Brentwood City Council Could Save Lazy Dog Restaurant Proposal

On Tuesday, the Brentwood City Council will attempt to salvage an application that would bring Lazy Dog Restaurant to the City of Brentwood.

Although Lazy Dog had its application of its proposed 9,089 square foot building and subdivision of the 5.29 acre parcel approved by the Planning Commission, it came with condition for approval in which is giving Lazy Dog pause and could actually kill the plan.

The main concern expressed during the August 15, 2023, meeting concerned the rooftop equipment in relation to the City’s Design Guidelines. The Design Guidelines were adopted by the City in 2006.

Organize and screen roof mounted equipment:

1. Place roof mounted equipment away from building edges.
2. Group roof mounted equipment wherever possible to minimize number and extent of screen walls.
3. Hide equipment with wall and screens to match the primary building materials in order to integrate them with the design of the building walls.
4. Mechanical screens should appear to be an integral part of the building, not an added on element
5. Roof wells in sloped roof forms are strongly encouraged.

Brentwood City Councilmember Jovita Mendoza called for an appeal of the Lazy Dog Restaurant just 2-days after approval by the planning commission. It was learned after the vote, Lazy Dog may pull its application altogether given the conditions placed by the planning commission.

On August 21, assistant City Manager Darin Gale, he said it was believed Lazy Dog was pulling its application after the planning commission would not budge certain conditions and would be taking their project elsewhere. Mendoza pulled the item for review in an attempt to salvage the business coming to Brentwood.

Lazy Dog has submitted a sight line study (attached), demonstrating that all rooftop equipment will be hidden from the view of an average person standing 226 feet away.

Per the Staff Report:

At the August 15 meeting, the applicant stated it would not be in agreement to certain conditions of approval. Conditions 8, 11, and 13 require that all rooftop equipment be screened from view by raising the parapet height to be at least six inches above the mechanical equipment and that the applicant raise the entrance tower to keep the proportionality between the parapet wall and the tower element. Condition 12 requires that all stone pilasters have a minimum of eighteen inches of depth instead of the ten and a half inches shown on the proposed project plans.

After deliberation, the Commissioner adopted unanimously Resolution No. 23-013 (as conditioned) to approve MS 354-22. The Commission further adopted unanimously Resolution No. 23-014 to approve DR 22-011, with the addition of conditions 19, 20, and 23a (which require the applicant to enter into an agreement with CCWD and to install pet waste collection bags), and replacing condition 11 with a condition to add additional details to the windows to the satisfaction of the Director of Community

Development. The project approval includes the conditions of approval that were requested by CCWD, as well as conditions to screen all rooftop equipment with the parapet walls, in the event that the parapet wall needs to be raised then the tower element and accent wall would need to be raised in order to maintain proportionality with the parapet wall, and to add window details. These actions started the 10-day appeal period.

On August 17, 2023, Council Member Mendoza filed a timely call for review per Brentwood Municipal Code (BMC) Section 17.880.030. Per the BMC, a call for review is required to be heard before the appellate body within 45 days of being filed, unless both the applicant and appellant consent in writing to a later date. In this case, the call for review is being considered 40 days from when it was received, within the required timeframe.

Subsequent to the Planning Commission hearing and call for review, CCWD contacted staff and requested that an additional condition be added to the project that would limit vegetation species on the CCWD property to have root structures of a maximum two feet, six inches. This condition is reflected in the draft City Council resolution as condition of approval 36.

Still, staff is recommending the council adopt a resolution affirming the Planning Commissions approval with its recommendations.

According to the staff report, after the item was pulled for review, the applicant (Lazy Dog) requested the that the City Council consider a change to the conditions of approval that were adopted by the planning commission by removing certain conditions:

As noted above, conditions 8, 12, and 13 require that the parapet walls to be at least six inches above all rooftop equipment and if the parapet walls are to be raised, then the tower and accent walls shall be

raised in order to keep the proportionality between these and the parapet wall. Condition 11 was re-written by the Planning Commission requiring the applicant to add additional details to all the windows similar to the drawings that were submitted with the original application.

Instead, the applicant requests that the Council consider and adopt conditions of approval that would approve the building as proposed without having to raise the height of the parapet walls if all rooftop equipment is hidden from view. The applicant has submitted a sight line study (attached), demonstrating that all rooftop equipment will be hidden from the view of an average person standing 226 feet away. If, during construction it turns out that the rooftop equipment is visible, then the applicant would accept a condition of approval requiring that the rooftop equipment be screened with materials that are of the same design as the parapet walls. Lastly, the applicant asks that the Council remove condition 11 since the applicant contends that condition fashioned by the Planning Commission was “too vague.

The replacement condition proposed by the applicant would read:

If during construction of the building it is found by the Director of Community Development that rooftop equipment is visible from any adjacent development at street level or from any portion of the Sand Creek Road right-of-way, the applicant will develop a screening plan to be reviewed and approved by the Director of Community Development.  The screening materials shall match the primary building colors and materials, be integrated into the design of the building and shall not appear to be an “added on element”, to the satisfaction of the Director of Community Development. Screening shall be installed and inspected for compliance prior to issuance of certificate of occupancy for the building.

The proposed condition is not included in the attached design review resolution as it is only a proposal from the applicant for the Council’s consideration. If the Council were to adopt this condition, then conditions 8, 12 and 13 would need to be removed from the attached design review resolution.

Brentwood City Council Meeting
CITY COUNCIL/SUCCESSOR AGENCY AGENDA
Zoom Webinar ID: 760 1397 0037
September 26, 2023 at 7:00 P.m.
City Council Chambers
150 City Park Way
Brentwood, CA 94513

Full Staff Report/Agenda — click here

Staff Report Documents:

Previous Stories:

• Aug 21 – Brentwood Looks to Salvage Lazy Dog Application After Planning Commission Vote
• Aug 11 – Brentwood Planning Commission to Talk Lazy Dog Restaurant