British restaurant, pub OK'd for St. Mary Street British restaurant, pub OK'd for St. Mary Street (February 04, 2005)

Council rejects homeowners' plea to halt side street growth downtown
by Jeb Bing

For those who like their Bangers and Mash with a good pint of British ale, happy days are heading this way.

The City Council voted 4-1 to allow longtime Pleasanton resident Mari Kennard to open her proposed Oddfellows British Pub and Restaurant in a building now being renovated at 336 St. Mary St. The decision went against homeowners a block away who had opposed the facility on the grounds that it would add to the noise and traffic problems west of Peters Avenue, where they live.

The vote also reaffirmed earlier council actions that supported both the Pleasanton Downtown Association and the city's Downtown Specific Plan. Both call for expanding retail businesses, including restaurants, on both Main Street and intersecting downtown side streets like St. Mary.

Karl and Brenda Sauter, who live in a single-story home at 418 St. Mary, had appealed the Planning Commission's earlier approval of Kennard's application for a conditional use permit for the restaurant. The permit is required for restaurants and bars that plan to sell alcoholic beverages after 10 p.m.

Brenda Sauter complained that some on the Planning Commission had supported Kennard even before the hearing, asking Kennard how soon she could open the restaurant and would she serve Livermore Valley wines.

"I want to see my children protected in this city and this environment and to feel safe even at 1 a.m.," she told the council in objecting to the restaurant. Again, as she told the Planning Commission earlier, her residential section of St. Mary is often filled with patrons of downtown businesses and the street packed with parked cars.

Councilman Matt Sullivan cast the only vote in favor of the Sauters' appeal, which sought to reverse the Planning Commission's approval.

"While I support the proposal, I also believe businesses need to be considerate of residents' needs in the downtown area just as downtown residents need to adjust their expectations about living downtown," he said.

He told Kennard he could support her restaurant bid if she would agreed to close at 10 p.m. on weekdays, even though she would be allowed to stay open until midnight or 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

"I can't do that," said Kennard, who is also a part-owner of the popular Crown British Pub and Restaurant in downtown Danville. "There are many times when groups come into our restaurant on weeknights after a meeting or event. If they find that they have to leave at 10 o'clock, they'll go somewhere else."

Kennard said she will offer an establishment that is "family-friendly," while also a place where adults, seniors and women on a girls-night-out can gather in a friendly, safe environment for food, a glass of wine and entertainment.

Councilman Steve Brozosky said he took his family to the Crown last Sunday, and was pleasantly surprised and impressed by the large number of families with young children dining there. He said that since being elected to public office, he has never had so many phone calls and e-mails from constituents supporting a proposed downtown business.

Councilwoman Cindy McGovern also praised the proposed renovation of the now-boarded-up structure that the restaurant will occupy, a two-story building owned by developer Robert Byrd. First built as a Methodist Episcopal Church in 1888, the building was rotated 90 degrees and expanded in the early 1900s. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows purchased and occupied the building in 1911, with a church using it for religious services starting in the 1980s. Since then, the building has seen a variety of uses, most recently for a Chinese restaurant that closed four years ago.

Byrd's plans for the structure, which were approved last week by the Planning Commission, call for a colorful chateau design with a stone-coated steel roof and large storefront awning over sidewalk tables for outside dining. The Oddfellows Restaurant will occupy the ground floor and use two outdoor rear patios for patrons, with Byrd planning to lease the second floor for offices.

The Planning Commission voted 4-1 in favor of the plan, with Commissioner Anne Fox objecting to several proposed design plans, including outdoor dining and flags that would be flown atop the building's 2-1/2-story roof.

In supporting the restaurant proposal, Mayor Jennifer Hosterman cited the massive and costly renovation work Byrd and Kennard are undertaking to improve this section of the downtown.

"This plan is in keeping with the Downtown Specific Plan and the goals of the PDA for downtown and it's an activity we should really be embracing," she said. "In terms of parking and compatibility, I think the staff has done an absolutely outstanding job of working with both the applicants and the appellants."

This is the second time around for Kennard, who had initially sought approval in 2003 to open her restaurant in the vacant Coffee Roast Express facility at Main and Ray streets. Delayed in the conditional use approval process, she lost the lease opportunity.

Now, with Tuesday night's approval and Byrd's authorization from the Planning Commission to proceed with his renovation plans, the two are expected to move quickly in completing the project in time to open late this year.

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