Zoning board approves Rainbow Angel restaurant at 250 Highland Ave with conditions on parking, staff parking and deliveries

The Needham Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved a special permit allowing a restaurant, Rainbow Angel Inc., to open at 250 Highland Avenue with seating reduced from the prior use and a series of conditions intended to address neighbor concerns about parking, deliveries and refuse access.

The board heard a traffic and parking analysis from Robert (Bob) Michaud, principal of MDM Transportation Consultants, who presented hourly parking observations at nearby comparable locations and on-site counts. Michaud said the proposed restaurant would reduce seating from the prior business’s 60-person capacity to a 20-seat, high-turnover operation focused on takeout and pickup. He told the board that empirical surveys of nearby comparable restaurants and the operator’s larger Newton location showed peak demand that could be met with six reconfigured on-site spaces plus off-site employee…