Planning Commission upholds approval for banquet-hall conditional use permit at Shaw and North College

The Fresno City Planning Commission on July 22 denied an appeal and upheld the director—s approval of Conditional Use Permit P25-01134 to convert an existing church at the northeast corner of West Shaw and North College into a 6,450-square-foot banquet hall with an outdoor courtyard and two food-truck hookups.

Staff planner Valeria Ramirez told commissioners the site is designated Corridor Center mixed-use and the proposed banquet use is allowed with a conditional use permit; she said the project requests a Type 47 alcohol license and would reduce the site—s existing 150 parking spaces to 143 but still exceed the code-required 92 spaces. Ramirez said public utilities, police and fire departments reviewed the project and their conditions are incorporated into the director—s approval.

Ramirez also summarized the four issues raised in appeal letters: limits on background music and amplified sound, traffic routing away from the neighborhood, the condition of the decorative fence, and potential off-site parking impacts. On noise, staff noted the municipal code limits ambient sound to 65 decibels and that the police condition security staffing for events of 100 guests or more.

Applicant representative Dirk Pushl said the project team prepared a traffic analysis and a registered acoustical consultant concluded the project can comply with Fresno—s noise ordinance; he told the commission "we've never intended to have live music" and said the proposal would preserve the church architecture, add landscaping and limit the number of events to 50 per year. Pushl also said the applicant would have a representative at events and would implement security per police conditions.

Neighbors who testified in opposition said music and outdoor events would be noticeable in the residential area and questioned whether signs or routing could prevent post-event traffic from cutting through neighborhood streets. Monica Rodriguez, who lives two blocks from Shaw Avenue, said traffic noise is not the same as music and added that "we already get a lot of traffic that goes through our neighborhood." The applicant responded that the building massing and proposed courtyard location would limit sound toward the neighborhood and reminded the commission that the code prohibits amplified outdoor music in the applicable conditions.

After questions and discussion, a motion to deny the appeal and uphold the director—s approval was made and carried by the commission. The commission did not add further conditions beyond those in the director—s approval for the CUP. The director—s file includes Exhibit D (conditions) noting amplified music is prohibited and that the project must meet the city's decibel limits.

The action can be appealed to the mayor or the district council member if a second-level appeal is sought.