A San Mateo County zoning hearing officer on Nov. 5 approved a use permit and an off-street parking exception to allow a proposed restaurant and wine bar, Ambassador Wine Bar LLC, to operate in an existing commercial space at 8865 Lahonda Road (File PLN2024-00112).

Olivia Vu, the project planner, told the hearing the tenant space is about 5,458 square feet with an approximately 1,900-square-foot outdoor patio and that the proposal includes 98 seats — 44 indoor and 54 outdoor. Vu said the site currently has 25 on-site parking spaces while the zoning calculation requires 32 spaces for the proposed seating, which prompted the requested off-street parking exception.

Vu also made three corrections to the staff report on the record: the prior use of the space was a restaurant (not a market), the adjacent service organization is Puente (a community-serving organization), and the permit term in the recommended conditions is five years (not one year). She said the project complies with the general plan and the limited highway frontage H1S10 zoning district, and that staff concluded the project is exempt from CEQA under Section 15301, Class 1 (existing facilities/minor alterations).

During questions from the hearing officer, staff and an applicant/owner speaker described how parking is allocated among nearby uses (Puente, the post office and a grocery building) and said shared-use arrangements and temporary event signage have been used in the past to manage demand. An applicant/owner present said, "This is the only restaurant for 7 miles," and emphasized the local demand and the investment needed to reopen the business.

The hearing officer asked whether the applicant had read and agreed to the conditions of approval, including the corrected five-year permit term; the applicant confirmed agreement. The hearing officer then stated, "I approve the use permit and off-street parking exception to allow the operation and tenant improvements for a restaurant slash wine bar within an existing space and allow 25 parking spaces where 32 parking spaces are required by adopting the conditions of approval in Attachment A." The decision was made at the hearing and no roll-call vote was recorded.

The hearing officer noted that appeals must be filed by Dec. 8 and that the fee for filing an appeal is $1,962. The hearing was then adjourned.

What the decision means: the applicant may proceed with tenant improvements and operating the proposed restaurant/wine bar under the adopted conditions, subject to the county's renewal process after the five-year permit term and any appeal that might be filed by Dec. 8.

Key case facts: file PLN2024-00112; location 8865 Lahonda Road, APN 083-014-150; owner listed as Lawende Center LLC; applicant listed as Ambassador Wine Bar LLC (Barbara Beltran); seating proposed 98 (44 indoor, 54 outdoor); on-site parking 25 versus 32 required; environmental exemption claimed: CEQA Section 15301, Class 1; permit term: five years; appeal deadline: Dec. 8; appeal fee: $1,962.