Lafayette planning commission continues Circle K permit after split vote over parking, deliveries and ADA access

The Lafayette Planning Commission on Thursday continued, to a future meeting, consideration of a land-use permit that would allow a Circle K convenience store to occupy a vacant commercial space at 3667 Mount Diablo Boulevard.

The commission voted 3-1 to continue the item to the May 6 hearing and asked staff to return with both a resolution approving the project (with conditions) and a resolution denying it, giving commissioners further time to weigh competing concerns about parking, deliveries and the store’s ADA access arrangements.

Staff presentation and project scope

Anna, the project planner, told the commission the application is a land use permit to allow a conditional convenience market use in a 2,066-square-foot street-level space currently configured as an office. "This is a land use permit to allow the conditional use of a convenience market activity at an existing commercial building at 3667 Mount Diablo Boulevard," she said.

The applicant proposes operating hours of 5 a.m. to 1 a.m., two employees per shift, off-site alcohol sales (pending any required ABC license), four bike parking spaces at the front, and an ADA lift at the rear to connect employee/delivery parking with street level. The site is in the West End commercial district and is within a half mile of the Lafayette BART station.

Why the decision matters

Commissioners and nearby business owners said the project’s traffic and parking effects are the key issues. Staff and the applicant noted that state law (Assembly Bill 2097)…