo2.S ')2.1 q 'be} 2., h4..Av!< l.D r?:;Lh')i7 75 0 '>11J Cl/kl.oS ,~-2.,c;-G80S ,~-, /. """ [/ .-"'~~<~Qt~~'~'-------~~~' ~~~~~~~~~ ; ~ t-·£v·· \...' , Q '0 V4'- i -- 75-0 "'5'/~N C:-I\~U~-S '-or rJ/.rl'> r~.rJ ?~J~..., zt:r._ G.10""- ...; I r========= ~-----------------------------------------~ , l I L-.". ; , ,', '" _ " ';"~:"'!l:u __ ~~_ ........... -~ ~........ t ·' i ' i ,i ,... '11' I, II i1 ' I i , I I I I Petition In Support Of The Edge Nightclub. RE, pe.,r.~ 73J.JP.:k\ , • , WE, the L1n~gned ~ent:i; of P.a!o Alto. strOllgly ur~ the G:y g'Ovemmefit tG Ls.sue the Mar~-m~nt or 6< ~ '"shldub an appropriat< p=nit ollo"ing <hoir &cilio/ to ,..maL, c>,= ""til 4am. -:2::..1 P CO~ ~', , ,. 5' narure Name . Address /--- rv;'h"--~(,r~/ i(F.;0 /'r.;;it;SMr"'vA ) J"i) i2i ~ ,~ " , ~-(,,, ;r;:" ':::"i.",,,,,, yl 1:( )/lifi (;:.~, •• 37, I G-'-CA,~'NO r-"'kl.-e -'-'('-"~-~"'--,1-1 0. /., I c., ol~M_ U-(!/'J. 'fl/f-<J£ ,~)1: I.\(,.,..,,/\vo k J 6h Lf~ :'>01 {-),:~ .. ' . -~, .. . " " ," Petition In Support Of The Edge Nightclub. R!;, pe""" n<JPJ6 - DC:· ' . C! j"',: 0':: Pato Alto ('ity P!anoing CQDJ.mis.<Joo p, O. Box 10250 Palo Al~. CA 94303 ,'':' 'Z f~ ~;~-~.!_"( 0 ATTACHMENT 6 jotn )(wan ~9 Lai..c~biIne Dr SUIJnyvale, CA 940,ll;9~2)41 Phone 4()g. 7 M-l5-t.=' rm writing (.;) yoo about your p!.a.o to \;..utail the operaling bours or the Edge Dight club ill Palo Alm. t!:ink it is lmwU.e 10 CIJt short we bours of operation. The Edge amilC!.S many S.uc.:essful educated profe.s.siooal.s :n:ch as myself to your cit)'. I am 31 }Jeats old. f boLd 3 Ma.~t¢!'s degree in EogiDeering [rom StanflXd and a Bachelor's degree from M",-GUL J 0\10'11 In)" C-"''Il bw.ioeS& and ta"'e a six f~gure incom~, I am mainly artracted to Palo Alto since graduating from Sta1'1.fo!"'!! !n':lj,,-,y because the Edge is 011e Dr the only nie.t clubs in tbe ale:! that is open after 2 AM:. On my many visit.> I often drive by other businesses and DOti;;-e their.store displays and usually J return lalt'.t in tb(' da} time: 10 patrooize tbose sto.~. My friends do the same and I'm ,sure the Edge is rtsp.)nslble f(\l" brinG ing ill upper class customers 10 mao y Pale Alto busines.\eS. If)'Oll ~t me operaling hours 0: the Edge r 'Wi U no longer have cause to return :0 Palo Aito o~ than to attend Stanford AIUll'.lti events. r 'Ir.'iU probably go to San Francisco to do my weekly Clubbing and no longer paf1'tlOize" PaIo Alto !:msines3e!. Forcing me EGge to close at 2 AM will r.l~ raise you Police man power costs :;incc YOI."rc iorcing everyone out into the ttruts al the same time. Cities such.as San ks::. that force clubs to dose at 2 AM. have foll'nd that a greal deal of Police man powa-is require( tor snch sttuafioo$ sinu Police costs an re!ated l.O ll.avi.IJg w staff for !he peU toad a.5 people leave. Of COUlSe 'iOU'~ probbly il\'ilre of San Jose's C{)Illplaints about ~ COOL of Policin2, at rJgbt lim~ while cities StIch ;as S:m FranciscD. Chic~o. New York and Lo~ Angeles that allow clll'bs to npea an night llave no such probkm. rr you cont.icue 10 anow tbe Edge 10 q>en 1JT11il4 AM, 01 b':uer still anew i.a to "pe:i Wltil 6".I\M or 8 AM,. you wW find people leaving gr..adually ever a period of time and tlIus the peak load is lower a.\ will ~ur Police man powtt ~lll.red be thus loweril1g your coslS, .A ....... ac!.1ed beoefH is that people will leave sober sioce-lhey may e'o'en have a .:h.;.nce to eat somethin,g at the Edge after the last caD ( ..... drinks before leaving. Best af an. you .create good relaLion~ among.iL professiOO3.ls ",to wiU thinl.: ot Pale Alto as a tbri\ing intetlectual city r.W:l.er than a hach'ards sm.aJl to\\'tI thai doses as sooo as the sun gee:! 00\10'0. All in all, you reany should remove all)' mtrlclions from ttl.:. Edge or any otber nigbl dub that wants to operate in Palo Alto. Let the free marta Jecide, If Lbeze'~ a market for it, the dub sb()IJld Slay open Ulltil \\'b¢never it makes sense fmm a bu.~ineS5 stam:lpoinl The nighl club is.a bw,iness atld would ooly du it if it makes mooey. Let'", move il1w me 90's and let this and olher dubs ~I1 an nigbl as w~n as serve food too. You'U btin.r: mote busLleSS into your city for other :tnc.'Ps as ,",'en, "Thanks, Sillcerety yours. Jolm M. K. Kwall .. ; Pt:cember ,I. 1 'Yl2 ~75 S, Rellii~i()rff Mountllin Vlell,", CA. Palo A!tc Clly .ol'Jnl'linf, Comnl!}.,iorl P.O, Bo); I(Y.ij() P",lo Alro, CA 9HuJ. This le~ter ::J.~ls YOll tv rt<:l1nsider cunallirlg the opemrin~ hOLLrs of III(" f...dg~ m.:;;h[ clut, ir. Palo Alfc. The Ed,b.'e night cllJb i~ a!'JleCCd for n\1d club -goer; ofal1 mipt". The U'1rCl!Un~ rowdy fe\\. ",1'.'.':1.\":5 man<lge 10 suTly the imJ~e of the m~jllrir.v> many of whom <l.rt! rr.;peclJblo:. IJ'IO -Jbiding people On th.! :r.ig!:HS! personally lluendcl the festiviti(.'s at n(.' Edgt :li~~rclut> I f"und Ihe crowd to be quiet 0100 cm:t1m~pect .... hile QUt<;ide of the oightcluh. Wh.1e I do not dell:' Ihal remap' cen:Jin inc\rjence~ of rowdiness:mel umow=rrd be-haviml[ ('<::curred I do nUl bt:fie-ve Ih.lr ctlr1(liilllg the oper.l1ing hours. of The Edge Nightclub will do Oltlcl1 to ~Uer me sirmllion. 51r'!::" if i.~ .sIJk iJ .... to stop ~r ... irlg akohali::: beverages after 2 A,M. the geneml rise In rowdy ~h;:;~'iour <lltriblliable 10 nlel'ho! IT'l<Iy ~etuu.ll'j i~crea..<.e if people knew the doors closed til 2 A M. The fWD hOUT gJP bef\\.'een ~rvln':; aIcohol aJ'ld ll-.t: dose of The Edge :--'lghiclub 3Ct'..uIJy serves 10 deloxify m:my people FlIrth(.'rmore. I h:.!'e r.orbed n gt"rte'ral rush to comume alcoholic beve~e:::. whene ~'er me 2 A r-.I dt:;rlJIr.t" .appra:lchC"; A~ide from the qucs.tioo of the efficac;. of cUrlullin.g the o~r3til'lg hOll~ of The Edge NighlClub is th:,: jm:lg~ of Palo A!L:D as a c;)!illlopolilan cOrTLfJ111oity The f<\ct that The £d2t" .""':ghldub smy~ oren beyond the ti~ illcohohc beverages can le21ny be sold commllnic"lt:~ to mD."y people that PalQ Alto hw:. :I nlg~lt;p<lf liDUSUaJ In it .. dedication to :sen:inEme needs of OJ brO.ld commumty, Sir.cerel ..... ~W .... ~ ~p;WdSTler 'I 1m r: r '" ~ ~n~ [ill IN. L.:.0. foB lJ(}? OEPAAT ,""NT OF Pl.MN1NG CITV OF PALO ALTO P!anning Commission 250 Hbmilton Ave, 906 Matadero ct. Palo Alto, Ca. 94306 December 6, 1992 • \ 'f Palo Alto, CA. 94301 Dear Pla~~inq Commission: In response to the appeal by the Edge, I ~culd like to let you know that I fully support the city's concern about the Edge's impact on the neiqhbor hcod~ As an owner of a small apartment building on College Ave. just two blocks over from the Edge, I am concerned about the type of business that the Edqe hrings into the area. The rowdiness is not appreciated by my tenants. There have been several occasions where my tenants or I have found evidence ot people drir~ing on the property. In addiiton, our street (College) is tr~quently littered with debri including beer bottles. I do not want to see any loosening of the conditions placed upon the Edge, and I would fully support more stringent measures~ In addiition to responding with my concer~s about the appe~l by the Edge, I would lL~e to take the opportunity to raise my co~cern about th~ deteriora tion of the general appearance of Palo Alto in terms of the cleanliness of city streets. The 300 block of College Ave. is swept so infrequently that it not only becomes littered with debri but it actually smells of decay- ing material. Part of the problem is ~,~t cars are. always parked in this area. During the day, people doing business on California Ave. park on College l and at night, the tenants of the many small apartment buildings park on the street. The problem could be solved i~ the city posted perma nent signs in areas such as College Ave. to prohibit parking on a regularly scheduled street cleaning day. ~hi$ is a common practice in other cities. Thank __ you for considering my concerns. Cc! city Council Sincerely, ~d.tCh~ ;a~h~~~ ~~stead \. George IV. Hanus Jr. 110 Mi.~si.111 Drive Pat? Alto CA 943113 Members of the Palo Alto Planning Commission P.O. Box 10250 Di:cemDef 5, 1992 Palo Alto, CA 94303 Re: The EDGE Nightclub/Restaur.nt 260 California Avenue Palo Alto CA 94306 Public Hearing on December 9, 1992 To Who!n it May concenl: I am writing in behalf of The Edge Nightdub/Rt.'1otaurant On December 9, 1992, there will be a hearing to detsmlre the busil$'SSo h$\lr'S, ID light of-th~ :recent romp[air.ts ULat have beer. mad'!:': \(lw8l'd The Edge.l would like to take this opporhlr.ity to briefly expres.s. my feelings or. this subje'ct, aI'd ask that you cansidE'1 my comments sincere. Atk>w me to ten )'OU a. little about myseU. I am an emplO)''C"e ilt Varian A55Q;.--la\es. (a Senk'r Electro!\.~~ Te<-JmiciaT\ at Varian's Oncology Syst.e:ms Division) for 6 ye-.lt-s and have been a patron of ThE' f-dgc during this time; eV1:11 before the days of The Edge when H was known as \:he Vortex. I am c:cm-vlnced that the Ma~t of The Edge is committed to 5eTVing :it's patron:. as wen <!os cc>oper ating ...... 'i"th the community. TIlere1ore, I see no reason to dose The Edge at the pn>post.>d 2am dO:;;ing time. It simply is :not ben~ m any respect. Here i5 my reasorung: With the addition of the new security staff, all probloems have moTe than been dealt with, they art non exsistanl:-The Management fs on top oi any problem before it happens. Having dalo('t' hours past 2arn is one of The Edge's main attractions. It anows e:dendl-'d hours of dancing, glving a .5afe envimnmcnt for those 18 and up. Mo!"(' tPan satisfying trlE:ir part)ing n(.>eds. Extended hours also me.aru; safer rooidways 5in:e t.\-Us also offer.s a 'cooling off' time for peopIt' ..... }IO had too mU(.-h to drink. giving them more time tv assess th('lr capabilities and find anDther way home if necessary. Since the operating hours are one of the main attractions at The;' Edge, dosing it early will surely put it out of business. Losing the rE."VeJ1U for both the employees as ,,"·en as th~ City of Palo AJ to. As ~ p1ea,-.ed patron, a local en'l_ployff', and o::ll1cctnc!'li voting dlizen, I urg€ you to ICdve th€ dosing hours a;; they stand. 1 thank you very much fOT your tlme and wiWngness to deal wi.th ls)ue sensitively Sinc~re1y, C(". The Edges Management ~ I I M.Yn.une~ 1IIJ4 c ',~1.' 'G,:".aDdlama Palo Ako....m.l.nt JMn" at L?t.l WhWA #' /{ 1. I~' ora-t!... City __ to ..... the F.doe n.nc. ~ an ~ penni< aDowingthar r.ciIizy to ~ opm \l'1tU 4am. '!hank You. \. -::" -" Mynamei.t _ ~ (/(/ /" ,.-\::k_~0£-J ,~:: __ andJ.-~a.~ __ Alton!6iclemlh-ingat (t'-/ :a,tj~~~::,3) I stroogb' W-gl' the-City govetnJnef)t to wue the-~ Done;, Club an _""...," penni< aDowingtheU-r.ciIizy tG n:maia QpeIl: until4un. ThanIr. You.. Myn.ameis_.k..L:..._t lift.."! n(j _IIlIlCBam.PaIo Ako ~ JMn" ... _Cp II AI! U I t, l4 1 (2'V,-" I ouunsJy ..... the Gy __ "' ..... the ~ ~ Club an ~ penni< alIowioo" thar r..:;J;,y to l"I!Imain ~ cmtiI.otam. Thank Y cu. My ..... ;. &.H~7C" andlamaNo Ako ,....",; Inmg .. '13.,-~~'/A=rf:/q I .roogly wp the City ~t to isslle the E.cise Done. ~ ao ~ penni< aDo"'" tJ.,;,. E.ciIUy to ran;Un open. uutiI 4am. lbank You.