Brentwood Press - Index

Brentwood Press - AntiochPress_08.22.08 - Index

August 22, 2008 COMMUNITY breNTwOOdpress.COM | 21A
Bases Loaded from page 1A
“This will be the first restaurant open
in the evenings,” Lanphere told the council.
“We are excited to see this happen and succeed.
This will be the first full-service, nice
restaurant we have down here, and we urge
you to support it.”
It’s definitely a roll of the dice to open
a new restaurant in an area that is mostly
dead at night and not exactly going gangbusters
during the day. In the past couple
years, two restaurants – the Wallace Arms
and El Coqui – have closed. The Wallace
Arms has been replaced by The Mutiny, but
El Coqui’s building remains closed.
“This project represents the first sizable
private sector investment in downtown in a
long time,” noted Bjerke in a staff report.
“Pioneering projects such as this are inherently
risky and (city officials) recognized
that risk and the need for an incentive program
in 2002.”
Delta from page 1A
DWR Deputy Director Jerry Johns
provided the context for the launching of
the conservation plan for the Delta, a body
of water that supports about $400 billion
of California’s $1 trillion economy.
“In 2005, the fish agencies said, ‘The
fish are not doing as well as we thought.
We are not happy.’ We said we are not
happy as well,” said Johns. “We need to do
something different related to the Endangered
Species Act. It’s the trigger regulating
activities in the Delta one species at a
time.”
“We need something that’s much more
Possibly adding to the risk is the fact
that Karp has never owned or run a restaurant
before. But he does not consider that a
major drawback, although it has prevented
him from qualifying for a loan from the
Small Business Administration (SBA).
“I think that’s kind of hogwash,” he
said of the SBA decision. “You can own a
restaurant without being experienced – you
don’t have to be a chef; there’s a lot of other
aspects of the restaurant that need to be
taken care of – as long as I hire competent
people to run it.”
Karp acknowledged that he and future
customers have been frustrated at construction
delays due to complications such as
two tree stumps filled with termites on the
building site. He had considered opening
the restaurant near J.C. Penney or remodeling
the old El Coqui site, but decided to
stick with it at 400 G St.
“I love the downtown area,” he said.
realistic; look at the Delta, look at the ecosystem
and develop a holistic plan. We
recommended that we do a habitat conservation
plan … focusing on the aquatic
ecosystem and the things the fish need to
support their habitat.”
One of the biggest determinants in
supporting that habitat is figuring out the
best way to take water from the Delta. The
current system, to avoid sucking fish into
pumps south of Byron, results in a daily
fish taxi service from Byron to Sacramento.
“We do that several times a day – every
day,” said Johns. “Some of the fish like
“The restaurant incentive is what lured me
here. But it’s really the people that kept me
wanting to be here. There’s strong community
support for the restaurant here and
they all want to see Rivertown reach its potential.
It’s been a long four years. The fact
that people got impatient – that’s a good
thing, because that means there’s a lot of
enthusiasm about the restaurant.”
Normally restaurants are required to
provide one parking space for every three
seats. But the 200-seat Bases Loaded will
rely on existing parking in the downtown
area. The City Hall parking lot is just a block
away, and Karp doesn’t believe the lack of
dedicated spaces will present a problem.
“People in Antioch aren’t used to a pedestrian-friendly
downtown,” he said. “You
park and walk a block or two. I think the
people in Antioch will get used to that aspect
of the downtown parking. Mr. Mayor,
you said four years ago that you would wel-
this ride. Some aren’t crazy about the ride.
Some get eaten. And that’s a concern. The
fisheries were designed in the ’40s and ’50s.
We have better technology today.”
A new water conveyance system is
needed to better protect fish, he said. The
Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force has
recommended a dual conveyance system
with a peripheral canal in order to ensure
the quality of the water heading to central
and southern California, despite a levee
failure in the Delta.
“This is not anything that’s rocket science,”
said Johns. “It’s based on the risks.
We haven’t had a levee failure due to earth-
come that kind of problem, because that
means people are coming downtown.”
Councilman Reggie Moore also welcomed
the advent of the new restaurant.
“This is probably one of the largest single
investments in the downtown in over 20
years,” he said. “It’s huge. The potential to
revitalize the downtown because of your existence
is very real. I think it’s awesome that
this investment has been made.”
Bases Loaded will offer typical bar and
grill food that’s flavorful and moderately
priced, according to Karp’s business plan.
There will be 16 beers on tap along with
bar drinks. Live R&B, disco and classic
rock music will be provided by professional
bands from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.
The $300,000 city incentive comes in
the form of a three-year loan. One-third
of the loan will be forgiven each year, provided
the restaurant meets the city’s loan
requirements.
quake. It is basically a flip of the coin when
we will have an earthquake where we will
lose levees in the next 20 to 30 years. We
have got to do something. And we can do
something.”
And that something is the conservation
plan, which is expected to be completed
in mid-to-late 2010. So far, there is not a
preferred conveyance alternative, whether
an isolated peripheral canal, dual conveyance
from both the north and south Delta
or continued conveyance through the Delta
but in an improved system.
The plan is online at www.resources.
ca.gov/bdcp.