Lafayette panel approves private wine‑tasting room inside hobby‑train tunnel despite neighbor objections

The Lafayette Design Review Commission voted Oct. 14, 2025, to approve a permit to convert interior space within a private hobby‑train tunnel at 20 Spring Hill Lane into a private residential wine‑tasting room, finding the project exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act and adopting Design Review Resolution 2025‑11.

Staff planner Nicole told the commission the conversion is entirely inside an existing tunnel on the southern parcel of a two‑parcel property under common ownership, and that the applicant initially reported the converted area as 680 square feet before clarifying to staff that the actual interior area to be converted is 501 square feet. The proposed work includes a small bar, a powder room and a utility closet. Staff recommended approval subject to standard conditions and reiterated that the space is private and “cannot be open to the public nor operated for a non‑private enterprise.”

Why it matters: Neighbors said the broader project as built differs from prior…