Here's a wrap-up of yesterday's City Council meeting. If you'd like to read the full agenda, you may do so here. City Council denies CUP for China Tibetan Herbal Feet Spa In a 3-1 vote (with Councilmember Liao voting against the motion and Mayor Costanzo recusing herself from the hearing), the City Council voted to deny a conditional use permit for China Tibetan Herbal Feet Soak. China Tibetan Herbal Feet Soak is a massage establishment located at 227 West Valley Boulevard #218A in the Hilton Los Angeles/San Gabriel plaza. Some notable discussion points from the hearing:

"We do have a hotel exemption—that is the key argument,” noted Councilmember Liao. “Do we treat this shopping plaza as a part of the hotel, or not?"

"It has been staff’s recommendation that it is two separate properties, but this is the issue before the Council,” noted Lisa Kranitz, Special Counsel for the City. “It still requires a CUP if it’s part of the exemption."

In addressing the shopping plaza, Councilmember Harrington noted two separate addresses for both the hotel and the plaza:

"That issue regarding whether it’s a hotel exemption didn’t bother me," said Councilmember Harrington. "This application was made in 2016. That’s what concerned me. I don’t know what the history of that is, but what took so long to get [the application] to the Planning Commission and to the Council?"

"There was just basic information that was missing [in the application],” said Planning Manager Tracy Steinkruger. “The applicant resubmitted—there was still some additional information that was lacking, and it was deemed incomplete again. They resubmitted, we deemed it complete in March [2017]."

Steinkruger also noted staff’s efforts to spread out the applications for the Planning Commission to prevent an overconcentration of CUP cases heard by the commission. The applicant had also sent a request to postpone the hearing. Finally, Councilmember Pu highlighted the lack of exemptions in the application:

"I'm sympathetic to the business owners who are affected by this," noted Councilmember Pu. "At the same time, the law is the law, and we must apply the law to all applicants. It is not part of the hotel, and no other exception applies."

You can read more about the case and staff report here. City Council approves Playhouse internship grant from Los Angeles County Arts Commission The City Council – in a unanimous vote – approved a grant from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission for $9,600 for two full-time interns. This grant, alongside the allocation of $1,392, will allow the theater to continue its preservation efforts and to conduct programming for the Mexican Independence concert. Finally, the City Council – in a unanimous vote – approved the consent calendar, which includes material demands alongside an investment report.