The Seal Beach Planning Commission on Wednesday, July 20 approved a beer and wine conditional use permit for a Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market on Pacific Coast Highway.
The grocery store will replace the PCH Jack in the Box.
As of July 13, city staff had received two phone calls from two neighbors of the property who object to the store. “The subject property is approximately 15,454 square feet in area (0.35 acre) and the proposed new retail structure would be approximately 4,320 square feet in area,” according to the staff report to the Planning Commission.
The report said that, because the planned store will be a small one, Fresh & Easy was only requesting a permit to sell beer and wine.
SB Wells Fargo banks don’t need guards
Seal Beach planners agreed to change the permit conditions for two Wells Fargo Bank branches so the branches may have ATMs without guards. In 2010, Wells Fargo received a Conditional Use Permit to add a second ATM at each of its Seal Beach Branches, one on Pacific Coast Highway and the other on Seal Beach Boulevard.
Each ATM request required a sperate permit. Each permit required an armed security guard at all times during business hours.
According to staff reports by Senior Planner Olivera, since those permits were approved last year, a Wells Fargo representative has informed Seal Beach staff that Wells Fargo does not normally have security guards. Wells Fargo officials said the company had no intention of assigning security guards to the two branches.
City staff informed Wells Fargo that the two conditional use permits would have to be amended or Wells Fargo would be “bound by the condition” to have guards.
According to staff reports, Capt. Tim Olson, second in command of the Seal Beach Police Department, had no concern about the two branches operating without security guards.
Future business
The Wednesday, Aug. 3 Planning Commission meeting was cancelled. The agenda for the Aug. 17 meeting is expected to include a request to open a tattoo studio on Pacific Coast Highway.
