31A - CUP - 301 N SPURGEON ST - Laserfiche WebLink

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CUP Nos. 2013-36, 2013-37 & 2013-38 September 23, 2013 Page 2 Project Location and Site Description The applicant proposes to operate El Mercado restaurant within the first floor of the historic Ritz Hotel in an existing 3,151 square foot tenant space that is located on North Spurgeon Street in the East End Marketplace adjacent to the Yost Theater. The business will occupy the corner unit on Spurgeon and Third Streets that is currently vacant, as well as a new outdoor patio area. The site is surrounded by a commercial property to the north, a private parking lot and commercial land uses to the south, a City-owned parking lot to the west, and commercial land uses to the east (Exhibits 1, 2 and 3). Project Description El Mercado restaurant is requesting approval of a Type 47 Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) license to allow the on-premise consumption of beer, wine, and distilled spirits to allow the restaurant to remain open past midnight, and to hold banquet events. The restaurant will be a full-service, sit-down eating establishment that consists of 1,848 square feet of interior seating area for approximately 93 patrons within its dining room and approximately eight seats outside in a 400 square foot outdoor patio. The on-premise sale of alcoholic beverages and banquet operation are intended to provide a service ancillary to the primary restaurant use. The proposed hours of operation for the restaurant are from 7:00 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. daily. The storage area for alcoholic beverages will be located near the rear of the restaurant as well as displayed in the bar seating area. The overall storage area for alcoholic beverages is approximately 100 square feet in size, which is less than five percent of the interior gross floor area of the restaurant and is consistent with the SAMC requirement of maintaining five percent or less of the gross floor area of the restaurant for alcohol storage and display (Exhibits 4 and 5). Project Backaround Amaryllis Lopez will serve as Dining Director, as she currently has at the two full service restaurants in the City of Orange called Anepalco's and Anepalco's Cafe. Daniel Godinez is a classically trained chef who is currently the chef at Anepalco's, and he will be moving to the El Mercado restaurant. El Mercado will specialize in Mexican food and fresh, innovative dishes. General Plan and Zoning Consistency The General Plan land use designation for the site is District Center (DC). District Center land use districts provide highly visible and accessible commercial development along the City's arterial transportation corridors and provide important neighborhood facilities and services. The project site is consistent with this General Plan land use designation. 31A-4