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Committee gives conditional, 2–1 approval to ordinance easing Sunset Harbor second‑floor restaurant rules for developer project
Summary
The committee recommended forwarding a draft amendment to relax Sunset Harbor rules for a specific southeast‑corner site, allowing expanded second‑floor outdoor seating and later closing times; the recommendation passed the committee by a 2–1 margin and will go to the full commission for referral to the planning board.
The Land Use & Sustainability Committee voted to forward a proposed code change affecting a single southeast‑corner parcel in the Sunset Harbor overlay that would relax limits on second‑floor outdoor seats and closing hours to support a mixed-use development proposed by local developer Ronnie Finvar.
Attorney Mickey Murrow, representing the developer, described a project that includes ground-floor market-style retail, a second-floor restaurant intended for dinner service, and three stories of residential units above. The developer said planning and design approvals are in process and that the requested change is limited to relaxing two Sunset Harbor LDR provisions that currently cap second-floor outdoor seating and require an 8 p.m. closing time for elevated dining. The developer requested more than 40 outdoor second-floor seats and later closing to support a dinner service; the application does not propose live entertainment.
Sunset Harbor residents spoke at the meeting and in several calls, expressing concern about amplified outdoor speakers and late-night noise. The Sunset Harbor Neighborhood Association president said association leadership had negotiated with developer representatives and proposed a compromise (a larger seat count with a midnight closing and no outdoor amplified speakers), but several residents urged strict limits and noted prior problems with outdoor speakers at nearby businesses.
Committee members discussed the site's orientation (the second-floor outdoor seating faces south toward the Palomar) and the fact that the immediate adjacent properties to the west and north are not residential and that Alton Road is a high-traffic corridor. One committee member said he trusts the developer’s track record and supported the project; another raised concerns about speakers and asked staff to address how the ordinance would control noise transmission from elevated outdoor seating. Planning staff noted that the proposed ordinance would apply only to this limited area in Sunset Harbor and could apply to a future unified development if adjacent parcels were assembled.
The committee voted 2–1 to forward the item to the full commission with a favorable recommendation to amend Section 142‑310 of the LDRs for the identified site; the item will now go to commission for referral to the planning board and further review by design bodies. Committee members asked staff to be explicit that amplified outdoor speakers would not be permitted as part of the amendment.
