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Conditional Use Permit No. 2013-35 <br />September 23, 2013 <br />Page 2 <br />The Westfield MainPlace mall at 2800 North Main Street contains over one million square feet of tenant <br />space and was constructed in 1987. Mall tenants share 4,987 parking spaces that are provided in <br />surface parking lots and garages. The site is surrounded by residential and retail uses to the east, <br />professional and administrative office uses to the south, the Santa Ana (Interstate 5) Freeway to the <br />west, and the Garden Grove (State Route 22) Freeway to the north (Exhibits 1, 2, and 3). <br />Project Description <br />Applebee's restaurant is requesting approval of a Type 47 Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) license to <br />allow the on-premise sale of beer, wine, and distilled spirits as part of the existing eating <br />establishment's operations. The restaurant will be a full-service, sit-down eating establishment that <br />holds approximately 220 seats within its 5,600-square foot dining room, with an additional 30 seats <br />in the 1,100-square foot outdoor patio. The on-premise sale of alcoholic beverages to customers is <br />intended to provide a service ancillary to the primary restaurant use. The proposed hours of <br />operation for the restaurant are seven days per week from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight. <br />The storage and display of alcoholic beverages will take place within rear employee-only areas and the <br />bar dining portion of the restaurant, respectively. The rear storage will occupy a separate room that will <br />function as a storage and office area, measuring 15 square feet, as well as locked storage cabinets <br />near the employee restroom, measuring nine square feet. The display area in the bar dining portion of <br />the restaurant will occupy 35 square feet. The overall storage and display of alcohol consists of 59 <br />square feet, which is less than one percent of the floor area and is less than five percent of the gross <br />floor area of the restaurant. This falls below the Santa Ana Municipal Code's requirements for <br />establishments serving alcoholic beverages (Exhibits 4 and 5). <br />Project Background <br />Applebee's restaurant will occupy an existing tenant space in Westfield MainPlace that once housed <br />another restaurant, El Torito, which opened in July 2007. Coinciding with the restaurant's opening, <br />Conditional Use Permit Nos. 2007-08 and 2007-09 were approved for the site, allowing a Type 47 ABC <br />license and after-hours operations. However, after four years of operation El Torito restaurant closed <br />in October 2011. Because the present vacancy has exceeded over one year, a new CUP is required <br />to permit the sale of alcohol at the site. The applicant is not requesting a new CUP for after-hours <br />operations at this time. <br />Applebee's is a national chain of restaurants that specializes in traditional American cuisine. This <br />business has been carrying out various tenant and exterior improvements at the present location <br />since October 2012. Among these, fagade improvements, awnings, signage, and a decorative <br />tower feature will bring the tenant space into conformance with the latest Applebee's corporate <br />design standards. <br />31 B-4