31B - CUP 207 E SECOND ST - Laserfiche WebLink

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CUP Nos. 2013 -29, 2013 -30 & 2013 -31 October 28, 2013 Page 2 The site is surrounded by a parking lot to the north, a vacant tot owned by Southern California Edison to the east, the Second Street Promenade and historic Grand Central Art Building studios to the south, and various commercial and residential land uses in the historic Santora Building to the west (Exhibits 1, 2 and 3). Project Descriptlon The Robbins Nest restaurant is requesting approval of a Type 41 Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) license to allow the on- premise consumption of beer and wine, 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 3,080 square feet of interior floor space with seating for approximately 72 patrons within its dining room. The on- premise sale of alcoholic beverages and banquet operation are intended to provide a service ancillary to the primary restaurant use. The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday and closed Mondays. The storage area for alcoholic beverages is approximately 76 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 6). Project Backaround The South Counties Gas Building has been vacant many years and was in an advanced state of disrepair. Its previous tenant was the Handlebar Saloon. The building was originally acquired by the City's Redevelopment Agency in about 1994 as part of the Artists Village project. The South Counties Gas Building was purchased by Corbiz LLC in 2011, and was completely rehabilitated including repair and upgrade of structural members, window and door repair and replacement, repointing the exterior bricks, the installation of an elevator, and upgrading bathroom facilities. The building was separated into two distinct spaces. The Robbins Nest proposes to utilize the smaller of the two spaces on the north side of the building with entry from the alley. The Robbins Nest proposes to be a wine bar /bistro with a small selection of beer. Food will be prepared in "tapas" or small -plate style. 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. The parcel is located within the Transit Zoning Code (SD -84) zoning district in the Downtown (DT) sub -zone. The SD -84 zoning district allows for service and retail uses such as a restaurant. Further, the zoning allows for the sale of alcoholic beverages, after -hours operations and banquet 31 B -4