Rochester Hills Legistar System

* Carrabba's Italian Grill was founded in 1986 by Johnny Carrabba and Damian

Mandola in Houston Texas. It is a franchised chain financially backed by Outback.

There are 210 locations across the country with four (4) currently in Michigan: Novi,

Canton Township, Sterling Heights and Southgate.

* The proposed restaurant will be approximately 6,000 square feet and serve dinner

only in a family-friendly setting. Many of the dishes are from family recipes and made

from scratch each day. Carrabba's is more casual than Lino's but a step up from Olive

Garden. The Italian segment is one of the fastest growing ethnic segments in the

country. The City Walk location was chosen because of the smaller community life-style

development center on the north side of Rochester Hills. The target date for

construction is August 2006, with an opening date sometime in the first quarter of 2007.

The Committee reviewed the floor plans and advised the representatives that the City

has only three (3) remaining licenses from quota.

The Representatives informed the Committee that they are very much up against a

deadline and the proposed restaurant is contingent upon obtaining a liquor license from

the community. They pointed out that Outback brought in a transfer license for their

location on Rochester Road and at the time Carrabba's signed the lease with City Walk

in April 2005, at which there seemed to be plenty of licenses available. They also

stressed that City Walk has made a huge investment within the City including the road

improvements to the intersection of Tienken and Rochester Roads and feel that a liquor

license should be granted to reward their investment.

The Committee asked the Representatives to excuse themselves for a brief moment

while the Committee briefly discussed the following:

* The comparison between Carrabba's request and City Walk's investment versus Papa

Joe's request and their investment in the community. Also, discussed was the history of

the request of Papa Joe's to find a transfer license if the City would consider issuing a

new license.

* The City has three (3) licenses remaining from quota until 2012 and there is no way to

predict how many new licenses will be allotted to the City. The practices of the past may

not apply to what should be done now because the City has fewer licenses which should

be controlled in a prudent manner.

* Carrabba's is supported by Outback and they may have the financial resources to

obtain a transfer license.

The Committee then asked the representatives to return to the meeting and suggested

the following:

* The Committee would like to make a recommendation to postpone the request for a

new license and request that Carrabba's make an effort to obtain a transfer license. The

reason being there are only three (3) licenses remaining in the City's quota, and there is

future development slated for the City.

* The three (3) remaining licenses may be more geared toward smaller businesses that

may not have the financial resources to purchase a transfer license.

* The Committee would be willing to hold a Special AIS meeting in two (2) weeks to

allow Carrabba's some time to investigate the possibility of purchasing a transfer license

and report back to the AIS Committee.

The Representatives wanted a clarification regarding if they were to purchase a transfer

license for Carrabba's and then submit a request for a new license for another tenant

within the City Walk development, would the City grant a new license. The Committee

responded that there with no guarantees, but stated the request for a new license would

be considered. Mr. Edwards, the Attorney for Carrabba's, will contact Ms. Leslie, City

Clerk with any new information to provide for a Special AIS Meeting on June 27, 2006 at

A motion was made by Verschueren, seconded by Duistermars, that this matter

be Postponed.

Whereas, the Administration & Information Services (AIS) Committee met with the

representatives of Carrabba's Italian Grill on the June 13, 2006 AIS meeting

regarding a request for a New Class C License from quota to be located at 1460 N.

Rochester Rd., Rochester Hills, MI, 48307; and

Whereas, the AIS Committee requested that Carrabba's Italian Grill make an

attempt to locate a transfer license in lieu of a New Class C License from quota;

Resolved that the AIS Committee postpones its recommendation to the Rochester

Hills City Council until the next Special or Regular AIS Meeting at which time

representatives from Carrabba's Italian Grill will provide further information

regarding the request.

The motion carried by the following vote:

Ms. Pam Lee, Director of Human Resources, provided information regarding the policy

renewal and made the following points:

* The policy supplements Workers' Compensation for Rochester Hills' Full Time and

Paid-On-Call Firefighters who may be injured or lose their life in the line of duty.

* Currently, the City is under a contractual obligation to provide the benefit through the

particular vendor identified on the current policy.

* The policy must be renewed by July 1 and will appear on the June 21, 2006 City

Council agenda for consideration. The cost is under $25,000.00, however it will require

a budget amendment in September 2006.

* The policy was previously administered by the Fire Chief, however, since it will expire,

it was decided that it should be administered by the Human Resource Department.

* The Human Resource Department will address such issues as coordination of

coverage and examine the alternatives to other vendors who may provide

comprehensive coverage at a better price.

Ms. Jane Leslie, City Clerk, provided information that included the following:

* Council has a policy to publicly notice and hold public hearings prior to decisions on

consent judgements; a public hearing is not dictated by law.

* The Clerk's Office publishes a notice of a public hearing in the newspaper. The

Clerk's office does not mail notices to individuals unless they have previously provided

their name and address requesting that a notice be mailed to them when a specific issue

is on a Council agenda. By contrast, the Planning Commission sends notices for

requests to rezone properties which is governed by the Zoning Ordinance. The

Planning Commission notifies residents within 300 feet of a property rezoning request.

The Committee discussed the pros and cons of changing their policy regarding consent

judgments which included the following:

* Some proposed consent judgments may involve properties where there are few or no

residents within 300 feet.

* If notices are mailed for a public hearing date, and the date changes for any reason, it

may be ineffective to remail new notices.

* Residents have a perception that public hearings are "staged and the vote is a done

deal" when Council members vote immediately after a public hearing is closed.

* It may be better to hold a public hearing one meeting prior to when Council members

will vote in an effort to demonstrate to the public that their comments are being

considered by Council members.

* Closed sessions provide Council members a venue for discussion, consensus and

legal advise from the City Attorney, but no voting can take place.

* Attorneys often times file the results in court the very next morning following the

Council's vote.

The Committee consensus to postpone a decision on this matter until Mr. Rosen can

discuss the timing of a public hearing with the City Attorney and bring information back

to a future AIS meeting.