Editorial: Brentwood Goes Nanny State on Taqueria

The Brentwood City Council must reverse course and make a wrong a right by allowing a local Taqueria to properly compete with other local businesses with normal hours of alcohol sales.

The Toro Viejo Taqueria restaurant is no different than any other restaurant in America who may sell alcohol. The council was told by the owner that up to 70% of their sales are takeout. They are also not a bar. In fact, it was stated most of their patrons order food, eat, and are out of the business in less than 30-minutes as they only have 6-tables and can fit 23-people at a time.  Their busiest time is lunch.

However, this past Tuesday, citing concern for students at Garin Elementary School and and children at the Kiddie Academy, the council made the ridiculous 3-2 vote  (Bryant and Oerlemans dissenting) to limit hours of when Toro Viejo Taqueria restaurant (8610 Brentwood Blvd) can serve beer and wine.

The worst part of the whole discussion was Councilmember Jovita Mendoza admitted the decision to limit alcohol sales would hurt the business but pushed for less hours by justifying that most alcohol sales are Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

I just have to say, as someone who loves wine and beer, I can’t recall at any point in my life I have visited a Taqueria and got buzzed, drunk or decided to down a six-pack. Its a silly argument by Mendoza, Meyer and Pierson.

Those hours are are now:

• Monday – Friday: 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm
• Saturday-Sunday: 10:00 am to 9:00 pm

Erroneously, the council with all their wisdom in their nanny state mindset failed to consider summer hours when Garin Elementary is not in session, holidays or other scenarios.

Mind you, this decision was made when just two doors down in the same parking lot, China Garden restaurant has full ability to serve beer and wine–even while advertising they sale beer on their window. There is also a gas station and bowling alley across the street that also sell alcohol and kids are allowed inside–or if you go a little further out, you have plenty of locations in downtown Brentwood who sell alcohol and either kids are allowed inside or are in close proximity.

According to city staff, China Garden location has had a liquor license since 2005 and I can’t recall in the last decade covering East County a DUI related crash from that location. I also can’t recall a time where alcohol sales in this parking lot has caused any issues.

Tuesdays decision just doesn’t make sense and shows the inconsistency of Councilmembers Susannah Meyer and Mendoza who previously had a chance to speak up when The Lounge (Nov 10, 2022) or Dino’s Sandwich Shop (June 21, 2022) received a license for alcohol sales. I can go pull more ABC licenses but you get the point–the council didn’t speak up then, now they arbitrary decide to speak up now and change the rules on a business who invested their life savings to open up in October of 2022.

What is worse is Mendoza lied during the meeting when she insinuated a previous council gave permits this council likely would not approve. As stated above with The Lounge and Dino’s, she and Meyer had a chance to question the licenses and did nothing–which is what they should have done with Toro Viejo Taqueria because each business should have a fair chance to make it, not face pointless limitations based on fake assumptions and made up scenarios of “what ifs”.

The scenarios used Tuesday included Garin Elementary and Kiddie Academy were there first, the proximity to the school and day care, a shared parking lot,  parent pickup with kids running through the parking lot, drinking and driving, distance to the school, and the parking lot was already dangerous with Starbucks.

Those are all debatable items, but they are void based on previous decisions by Meyer and Mendoza as well as previous councils who have failed to set any policy.

You can’t arbitrary start with one business with nothing in the municipal code–that is neither appropriate or fair to anyone. It also should tell anyone who potentially wants to open a business in Brentwood to be careful under this city council–as we seen what this council wants to do with limiting downtown events which only hurts business while if any business does have a CUP, it can be pulled such as what planning commissioner Rod Flohr is doing to Sean McCauley with the Deer Ridge Club House— but that is a whole other story.

As mayor Joel Bryant put it Tuesday:

“I looked around town which has been brought up where several facilities, not all restaurants, that do have a use permit to sell alcohol within 600-ft of schools. That is very concerning to me. I don’t’ drink alcohol, to each their own, but I have had small businesses and have had a restaurant at one time. I have been in this building at this Taqueria, but I have been here and I absolutely understand the concerns and conversation that has been had. My wife and I used to own a preschool that focused on special needs. I love children and families and we have a responsibility to protect our families,” stated Bryant. “Having said that, and I understand this is subjective, the likelihood an incident by limiting the hours, I don’t know if we are doing anything to reduce the likelihood, this is my opinion, and I am sure people are going to disagree with it, maybe I will disagree with it in a year or two, but right now, I believe having see n the clientele and been there at all different hours, I don’t know that limiting the hours is going to make much of an effect. I don’t believe allowing them to have a liquor license to sell alcohol with their meals is something that would be harmful in comparison to the fact there is also a restaurant within less than 100-ft that also has the ability to sell alcohol.”

Bryant continued saying he has seen the dangers in that parking lot and wasn’t sure on the effect of caffeine or lack of caffeine has on people that drive in that parking lot—it’s a dangerous place from customers at Starbucks. He also saw kids from Garin ride their bicycles through the Starbucks line.

“I understand there are a lot of components for public safety concerns, I just personally don’t feel like putting the onus upon this taqueria owner is going to make any effect other than diminishing their ability to do the kind of effective business it could,” said Bryant.

Bryant called the limiting of hours of 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm is being extreme.

“I don’t believe its going to make a difference by limiting it. I am not in favor of limiting it,” said Bryant. “I do not want to show favoritism or prejudice to a business owner when you have to compare businesses across the community who have very similar contact with students getting out of school. Deciding that would be showing prejudice against a business and creates and unfair business disadvantage when it comes to other businesses that have gone through the same process that have been issued liquor licenses.”

The point that Mendoza, Meyer and Pierson all missed Tuesday was while they have the right to show concerns, their arguments could apply to every single parking lot in America where restaurants serve alcohol. Furthermore, their concerns have not been fulfilled and thus Toro Viejo Taqueria should be given every opportunity to show they are a good operator and responsible CUP holder.

So how did we get to this point?

This came before the council after a school board trustee, Stephanie Williams-Rogers, who has a child at Kiddie Academy, wrote a letter expressing disappointment in the planning commission approval for the conditional use permit.  This then prompted Vice Mayor Meyer to pull the item on the final day it could be requested for review.

Timeline:

• May 16 – Brentwood Planning Commission approved conditional use permit for beer and wine sales.
• May 23 – Brentwood Union School District Trustee Stephanie Williams-Rogers wrote an email expressing disappointment in the planning commission decision saying sales would be in the proximity of Kiddie Academy—within her letter, she says she has a child at Kiddie Academy.
• May 26 – on the last day to pull the CUP, Vice Mayor Susannah Meyer called for a review of the planning commission decision.
• June 27 – See Staff Report from Council meeting
• June 27 – School Board Trustee Thuy DaoJensen asked the council during public comments not to approve the liquor license for the business.
• June 27 – City Council votes 3-2 on limited hours of alcohol sales.

Ultimately, Councilmember Tony Oerlemans questions Tuesday should have put the debate to bed as there was nothing in the ABC or Brentwood Municipal Code to cause a council to reject the conditional use permit:

• Oerlemans asked if Brentwood had any rules about the distance from an establishment that sells alcohol to a school. Staff said there was nothing in the Brentwood Municipal Code.
• Oerlemans asked about ABC. Staff shared the owner was seeking to sell alcohol but Brentwood needed to approve a conditional use permit first but noted ABC did not bring up an issue with the distance from schools.

Toro Viejo Taqueria should have been offered fair treatment, not been singled out with ridiculous examples that really don’t apply to them.

The council showed no equity, their favorite word by the way, or consistency with the rejection of the CUP given how the many other businesses around town have been allowed alcohol sales around schools and parks around town.

The council should immediately take the following actions all in the name of “equity”:

1. Mendoza, Meyer or Pierson should call the item back to right the wrong and allow Toro Viejo Taqueria to be treated fairly.
2. If they feel so strongly about alcohol being sold so close to schools, then create an urgency ordinance until a formal policy/zoning is updated so its fair to all new business that apply for alcohol sales–thus, everyone knows the rules going forward and its a level playing field. Perhaps this simply calls for automatic council review if within a specified distance from a school–say 300 or 600 ft.
3. Get out of the picking and choosing who gets alcohol sales with modified hours and create a formal policy so again, everyone knows the rules going forward.
4. Or, just leave it alone and let ABC and the Planning Commission do its job.

I have faith that one day Toro Viejo Taqueria will get its CUP, but if this council fails to immediately correct this wrong, voters can just vote Jovita Mendoza and Susannah Meyer off the council in 2024 and instead replace them with more business friendly, logical, non micro-managing people.  With a new council majority, the Taqueria can reapply and it can be approved for alcohol sales.

Brentwood residents and business owners must begin to ask themselves if the council is going to treat a small mom and pop Taqueria like this, who is next? Brentwood is supposed to be business friendly, not act like a nanny state. However, several recent actions by the council have been anti-business and that is beginning to become a major problem.

Many cities would love to have what Brentwood has but this council seems bored and wants to create issues out of thin air. Its time for Brentwood to speak up and reject this nanny state and micromanaging of the Brentwood City Council.

Mike Burkholder
Publisher of ContraCosta.news
[email protected]