$47 Settlement Reach with Peninsula Restaurant Owners Accused of Health Code Violations

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By Bay City News Service

The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday reached a settlement with a Peninsula food service business accused of illegally disposing of sewage into a storm drain and violating other health codes.

The district attorney’s office obtained a stipulated judgment ordering the payment of $47,000 in penalties and reimbursement by Rolling Pin Donuts LLC and Steven Le, who owns Pilgrim Kitchen Bakery and Classic 101 Burgers and Shakes in Belmont and Rolling Pin Donuts in San Bruno.

The settlement also includes an injunction preventing the restaurants from illegally disposing sewage or any other substances that could endanger fish and wildlife, prosecutors said.

Rolling Pin Donuts and Le received a civil complaint from the district attorney’s office alleging that Pilgrim Kitchen Bakery illegally disposed feces and other sewage into a storm drain that feeds into the Bay from March 1 to May 21, 2014.

According to Deputy District Attorney Megan Wilkins, nearby residents complained to Belmont’s Public Works Department in May 2014 of an odor coming from behind the Pilgrim Kitchen Bakery.

Public works crews located a black pipe linking the restaurant’s sewage to the storm drain, Wilkins said. The Public Works Department contacted Belmont police, who submitted a report to the district attorney’s office in July 2014.

According to Le’s attorney Sanaz Nikaein, the linkage of the sewage pipe to the storm drain was a result of a language barrier between Le and a contractor fixing the pipe.

“It was an unfortunate situation where a language barrier played a huge role in this case,” Nikaein said. “It was one of the reasons Mr. Le wanted to take responsibility and resolve the case quickly.”

The district attorney’s office has so far been unable to locate the contractor, whom the defendant only referred to as “a man named Luis,” Wilkins said.

Other aspects of the complaint allege all three restaurants of failing to keep the restaurants free of vermin, failing to ensure employees washed their hands, and failing to keep the facilities clean and in good
repair, according to the district attorney’s office.

Investigations by the San Mateo County Health System’s Environmental Health Division determined that all three food establishments were responsible for these violations.

“Anything pointed out to him he resolved immediately and was proactive in getting things up to code,” Nikaein said.

According to Wilkins, the county Environmental Health Division has been in contact with the district attorney’s office and confirmed that all three restaurants seem to now be in compliance with the health codes.

“We’re hoping to signify to other restaurants in the area that we take these cases very seriously,” Wilkins said.