City Council

City of Fresno 2600 Fresno Street Fresno, CA 93721 www.fresno.gov Meeting Minutes - Final City Council President - Paul Caprioglio Vice President - Miguel Angel Arias Councilmembers: Esmeralda Z. Soria, District 2 - Vacant, Luis Chavez, Garry Bredefeld, Nelson Esparza City Manager - Wilma Quan City Attorney - Douglas T. Sloan City Clerk - Yvonne Spence, MMC Wednesday, May 1, 2019 2:00 PM Council Chambers Special Meeting Notice The City Council met in special session in the Council Chamber, City Hall on the date and time written above 2:02 P.M. Roll Call Present: 6 - President Paul Caprioglio Vice President Miguel Angel Arias Councilmember Esmeralda Z. Soria Councilmember Luis Chavez Councilmember Garry Bredefeld Councilmember Nelson Esparza ID19-1632 May 1, 2019 Special Meeting Notice - SIGNED ID19-1631 RESOLUTION - Initiating a Text Amendment to The Zoning Ordinance of the City of Fresno to Amend Chapter 15, Article 27, Section 15-2706 of The Fresno Municipal Code Relating to the Sale of Alcoholic Beverages for Offsite Consumption, and to Further Amend Section 15-2706 to be Titled “The Responsible Neighborhood Market Ordinance”, Pursuant to Fresno Municipal Code Section 15-5803-A(1) The above item was introduced to Council by Council Vice President Arias, District 3, Lily Vang, Student at Sunnyside High School, Nicole Lee, Student at Roosevelt High School and business owner Andy Chhikara. Councilmember Bredefeld asked Council Vice President Arias if there will City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 1 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final May 1, 2019 be new fees charged in the inspections to the businesses and asked if it will change in the future. Council Vice President Arias responded there will be no existing change to current operations, no requirement for new CUP and participation in business education and City inspection programs. Councilmember Chavez asked City Attorney Sloan how long the process will take once the initiating resolution was adopted. City Attorney Sloan stated it will take up to 6 to 8 months. Councilmember Chavez stated there will be a committee meeting with business owners, the youth, and the community to address their concerns regarding alcohol, tobacco, vaping, etc. He stated the most saturated areas are in Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7. Councilmember Esparza expressed his concerns with his district being the most saturated district and he is looking forward to working with the small business owners, the community and the youth. He is in favor of the new provisions of the resolution. Upon call, the following members of the public addressed Council: Christina Garcia, Bob Bhaurla, Leila Gholamrezoei-Ehoo, Kirl Lopez-Schmidt, Ajit Gill, Janet Salcedo, Sukhbir, Antino Jaregul, Kern Chhikara and Bulwinder Singh. Councilmember Bredefeld spoke regarding the City of Fresno being known as the drunkest City. He stated it was not based on problems with businesses but due to DUIs. He said City Attorney's Office found 930 total violations at 204 businesses in a week and a half. He asked City Attorney what are the general fines of the violations. City Attorney Sloan responded. Councilmember Bredefeld expressed his frustrations and concerns with not having a pro-active solution to enforce the current laws and violations. He asked staff what Code Enforcement is doing, if they are enforcing the laws and how many citations have been done in the last month. He asked who can file a complaint and when does staff go out and cite the businesses. Director Clark responded. They do not proactively enforce the current laws, but if a complaint is made staff will go and inspect for violations. Councilmember Bredefeld asked if the department needs more Code Enforcement Officers to process the complaints and violations. City Manager Quan responded. City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 2 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final May 1, 2019 Councilmember Chavez addressed Councilmember Bredefeld and stated they had conversations with American Petroleum and Convenience Association (APCA) who will develop a self-inspection program as the first layer of response. Council Vice President Arias agreed to bring forward an item to discuss Code Enforcement and he plans to meet with the business owners to develop a program. He will bring the program back to Council for approval along with any fines agreed upon. He stated if additional staffing is determined it will be brought before Council for discussion. Councilmember Bredefeld asked how many employees the City Attorney will need to investigate the violations. City Attorney Sloan responded. Councilmember Soria thanked the youth and the community for all their hard work. She stated the City of Fresno needs to be more pro-active and explore initiating the resolution to enforce the current laws. She asked City Manager Quan to add reports of Code Enforcement violations as it relates to liquor stores in the FresGo App. City Manager Quan replied. City Manager Quan asked City Attorney Sloan about the conditions of the inspections that were done by the City Attorney's office. City Attorney Sloan responded. RESOLUTION 2019-090 ADOPTED On motion of Vice President Arias, seconded by Councilmember Esparza, that the above Resolution be adopted. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 6 - Caprioglio, Arias, Soria, Chavez, Bredefeld and Esparza ADJOURNMENT City Council adjourned at 3:25 P.M. The above minutes were approved at the May 16, 2019 meeting with a motion from Councilmember Soria and a second from Councilmember Esparza. The motion passed on a 6-0 vote. City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 3 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final May 1, 2019 City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 4