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Council affirms RV show permit for New Park Mall despite property condition concerns
Summary
By a 4— vote the City Council affirmed the community development director's approval of a minor-use permit allowing an Adventure Van "RV show and sale" at New Park Mall, after a council member called up the permit citing potholes and long-standing code-enforcement issues at the site.
The Newark City Council on May 28 voted 4— to affirm a minor use permit allowing Adventure Van Show and Sale, a temporary three-day RV show and sale in the northwest parking lot of the vacant Sears building at New Park Mall.
Assistant Planner Ivonne Huin told the council staff had reviewed the application under Newark Municipal Code section 17.26 and found the event would comply with zoning for short-term special events; staff recommended affirmation with updated dates and a condition requiring reporting of point-of-sale locations to CDTFA as applicable. The approved event would host roughly 80' 100 vehicles per show with an expected attendance of approximately 1,000 people over three days.
Council Member Grindall exercised his right to call up the item for review and said his concern was the property owner's long-standing maintenance and code-enforcement issues at New Park Mall. He described potholes, stored construction material and an abandoned vehicle on site, arguing the property owner had not taken adequate care of the parking lot and therefore the necessary findings for approving a temporary use could not be made. "The owner of this site is simply not taking proper care of their property," Grindall said.
Mayor Michael Hannah and other council members pointed out the permit had been approved by the community development director and noted similar events had been held on the site previously without reported problems. The mayor and a majority of the council emphasized potential local economic benefit from the event and warned against a pattern of calling up small-business permits where staff had already made findings.
The council ultimately affirmed the director's approval with minor changes to the authorized dates and conditions. The motion passed 4—. The applicant, Steve Love, said the May date already pulled by the call-up had caused unrecoverable advertising expenses he estimated at $3,000' $5,000.
Staff said the permit is subject to the conditions listed in the notice of action, including event hours and sanitation requirements, and that the applicant had agreed to the newly added reporting requirement.
Next steps: staff will finalize the permit conditions and update the notice of action to reflect the council's changes and the revised event dates.
