At its March 19 meeting, the Brentwood Planning Commission is being asked to approve a design review application for The Yard—an indoor/outdoor restaurant.
The Yard, located at 200 Oak Street in downtown Brentwood, sits on a ¼ acre site where Starboard Hospitality Group LLC (Alyssa and Anthony Roost) have applied for a Design Review Application which includes:
- converting the former service bays and office/cashier area into a new kitchen, bar, and dining room
- constructing a 33-square-foot addition to the side and rear of the existing building to accommodate larger ADA-compliant restrooms
- converting the former gas pump island/canopy area and adjoining drive aisles into an outdoor dining and family games area
The proposed modifications to the existing building will maintain its architectural styling, while the site improvements will replace the existing asphalt paving on the front half of the property with artificial turf, bench seating, and outdoor games (corn hole, oversized chess/checkers, etc.)
The proposed hours of operation are 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. daily, though outdoor lighting will only be provided along the building exterior and under the front canopy, thereby limiting most of the outdoor seating area to daylight hours only. Outdoor speakers will be installed along the building’s exterior, and their volume will be limited to the 60 dB noise level limit established in Chapter 9.32 of the Brentwood Municipal Code.
According to the staff report, staff supports the adaptive reuse of the building until economic conditions support the full redevelopment of the property with an entirely new structure.
Outdoor Dining Area
The proposed outdoor seating will consist of picnic tables and custom benches constructed from heavy 2×6 redwood boards, with heavyweight cantilevered umbrellas constructed of power-coated aluminum and high-density fabric with an anti-UV coating. Though artificial, the proposed turf that will cover most of the paved area at the front and sides of the building will help to bring a family picnic-like feel to the outdoor dining area that is reminiscent of Brentwood’s small-town character, particularly with the addition of outdoor games that are proposed for the space.
The outdoor dining area will be enclosed by a 37-inch tall horizontal redwood board fence, which will include and expand upon the existing perimeter fencing adjacent to the sidewalk. This fencing will also be reviewed by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control for compliance with their standards for outdoor dining areas.
Staff supports the overall design for the outdoor dining area as it will complement the surrounding area while helping to activate the connection between the Downtown Core retail area and City Park.
History on the project Site:
According to the staff report, the site was originally operated as an automobile service station from the 1940s until the early 1970’s, when it was converted into a tire and brake service shop (the current building replaced an older service station in the early 1960s). The tire and brake shop then occupied the site until 2001. Thereafter, the property continued with a variety of commercial retail uses and, at times, remained vacant. The most recent previous tenant was a small pop-up market, Spinola Station, which closed in the first half of 2023.
In 2019, the Planning Commission approved a Design Review application for a new three-story commercial building that would have covered almost the entire site. While considerably larger in scale than the surrounding area, the design was consistent with the goals, policies, and development regulations of the Specific Plan, which requires new development to be between two and four stories high, built out to the sidewalk, and generally more urban in form. The proposed building was never constructed, however, and the previous Design Review approval expired in July 2022. The current owners purchased the site in August 2023.
The former service station building is currently vacant; however, the site occasionally hosted mobile food vendors on the weekends and evenings through the 2023 holiday season. The owners are currently performing a partial interior demolition of the building to prepare it for future reuse, and to determine the location and condition of existing infrastructure (structural members, plumbing, wiring, etc.).
PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA
Zoom Webinar ID: 87350296630
March 19, 2024 at 6:00 P.m.
City Council Chambers
150 City Park Way
Brentwood, CA 94513
Agenda – click here
Project Narrative: Click here
Project Plans: Click here
Note – Alyssa and Anthony Roost are the owners of Attraversiamo and Vine+Grain at The Streets of Brentwood.
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