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Oxnard planning staff recommends approval for Sespe Creek Distillery tasting room
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Summary
Planning staff told the Oxnard City Planning Commission that Sespe Creek Distillery seeks a special use permit to convert a 200-square-foot reception area at 2451 Eastman Avenue into a tasting room with on-site consumption and off-site sales; staff recommended approval and a CEQA exemption.
A planning staff member told the Oxnard City Planning Commission that the City of Oxnard has received an alcohol special use permit application from Sespe Creek Distillery to convert a 200-square-foot reception area at 2451 Eastman Avenue, Suites 8 and 9, into a tasting room and to authorize on-site consumption and off-site retail sales.
The staff member said the application seeks authorizations tied to a Type 06, Type 12 and Type 74 alcoholic beverage control license, which together cover still-distilled spirits, importation and craft distilling. "The proposed hours of sale are from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week," the staff member said.
Staff described the project site as a 5,751-square-foot distillery located at the north-easterly edge of Oxnard within the Northfield Industrial Park and the Northfield Seagate Business Park specific plan. The tasting room would repurpose the former reception area; "there will be no proposed physical changes to the structure," the staff member said, noting the partition between Suites 8 and 9 had been removed in the 1990s under a prior building permit.
According to staff, most of the site is used for distillation, packaging and shipment for off-site consumption; staff emphasized there are no nearby residential uses adjacent to the site. The police department review found that the crime rate within 1,000 feet of the site is below the commercial property average, the beat coordinator reported no safety concerns, and staff said there are no existing alcohol establishments within 1,000 feet, meaning the site does not constitute an "undue concentration" under City Council Resolution 11,896.
Staff also said the proposal qualifies for an exemption under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) guideline §15301 for existing facilities and that a notice of exemption will be filed.
Staff recommended the planning commission find the project categorically exempt from CEQA and adopt a resolution approving planning and zoning permit number 26-510-O2, subject to specified findings and conditions. The transcript ends with staff's recommendation; the commission's vote or final action is not recorded in the provided transcript.
