City Council Meeting

Melissa ShinaberryclerkCouncil Member McQuillan? Aye. Council Member Bates? Aye. Council Member Peterson? Aye. Council Member Hardy-Chandler? Aye. Council Member Hall? Aye. Council Member Amos? Aye. Motion passed unanimously. We will now go to public hearings. tonight. Our first one is a public hearing and council action on a request from Zandra slash Great Eats Hospitality LLC applicant by Old Town Fairfax Ventures Joshua Alexander agent for consideration of a special use permit SUP pursuant to city code section 110-6.7 to allow a dancing and entertainment area in an existing restaurant on the premises identified as 3950 University Drive Suite 210 and more particularly described as TaxMap 57-2-43-B2-202. I'm going to recognize Savannah Newburn from the Berkeley Group, she's a senior planner,

Savannah NewburnstaffGood evening, Council. I'm Savannah Newburn, and I'll be presenting a special use permit this evening. This application is for an entertainment area within an existing restaurant, McKenzie's Tunes and Tonics. The proposed entertainment area is approximately 80 square feet. Customers will enjoy live music while seated and dining, and that it would typically occur on these nights, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 8 to 10 p.m. The subject property is in a commercial condo building that was constructed in 2007 at 3950 Fairfax Boulevard. And the property is zoned commercial retail. This is an overview of the floor plan. The arrow points to the proposed entertainment area within the existing restaurant.

Consistency with the application, non-transferable, special use permit, and a requirement to obtain any and all necessary local, state, and federal permits as required. That concludes my presentation. The applicant is here as well.

Kelly O'Brienpublic commentGood evening again. Kelly O'Brien, 10213, Sager Avenue. I'm here tonight to speak in strong support of the Special Use Permit for McKenzie's. McKenzie's has already shown that it's not just another business in Fairfax. It's part of our community fabric. Josh is engaged with our neighbors. He works closely with city staff. Demonstrates a real commitment to the city and how to do things the right way. They've been transparent, responsive, made adjustments. This is exactly the kind of applicant and business that we want to support here in the city. I want to acknowledge also the reality of getting to this point for a lot of our small businesses, and I would like and encourage staff to look at ways to make this more of

a regulatory thing and not go through this process and spend the dollars and come to meetings like this, spending time for council as well. Updating our zoning code would not only help remove barriers for exactly this kind of community but also save time for council and staff. So I urge you to approve McKenzie's special use permit because they've earned it, because they're an asset to the community, but also hope this application serves as a reminder that we can make our code more efficient, more predictable, and more welcoming to future applicants like this.

Fogarty Atkisonpublic commentGood evening, Mayor, Council, and staff. Fogarty Atkison 10632 Springman Drive. I'm a long time over 30 year resident of Fairfax. I also am a small business owner here in Fairfax. We've I'm a partner at Kearney Freeman Fogarty and Joshi law firm. We occupy the fifth floor of 4085 Chainbridge Road. Who knows what's going to happen there within the next couple of years but we're we're there for the duration at least. I am here to support Josh Alexander and Zandra's application for a special use permit to add live music and a dance floor to his establishment, McKenzie's Tunes and Tonics. And I can tell you that I think it would be a great addition to this community, having lost a wonderful place to go and listen to live music and dance recently.

Stacey Hardy-Chandlerwith that I will ask if there is a motion council member Herbie Chandler I move that the city council approve the EATS HOSPITALITY LLC FOR A SPECIAL USE PERMIT TO ALLOW A LIVE ENTERTAINMENT AREA IN AN EXISTING RESTAURANT PURSUANT TO CITY CODE SECTION 6.7 ON THE PREMISES KNOWN AS 3950 UNIVERSITY DRIVE SUITE 210 AND MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS TAX MAP PARCEL 57-2-43-B2-202 WITH THE following conditions one the proposed you shall be consistent with the application and statement of justification received with the application to the special use permit shall be non transferable three the applicant shall obtain all necessary local state and or federal permits prior to any construction on site is