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East Greenwich council renews restaurant licenses and gives Kybar a temporary renewal while zoning, valet-parking issues are resolved
Summary
The council approved routine alcohol-license renewals and granted Kybar a temporary alcoholic-beverage license through a March public hearing while the applicant pursues zoning relief or provides valet and designated-parking agreements; town staff and council emphasized the longstanding valet condition, parking-study work and legal limits on council authority over zoning.
Councilors on Nov. 12 approved routine alcoholic-beverage license renewals and placed conditions on several pending applications, including a temporary renewal for Kybar while zoning and parking conditions are resolved.
Town planner and zoning official John Studley outlined a multi-year zoning history for the Kybar location and said the establishment’s current 57-seat capacity has in prior approvals been contingent on a valet-parking requirement. Studley told the council the valet-relief originally approved temporarily in 2017 was not renewed as required and therefore the applicant must either obtain zoning-board relief or supply a valet agreement with designated parking spaces. “They do need the valet service, moving forward until they can get another reconsideration from the applicant,” Studley said, recommending a temporary license until the council’s March public hearing to allow the zoning application to proceed.
Councillors probed legal limits on the town council’s authority to alter zoning conditions and discussed what proof of valet arrangements the clerk should require if a zoning variance is not granted. Several council members and staff noted the town’s ongoing downtown parking study and said the study’s upcoming recommendations could affect future valet and parking requirements. The clerk said similar applicants usually present lease or contract evidence showing leased parking spaces and that licenses are routinely granted on a “granted but not issued” basis until the clerk verifies full compliance.
The council voted to renew the license for Kybar on a temporary basis until the March public hearing; the motion carried as recorded in the meeting. For Sport & Leisure, the applicant revised requested capacity downward from 73 to 71 seats and presented a lease with St. Luke’s Church for up to 40 parking spaces; staff said they consider a Friday/Saturday valet requirement (and Sunday nights before a holiday) as a reasonable condition to reduce neighborhood impacts.
Other renewals (multiple restaurants and bars) were approved either outright or as granted-but-not-issued pending the clerk’s verification of documents. The council also directed staff to expect more detailed valet contracts and lease documentation from licensees when valet parking is used as a substitute for on-site spaces.
The council’s actions were procedural licensing votes; they do not change zoning law. If Kybar does not obtain the zoning relief it is seeking at the zoning board, the council-recorded outcome indicates the business will need to present valet agreements and designated parking to remain in compliance with the town’s current interpretations of earlier zoning decisions.
What’s next: Kybar’s renewal remains temporary until the public hearing in March, when the council will revisit the application with any zoning-board decisions or valet agreements on file.
