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The Pleasanton Planning Commission unanimously approved the permits and design review for Danville Brewing Company to construct and operate a brand-new microbrewery on a vacant lot at the intersection of Wyoming and Utah streets during its May 14 meeting.
The new Pleasanton brewery, which would be located at 3595 Utah St., will feature an approximately 8,600-square-foot single story beer production facility and tasting room building along with an approximately 1,800-square-foot covered patio.
The outdoor areas along Wyoming and Utah streets would offer casual seating around firepits along with a stage platform and a space for outdoor games.
Commissioner Brandon Pace said during the meeting that he spoke to people in the community about the project and that there is a broad level of support for this project.
“There’s a lot of excitement for this opportunity and for putting something that has the potential to create a lot of vibrancy for that part of town,” Pace said.
Commissioner Stephanie Wedge also said she has seen support from the public for this project and thinks it’s a great part of town to put something like the brewery for people to go to other than the drive-thrus or smaller restaurants.
“Having something where people can come not just to repair their cars but to hang out will be a nice change,” Commissioner Anurag Jain said.
He also said the fact that there are residential areas surrounding the property within walking distance will open up the opportunity for more business for the brewery.
According to senior planner Eric Luchini, the new brewery is set to hold a maximum of 114 people inside and 100 people outside and that the brewery would also accommodate space for up to two food trucks which will offer food service during the brewery’s business hours. One would be a relocatable food truck located under the outdoor roof structure and the other would be a traditional food truck space for visiting trucks.
The project is proposing 45 off street parking spaces off Utah Street on the shared access easement between the existing parcels of land. Extensive tree planting surrounding the site is also part of the proposed development plans.
Luchini said the project conforms to the general plan and zoning ordinance and that it would be compatible with the other uses in the vicinity.
Luchini said staff do not expect any substantial increase in ambient noise levels caused by the brewery given the existing noise levels in the area generated by the surrounding commercial and industrial businesses, as well as the nearby train tracks and busy Stanley Boulevard and Bernal Avenue intersection.
However, he also said staff is recommending a variety of noise related conditions of approval “all of which are to help ensure compliance with the city’s noise ordinance.”
He said this is more of a general commercial use area and apart from additional voices on site, there might be occasional light amplified music during special occasions that might elevate the noise levels slightly but, overall, additional noise shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
“In the grand scheme of all the noise levels out there, I don’t know that it would be very noticeable,” Luchini said.
He said the city hasn’t placed any specific conditions on speakers being allowed or not but much like other breweries in town that have live music, the proposed brewery will be expected to adhere to the decibel levels of the city’s noise ordinance.
“If there are repeated offenses or complaints, we have the ability to go back in and take another look and potentially place additional restrictions on the permit,” Luchini said.
Planning Commission Chair Ken Morgan agreed that noise wouldn’t be a problem, noting that the closest house is about 900 feet away from the proposed brewery.
Traffic concerns were briefly discussed and while Luchini said weekends would be most busy, a lot of surrounding uses are generally closed or have limited hours so there would be fewer cars competing for parking.
“All the traffic maneuvers have to occur on the site to get out,” Luchini said.
Danville Brewing owner Marcus Maita briefly spoke about the new brewery and said a key reason for expanding the business is to increase beer production.
“Besides having a successful brew pub and restaurant in Danville, we saw … a lot of people were interested in our beers,” Maita said.
He said they looked at different markets and locations for about two years throughout the Tri-Valley and the East Bay. Pleasanton was always on their radar and he said that he had just happened to drive by the vacant lot one day.
“One thing led to the next and (we) bought the property and thought it would be a great location,” he said. “Yeah, we want to expand production but we also want this to be a fun location … we expect this to be (a) really communal spot as well.”
Jain said that while he likes the project, he would have also liked to see a different name given that the new location would be in Pleasanton but is still maintaining its Danville brand.
Maita said he gets the argument and that there isn’t a clear answer as to the new location’s name but that they might look at giving it a nickname in honor of being in Pleasanton.
Melanie Sadek, from the Valley Humane Society, spoke during public comment to support the project moving in right around the corner from VHS.
“We’re super excited to see such an incredible development in this community,” Sadek said. “We really believe that by bringing new businesses in they actually lift all of us up.”
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