Echo Park Improvement General CUB Guidelines
Adopted 3/4/2021
The Echo Park Improvement Association Welcomes You!
The Echo Park Improvement Association (EPIA) strives to find a balance between business needs and objectives of the community to produce the best projects possible. EPIA encourages business owners seeking CUBs to meet with us early and often to get input from us and our community’s vast experience and resources.
Echo Park has become a dining and entertainment destination for Los Angeles. While there are trade-offs, the Echo Park Improvement Association believes that overall, this transformation has improved the quality of life for the Echo Park community.
We also recognize that the serving of alcoholic beverages is an economic necessity for most food service businesses, and we welcome the businesses that expand the dining options for our residents.
General Considerations:
Community Outreach: We strongly encourage new applicants to canvass an area at least a block around your project providing adequate opportunity to inform neighbors of your plans, building support wherever possible, and inviting all neighbors to participate with the EPIA through attendance of Neighborhood Issues Committee meetings or letters.
Food Service Businesses: In general, we support a request to serve alcohol for food service businesses, as we recognize how important this is to economic viability.
For new food service businesses, we recommend that they start with Beer & Wine CUBs only. This way they have the opportunity to establish trust and goodwill through patronage and community engagement.
New Full Line Bars, Beer & Wine Bars, Tasting Rooms: Echo Park has many of these types of businesses. Unique positioning will be important to overcome concerns regarding oversaturation.
Expanding CUBs: If a business has established a good reputation and demonstrated community engagement, we are generally comfortable with expanding the limits of the CUB.
Adoption of “Community Friendly Service Hours”: New businesses will be encouraged to voluntarily adopt the following “community friendly” alcohol service hours:
Monday-Thursday, 11am to 11pm, Friday 11am to 1am, Saturday 8am to 1am, and Sunday from 8am to 11pm.
These hours lend themselves to lunch service during the week, late service on peak weekend nights, and brunch service on the weekends.
Facilities & Operations:
Ride-Share Circulation: Ride sharing services are increasingly popular. Whenever possible, passenger pick-up and drop-off should be thoroughly considered.
Trash: Every project when occupied produces trash. Projects with common bins should anticipate how the bins will be accessed by users and haulers as well as the noise and traffic impacts of trash services.
Noise: Noise that becomes an issue can come from inside an establishment, outdoor areas, and/or patrons. Inside an establishment amplified music must usually be mitigated so that it does not impact surrounding tenants. Outdoor music if provided must be subdued at all times. Patron noise issues mostly stem from business that lack parking or sufficient parking. Businesses in these circumstances must be aware of this potential and take steps minimize impact.
Outdoor Space: Businesses providing outdoor seating other than sidewalk must take into consideration light and noise issues that may impact neighbors, including restricting hours.
Smoke: If the business provides outdoor smoking areas, the impact on neighbors needs to be considered, including the possibility of restricting hours.
Community Engagement:
New businesses are encouraged to prove themselves as good neighbors. It is suggested that businesses join and actively participate in the Echo Park Chamber of Commerce and support the needs of voluntary community organizations whenever and however they can to build goodwill with influential stakeholders.
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