Hanford residents are speaking out in opposition to a proposed coffee shop with concerns that it would attract the wrong clientele.
Residents addressed the Hanford City Council Tuesday evening about Bottoms Up Espresso, which is looking to open up a location in the northern part of the city.
The big picture: Bottoms Up Espresso has applied for a license to open up a drive-thru kiosk at 2431 N. 10th Ave. in the Northwood Plaza strip mall.
- Bottoms Up all female staff typically wear skimpy attire, and the company advertises “sexy baristas” on its website.
- Although the license application was not up for review by the city council on Tuesday, many people attended the meeting to urge the council to not allow Bottoms Up to come to town.
- Ahead of the public comment portion of the meeting, Hanford City Attorney Ty Mizote said the city has notified the shopping center’s landlord that if Bottoms Up should violate the city’s municipal code for adult businesses, the city is prepared to seek a court order to close it down.
What they’re saying: Lynn Barlow, the owner of preschool Sunshine Friends Learning Center, voiced her concerns given that her school is located just 60 feet from where the kiosk would be.
- “Bottoms Up does not just sell coffee,” Barlow said. “Sexual influence along with the need for companionship will attract a certain number of customers that are troubled and dangerous to children.”
- Barlow added that her license with the state could be at risk of Bottoms Up moves into the proposed location.
- One woman who owns a business in the shopping center, said she will be forced to move or close her business.
- “As a business owner and a local and a mother, this feels like a slap in the face allowing something as inappropriate in this area with no regard to the businesses that have been serving the community for years, trying our best to keep it as a safe place for families and children to enjoy,” she said.
- She added, “Put simply, keep this garbage away from us, our children and our community.”
- Hanford resident Christina Vargas, who lives near the proposed location said, “My family and I do not want a pervert magnet in our city, much less in our neighborhood. We consider Bottoms Up cafe exactly that – a perv magnet. It’s a danger to our neighborhood and damaging to the citizens, to the families of Hanford.”
- Vargas also claimed that the majority of the customers would be sexual criminals.
