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Carmel Planning Commission weighs whether historic Aw Shucks should keep parcel'level drinking-place entitlement
Summary
A director's referral on the Aw Shucks restaurant on Ocean Avenue prompted debate over decades of building permits that added kitchen equipment and whether the property'level drinking-place permit should remain attached to the site while the operator continues as a full-line restaurant; commissioners directed staff to return with options.
The Carmel-by-the-Sea Planning Commission spent the bulk of its Oct. 8 meeting on a director's referral examining the long permitting history and present operation of Aw Shucks, the Ocean Avenue oyster-and-bar restaurant that has operated in various forms for decades.
Anna Jeanette, a Community Planning and Building staffer, told commissioners that the site'level use permit originally listed the business as a drinking place with limited food, but a series of building permits (noted in staff records from the 1990s and 2008) installed expanded cooking equipment. A 2023 business license listed the primary use as a full'line restaurant. "Based on the documents we found, the operation meets the standards for both a drinking place and a full-line restaurant in places, but the record is inconsistent," Anna Jeanette said.
John Plastini, representing the Dowd family that owns the building, and owners Karen and her husband said the property has been a drinking establishment since the 1930s and that the family relied on prior city approvals. "We've made it clear to the city every time we went for a permit that we wanted to retain that use," Plastini said, arguing the drinking-place entitlement is a valuable, property-level right. Owner Karen Bassi told commissioners she bought the business under the expectation it would continue operating as it has: "I just ask that you consider my investment... I'm willing to work with you, but I agree with John. I'm not quite sure I want to give up that drinking after all." (Quotes above are from the meeting transcript.)
Commissioners debated three key points: whether Aw Shucks functions as a drinking place or as a full-line restaurant with ancillary alcohol; whether the drinking-place permit remains attached to the parcel and should be held dormant if the operator is permitted as a restaurant; and how the city should handle the limited number of drinking-place entitlements (Carmel limits such permits to three). Chair Sheryl LePage suggested an interim approach: keep the drinking-place entitlement attached to the property while granting the current operator a use permit to operate as a full-line restaurant with alcohol. "That cleans it up right there," LePage said in explaining why such a solution could preserve property value while reflecting current operations.
Staff said options include directing an amendment to the site'level use permit (which could remove the drinking-place designation), enforcing the existing permit (which would require removing kitchen equipment to return to the original limited-food configuration), or making findings that recognize the current mixed operation. Staff also noted that a property owner who sells the site should be notified of the confines of any use permit that remains tied to the parcel.
The commission did not vote to change permits at the meeting. Commissioners instead gave staff direction to research and return with clearer options and findings that would both protect small-business interests and ensure compliance with the municipal code. The commission emphasized that any decision should preserve fairness for owners who historically acted in good faith and avoid creating a marketplace for additional drinking-place entitlements without appropriate public review.
Next steps: staff will prepare options and legal findings for future commission consideration; no formal amendment or enforcement action was decided Oct. 8.
