Vallejo commissions advance plan for events center in vacant federal building

VALLEJO - Vallejo’s Planning Commission and Architectural Heritage and Landmarks Commission on Thursday approved a plan to transform the vacant downtown U.S. Post Office and Federal Building into a new event center, amid concerns about noise and limited parking. 

The plan has been eight years in the making since the Delgadillo family purchased the building, which is located at 823 Marin St. in the St Vincent Hill historical district.

The building is a Beaux-Arts structure with a brick facade, 20-foot ceilings and granite floors, and made the U.S. government’s list of Vacant and Underutilized Real Properties in 2003. It was sold to the Vallejo Music Theatre, which staged plays there until it lost the building to foreclosure in 2011, and has remained vacant as modern code requirements applied to older buildings can be difficult to meet and prohibitively expensive. 

The building is adjacent to residential neighborhoods with limited parking, which has been a source of contention for years.But after hours of debate Thursday, the commissions approved the plan - with some conditions. 

The Architectural Heritage and Landmarks Commission voted 4-1, with Commissioner Ann Adams voting no, to accept transforming the historic site into an event center. The Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the project while requiring the owner to take steps to control sound and improve accessibility.

The approved plan includes revamping the building so that different organizations can hold events on its main floor, which includes approximately 7,168 square feet of floor area able to accommodate an occupancy of approximately 175 people. 

Applicant Elin Delgadillo must modify the building’s noise control to allow for music no louder than 98 decibels inside and 54 decibels outside, install sound absorbing material and obtain a sound meter to monitor events with music, the commission said. Once completed, the event center can operate only within the hours of 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sundays through Thursdays, and can only stay open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

The project will require site improvements such as the installation of two Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant entry doors at the main entrance, drought-tolerant landscaping throughout the site and a new trash enclosure. The project also includes a request to reduce the required number of off-street parking spaces from 90 to the existing 21 equivalent spaces.

Delgadillo told Vallejo Sun last fall that his family has been hoping for years to make the center open to many more uses, but the neighborhood has not responded well. He acquired it from his parents Luis and Leticia Delgadillo in 2018 as part of their wedding celebration business. In 2019, neighbors complained about noise during several private family events held at the site.

He said that the plan for the site in 2020 previously included a proposed shuttle service to nearby parking lots as a solution to parking limitations, but the planning department wouldn’t budge. In the meantime, the family has been dealing with multiple break-ins at the vacant site. 

Delgadillo told the commission Tuesday that he thinks this plan will finally set in motion the building’s use benefiting the whole community. “I am really excited to see one less vacant building in Vallejo,” he said. 

Architectural Heritage and Landmarks Commissioner Angela McDonald said she was very concerned about sound being generated by events at the site. She asked city staff why the report about noise did not find that such an increase could be considered a “nuisance,” and added that she thinks a detailed noise study needs to be made before the development is approved. 

“I think the sound engineer’s report actually demonstrated there would be a 64% increase in noise audible to persons on the sidewalk,” McDonald said.

City staff pointed to the plan to replace doors on the building’s side facing Marin Street with double doors, as a solution for preventing noise from being audible on the sidewalk outside the center. 

However, Planning Commission vice chair Donald Douglass said that a mechanism is needed to manage the sound beyond the architecture of the building, and said he wanted to hear concrete suggestions from Delgadillo. 

“65 decibels is serious noise. It is going to drive the people who have to get up at 4 a.m. crazy,” Douglass said. 

Delgadillo said that there are different strategies he is open to using, such as utilizing sound modification material within the limitations of city code. He said that the center wants to be flexible for different kinds of events, but his team needs to meet with a sound engineer. 

Delgadillo added that he is concerned about one condition of approval from Public Works which requires that he will install streetlights and ADA curbside improvements at the site. He said that those improvements should be happening anyway under the city’s management, regardless of what happens at the site. In response, planning manager Cesar Orozco said that staff already reviewed the project and did not agree with his assessment.

Seven people in public comment brought similar concerns about noise and parking. Barbara LeBlanc said that an event last summer at night was loud, and worried she would be able to hear events from her bedroom and bathroom. Jennifer Bennett worried about garbage pickup, and said that as a dog owner she is concerned about accumulating trash and food in the area.

Marie Watts, who said she has been a Capital Street resident for years, mentioned the 2019 private events such as a quinceañera which she said caused complaints about traffic, people parking in alleys and groups of children gathering in the neighborhood streets.

“This is not the right location for these kinds of events to be held,” Watts said. “We already have other locations where these events are held. That particular block has three churches that are active on Sunday within one block circle, so parking is already bad on Sundays and parking is bad on Saturdays due to the farmer’s market. And now with the Main Street program hopefully getting better, there will be more events downtown.”