By Brett Callwood
At the City Council meeting on the evening of Tuesday, April 25, the council voted unanimously in favor of granting an entertainment license to the Sushibei restaurant, to allow for karaoke.
A staff note read, “On December 20, 2022, an application for a new entertainment permit was filed by Sachiko Utsumi, the owner of Sushibei #1, an existing restaurant located at 2021 West Redondo Beach Boulevard, Suites F and G. The restaurant has been in operation since 1990, and last held an active entertainment permit in 2012, which has since been expired. At this time the applicant is requesting the approval of a new entertainment permit to allow for karaoke singing at the establishment on Tuesdays through Sundays from 5:00pm to 2:00am.”
With no financial impact on the city, staff recommended approval and the council voted accordingly.
Later in the meeting, staff issued a report aimed at alleviating “new significant tobacco retailers from establishing in the city.”
“In order to alleviate significant tobacco retailers from establishing in the City, staff continues to actively research and review a number of cities that have either prohibited or regulated businesses that principally sell tobacco products,” reads the resort. “The City of Gardena defines these types of businesses as a Significant Tobacco Retailer, meaning ‘…any tobacco retailer for which the principal or core business is selling tobacco products, tobacco paraphernalia, or both, as evidenced by any of the following: twenty percent or more of the floor or display area is devoted to tobacco products, tobacco paraphernalia, or both; sixty-seven percent or more of gross sales receipts are derived from tobacco products, tobacco paraphernalia, or both; or fifty percent or more of completed sales transactions include tobacco products or tobacco paraphernalia.’”
A number of contracts were approved at the meeting, including a One-Year Agreement with Townsend Public Affairs, Inc. for Legislative Advocacy and Grant Funding Services in the amount of $84,000, and an Agreement for Streetlighting Maintenance between the City of Gardena and the City of Los Angeles related to the Traffic Signal Reconstruction Project on Vermont Avenue at Redondo Beach Boulevard and Rosecrans Avenue Project, JN 930.
The regularly required ordinance of the City Council allowing the Gardena Police Department to use military equipment was passed without drama.
As has been clarified at past meetings, the term “military equipment” is broad, and the Gardena PD aren’t buying any equipment solely designed for military use. Rather, they were seeking permission to use the equipment they already have such as flash-bangs and sandbags.
