Hampton council approves downtown restaurant expansion, grants easements for I‑64 project and appropriates funds for Boys & Girls Club

The Hampton City Council on its March meeting approved a downtown use permit to allow Karma Restaurant and Lounge to expand into an adjacent suite and operate extended hours, authorized transfers and a temporary construction easement for the I‑64 Hampton Roads Express Lanes Segment 4C project, and adopted consent appropriations including a $500,000 city match for the Boys & Girls Club capital campaign.

The use permit (application 24‑0489) was approved with 13 conditions and an amended hours schedule giving Karma general operating hours that include Sunday through Saturday 5 a.m. to 2 a.m., contingent on an accepted security plan. Donna Whipple, the city’s chief planner, told council the applicant had worked with Hampton Police Division to strengthen security measures and was installing additional cameras this week. The council vote was 6‑1, with Councilwoman Mugler dissenting. Vice Mayor Brown said he would vote aye “but I’m very apprehensive” about setting a precedent for later hours in downtown.

The approval follows an application to expand the restaurant from 87 Lincoln Street into an adjacent banquet-hall space at 85 Lincoln Street in the downtown DT‑1 district. Whipple told the council staff’s original recommendation offered more…