The Richmond City Planning Commission on Oct. 7 voted to forward to City Council a conditional use permit allowing nightclub activity at 16 East Marshall Street, subject to specified hours and an automatic review if the property or majority control of the business changes.

Staff said the site, a 0.1-acre parcel in the Jackson Ward neighborhood within the B-4 business district, is designated downtown mixed use under the Richmond 300 master plan and is eligible for nightlife uses by conditional permit. Cheyenne O’Trump, planner associate, told commissioners the ordinance would require operation “strictly in accordance with the document entitled Secrets Cocktail Garden operations plan” and that the use must comply with the city’s sound ordinance (Chapter 11, Article 2).

The commission recorded that the nightclub hours will be midnight–2 a.m. Monday–Saturday and midnight–1 a.m. Sunday, reflecting an agreement with the Historic Jackson Ward Association. Milton Pouncey, who identified himself as the owner of Secret Cocktail Garden, told the commission, “I am Milton Pouncey. I am the owner of Secret Cocktail Garden... I wanna be very clear, we are not a club. We are a lounge.” Janice Allen, president of the Historic Jackson Ward Association, said the association supported the permit “on the conditions as stipulated in that letter.”

Staff recommended— and the applicant agreed to— an ordinance condition requiring an automatic review by City Council upon a change in possession of the property, a change in owner of the business, or a transfer of majority control of the business entity. Planning staff explained the requirement would put an onus on operators to notify the director of Planning, Design & Development within a set time if ownership or majority control changes; failure to notify could otherwise be discovered through routine permitting or complaint investigations.

The motion to recommend the permit passed on a roll-call vote with all commissioners present voting aye. Commissioners recorded on the roll call were Mister Gould, Miss Greenfield, Miss Ebert, Miss Knight, Mister Robertson, Miss Roe, Mister White and Mister McKenzie. The commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to City Council for final action.

The permit includes requirements for queuing adjacent to the building wall only as allowed by code and reiterates that nightclub operation does not exempt the business from sound control requirements under city ordinance.