Commission defers entertainment-permit decision for iCrave restaurant at Hodges Ferry Road after neighbor objections

The Portsmouth Planning Commission on May 6 deferred consideration of a use permit request for live entertainment at iCrave restaurant, 1805 Hodges Ferry Road, to the June 3 meeting after extensive public comment about parking, noise, safety and unclear application materials.

Patrice Branch, planner, summarized the application as a request to add live entertainment as part of an existing restaurant in the General Mixed Use (GMU) zoning district. The applicant proposes live entertainment on select evenings; the restaurant’s current operating hours were presented as 11 a.m.–8 p.m., and the applicant proposed entertainment hours that would extend evenings on Thursdays through Saturdays. Branch said staff recommended conditions addressing hours, capacity limits, compliance with the noise ordinance, parking restrictions, submission of a security plan prior to operation and procedures for reporting violations.

Applicants Charles Hogans and Anthony Cooper, identified as the owners/operators of iCrave, asked for an extension and said parts of their narrative were written from template language that overstated nightclub-style operations. “We are not trying to have no 1, 02:00 wild party or any type of nightclub or anything along those lines,” Hogans told the commission, and he said the intent is a family‑oriented restaurant with occasional limited live entertainment.

Neighbors and nearby residents spoke at length. Fred Porter, who said he had reviewed the site, disputed staff’s parking numbers and raised ADA- and fire-lane concerns: he said the site has 27 usable spaces rather than the 32 stated in the staff report and that the property lacks required handicapped spaces and clearly marked fire lanes. Multiple residents reported past late‑night activity at a neighboring use, expressed concern about parking spilling into narrow side streets (Nottingham Road, Arnold Palmer Drive and surrounding blocks), and asked for stronger clarity and enforceable measures before changing permitted uses.

Director Russell and planning staff agreed to continue public comment and encouraged the applicants to meet with the HOA and neighbors to clarify the narrative and security/noise controls. The commission voted to defer the item to the June 3 meeting by a 5-1 vote to allow the applicant to revise the application and to give staff time to review updated materials and incorporate neighbor input.

The public hearing will remain open for the deferred item; staff will document parking counts, ADA compliance and fire-lane requirements and will work to reconcile the differing technical claims before the June agenda.