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09-98Withdrawn Ol/21/2009 by Council File # %�J- -l/,/J Green Sheet # ,3p(DO Z7S f2ESOLUTION �IN�T PAUL, MINNESOTA 1 WHERE , the Legislative Hearing Officer recommends that the application for a(I.D. #20080002430) 2 Malt Off S e license for Thai & Mai Yang doing business as Thai Grocery, 1377 Arcade Street, be 3 approved wit the following conditions: 4 5 1. 3.2 be and beer products cannot be sold by the individual bottle or can. 6 2. Sale of ounce bottles of beer is not permitted. 7 3. The sale o ine and/or strong beer is not permitted with a Malt Off-Sale license. 8 9 THEREFORE, BE IT 10 application. 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 VED that the Council of the City of Saint Paul hereby approves this license Requested b�Department of: � Form Approved by City By: Adoptio� CertiFed by Co�ncil Secretary By: Approved by Mayor: Date By: Form Approved by Mayor for Sub`r�nission to Council By: '•, Adopted by Council: Date � Green Sheet Green Sheet �9 y� Green Sheet Green Sheet Green Sheet Green Sheet DepaRmenUOfficelCouncil: Date Initiated: co-�°°°°�� ,4-o�T-0B Green Sheet NO: 3060775 Contatt Person & Phone: Department Sent To Person Initial/Date I Nhia Vang o onncil 0 4 266-$566 1 ouncil De artment Director ASSign Z 'ryClerk G�NClerk Must Be on Council Agenda by (Date): Number 3 � -- � 22-OCT-08 For Routing 4 - Doc. Type: RESOLUTION ONer 5 0 E-Document Required: Y Document Contact: �ean Birkholz ConWct Phone: 2668673 Total # of Signature Pages _(Ciip All Locations for Signature) Action Requested: Approving the license application with conditions, per the Legislative Hearing Officer, for Mal[ Off Sale for Thai & Mai Yang doing business as Thai Grocery, 1377 Arcade Street. Recommendations: Approve (A) or Reject (R): Personal Service Contracts Must Answer [he Following Questions: Planning Commission 1. Has this person/firm ever worked under a contract for ihis department? CIB Commitlee Yes No Civil Service Commission 2. Has this person/frm ever been a city employee? Yes No 3. Does this person/firm possess a skill not normally possessed by any current city employee? Yes No F�cplain all yes answers on separate sheet and attach to green sheet. Initiating Problem, Issues, Opportunity (Who, What, When, Where, Why): Advantages If Approved: , Disadvantages If Approved: ' Disadvantages If Not Approved: Total Amount of Trensaction: CosURevenue Budgeted: Funding Source: � Activity Number: Financia l Information: (Explain) October 14, 2008 11:11 AM Page 1 o� �� LICENSE HEARiNG MINUTES Thai Grocery at 1377 Arcade Street Thursday, October 2, 2008, 2:00 p.m. 330 City Hall, 15 Kellogg Boulevard West NhiaVang, Legislative Hearing Officer The hearing was called to order at 2:02 p.m. Staff Present: Reid Soley, Department of Safety and Inspections (DSn; and Jean Birkholz, Council Research Others Present: Mai Yang, owner; and Larry Simpson, neighbor600d representative Reauest for Licenses: Malt Off-Sale, Retail Food (D) – Grocery 3001-6000 sq. ft., Restaurant (1) – No Seats and Cigarette/Tobacco Ms. Vang stated that this is an informal legislative hearing for a license application. This is a Class N license which means that the neighborhood gets notified and has a chance to voice its concerns. If anyone has a concern, it automatically triggers a hearing. Other Class N Licenses include auto sales, auto repair, entertainment, cabaret, tattoo parlor, etc.—things that have an immediate impact on the neighborhood. The City received one (1) letter of concern regarding the issuance of this license. The goal today is to develop a recommendation for the City Council to consider. Ultimately, there are three (3) possible outcomes from this hearing: 1) Ms. Vang may recommend to the City Council that they issue these licenses without any conditions; 2) she may recommend to the City Council that they issue these licenses with agreed upon conditions; or 3) she may recommend to the City Council that they not issue these licenses but refer them to an administrative law judge for a further hearing and findings. Ms. Vang will make her recommendation in the form of a resolution that will go before the City Council for their approval. The resolution will appear on the Consent Agenda at a City Council meeting. Ms, Vang will begin with a staff report. Staff will be asked to explain their review of the application and will also explain their recommendation. Then, she will ask the applicant to talk about the business plan. Next, she will hear from those people who are here in support of the issuance of these licenses and those with concems about the issuance of these licenses; and, she will review the email that was sent regarding this application. Mr. Soley, DSI, reported that there are three (3) license conditions that have been stipulated by DSI and agreed to by the applicant: 1. 3.2 beer and beer products cannot be sold by the individual bottle or can. 2. Sale of 40-ounce bottles of beer is not permitted. 3. The sale of wine and/or strong beer is not permitted with a Malt Off-Sale license. Mr. Soley added that DSI has not received a recommendation from District 5. Regarding inspection requirements, there are no building code issues. Environmental Health has approved; Zoning has approved; and Licensing has approved with conditions. DSI recommends approval with the existing licensing conditions. He added that the licenses for retail food and for the restaurant (1) license (deli) and the cigarette/tobacco licenses have been approved; the applicant already has active licenses for those. The Malt Off-Sale license is the only one pending. ��-�1� Ms. Yang explained that she and her husband want to carry beer in the cases, only (12 and 24 packs). They are not planning to sell any single bottles. They plan to always be present to check I.Ds. She added that they have had this business for a long time but moved it from East Maryland to the Arcade location the beginning of August. At the East Maryland location, they were right next to a liquor store, so they didn't sell beer. At the Arcade location, they have a lot of customers who are looking for beer sales. The place on East Maryland has been open for over thirty (30) yeazs; they took over the business for the last eight (8) yeazs. Ms. Vang asked Ms. Yang if she had any questions about the conditions placed on her license. She did not. Ms. Vang asked if Ms. Yang owned the building on Arcade. She responded that she did not. Her husband will be managing the business; they have no other employees. Their hours are from 8;00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. seven (7) days per week. Mr. Soley interjected that a liquor manual will be made available to the applicant when the license has been approved by the City Council. Someone from DSI will go through it with Mai Yang. Ms. V ang asked if liquor liability insurance was required. Mr. Soley responded that insurance is not required for a business selling 3.2 beer off-sale, provided that anticipated annual sales will be less than $50,000. They have signed an affidavit to that effect. Ms. Yang figures that beer will represent only 10 per cent of their business. Ms. Vang asked if they have met with the district council. Ms. Yang replied that they have not. Ms. Vang encouraged them to develop a relationship with the district council. Ms. Vang asked Mr. Soley if there were similaz businesses in the area. Mr. Soley responded that in order to obtain a Malt Off-Sale license in the city of Saint Paui, they must be more than 300 feeY away from any other business that sells 3.2 beer off-sale. There are no existing businesses that se113.2 beer within a 300 foot radius. Ms. Vang asked about trash containers. Ms. Yang responded that there is a big 2-yard container in the back alley; there's also a 3-yard recycling container. There is also a small trash can in front. Ms. Vang read the opposition letter from John Schweiss. He opposes because the store is adjacent to Johnson High School. The building owners have a poor history of cleaning up trash from their businesses. He lives two (2) doors from the building on Cottage Avenue, and weekly he picks up garbage from the businesses in that building as well as personally cleaning-up graffiti that the owners have not cleaned-up. Multiple times, he has contacted the building owners to request that they pick-up the garbage and clean up graffiti but they have never responded to his request. He understands that those issues aze not the fault of Thai Grocery, but tl�ey reflect the building owner's attitude toward their tenants' responsibilities. Ms. Vang asked Ms. Yang how she has dealt with these concerns. Ms. Yang responded that since they moved in August, they ha�e cleaned it up. They have painted the building, cut the grass, picked-up the trash and are trying to keep it as clean as possible. It is very important for them to maintain their business. Right now, there is no graffiti. Ms. Vang asked Mr. Soley about the City's policy on graffiti. Mr. Soley replied that people who live in Saint Paul have the ability to fill out a form and someone from the City will come out and paint over any graffiti. Ms. Vang asked Ms. Yang whether she would sign a 2 �y �� waiver to that effect. She replied that she would. Mr. Soley thought that perhaps the owner (David Yang) of the building would need to sign the waiver. Ms. Yang added that David Yang purchased the building recently but does not know when he bought the business. Ms. Vang asked if they pick up trash in the pazking lot. Ms. Yang answered that they pay the landlord a common azea fee to have someone come in to clean up. Mr. Larry Simpson, neighbor, representing Grid 34 community, provided testimony. He explained that the Saint Paul Police Department divides the city into about 250 nice squazes, each with a grid number. Each grid, very close to the same size, is effectively, a small town community. IY s a half mile on each side, bounded by four (4) major streets, and houses approximately 1,200 to 1,500 people. Within District 5, there aze fifteen (15) grids. Grid 34 wishes the Yang family well in their business. He is here to register community opposition to the malt beverage license only. The community has also opposed the previous owner's application, which was Pang Grocery, on their application for a malt beverage license, strictly because of its proximity to Johnson High School and Farnsworth Elementazy School. The community is on record as opposing any malt beverage license for that location, regardless of who owns or operates there. There aze already too many opportunities to buy beer on the East Side of Saint Paul. He brought with him a petition with nineteen signatures in opposition to the malt beverage license application. Aside from that, the community definitely supports the Yang family in their business. Mr. Simpson went on to offer information that may help. The previous operator did have a problem with trash disposal in the back of the building. There has not been any evidence of it since the Yang family has taken over. In Grid 34, the community paints over its own graffiti almost immediately. The walls of this particular building have been painted over a number of times by Grid 34. Grid 34 is neazly a graffiti-free grid because the graffiti is painted over almost instantly. He added that the City does do it but their process is a little confusing and it's quite slow. Sometimes, it will linger for several weeks, and Grid 341ikes to see it disappear right away. Neighborhood children (10-13 year olds) are enlisted in "graffiti sweeps." They spot it, photograph it and then they help paint it over. Since they started this program, there is no graffiti in Grid 34. They provide their own paint. The community has purchased its own Grid 34 squad car; it patrols its own streets. They consider these small expenses in comparison to the effect of doing it. Ms. Vang stated that it should alleviate some of the community's concerns that no bottles or cans will be sold individually and that the applicant and her husband will be meeting with City staff to go through the manual to make swe that they do not sell beer to minors. Mr. Simpson replied that the community understands that; however, East Side youth are very creative. Mr. Soley added that selling to minors is taken very seriously. There is a penalty grid for the business owner: 1) the first offense is considered a warning and alcohol server training is required; 2) a second offense results in a fine; 3) a third offense within a certain period of time, would be double the initial fine; 4) a fourth offense yields a 30-day suspension; and, 5) if there is another sale within a certain period of time, the license is revoked. Ms. Vang stated that she wi11 recommend approval with the conditions recommended by DSI. The hearing was adjourned at 235 p.m. /jab