Planning commission backs H Mart permit and alcohol license with conditions, 5-0

The Westminster Planning Commission voted 5-0 Wednesday to recommend approval of a conditional-use permit and a Public Convenience or Necessity (PCN) finding for H Mart at 16450 Beach Boulevard to operate with an off-sale Type 21 ABC license.

Staff presented the request as a planning case (2024-0303) for a 69,445-square-foot specialty supermarket to occupy a vacant unit at Pavilion Place Shopping Center. Associate Planner Zara Vrengba told commissioners the site sits in a C-2 general business zone adjacent to an elementary school site and that the previous supermarket’s alcohol license had lapsed due to more than one year of inactivity. “Staff recommends that the planning commission approve planning case number 2024-0303 and make [the] convenience determination for [the] alcohol license subject to recommended conditions of approval in the draft resolution,” Vrengba said.

Vrengba said Westminster Police Department (WPD) records show about 550 incidents in the center’s parking areas, largely petty theft and vehicle burglaries, and that the center contracts private security. The staff presentation also noted that there are currently 11 active off-sale ABC licenses in the subject census tract; if approved H Mart would be the 12th. Vrengba said ABC’s census-tract formula commonly yields higher counts in predominantly commercial tracts because retail clusters are grouped together.

Applicant representative Will Nieves told commissioners H Mart operates more than 80 stores nationally and emphasized the proposed store’s size and hours. “We’re only proposing hours of operation from 8 a.m. till 10 p.m. daily. This will eliminate the late night problems that most markets have,” Nieves said. He also said the supermarket would maintain private security and that the shopping center provides 24/7 roving security.

During public comment, Terry Raines urged approval of the CUP and PCN but criticized inconsistencies in condition numbering and the city’s census-tract calculations. Raines said the planning documents list fewer police conditions for this application than for recent convenience-store cases and questioned how the city computes saturation limits.

Commissioner discussion led to a substitute motion that removed an explicit “WPD standards” label from police-related conditions and renumbered the police conditions as sequential items in the resolution. The substitute motion — approval of the CUP and PCN with the renumbered conditions and installation of cameras — passed on roll call, 5-0.

Under commission procedure, the decision becomes effective 15 days after the notice of decision. Associate Planner Vrengba noted an appeal of the commission’s action may be filed in writing with the city clerk within that 15-day period. At the hearing, the applicant estimated the store would open in about two months and said staff would be informed before opening.