Bail Bond Company Seeks Use Permit

The Martinez Zoning Administrator will hear a request Wednesday afternoon from a bail bond company to open a business on Ferry Street. If approved, it would be the street’s first bail bond operation.

In order to stop what was feared would be a flood of bail-bond operations in Martinez, the City Council passed an ordinance a few years ago requiring bail-bond companies to acquire use permits. Each applicant must go through a zoning administration hearing before being issued the permit.

The applicant is requesting a use permit for 729 Ferry St., a storefront near the corner of Ferry and Ward streets. According to senior planner Cory Simon, if it is approved, the bail-bond company would be the first to operate on Ferry Street. A permit was issued in October to a bail-bond company on Main Street, Simon said. 

The Zoning Administrator meets at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the board room at City Hall, second floor, 525 Henrietta St.