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Arlington planning panel approves banquet-hall SUP at 1645 New York Avenue with conditions
Summary
The Planning & Zoning Commission approved a specific-use permit allowing a 17,000-square-foot banquet hall at 1645 New York Avenue with required site improvements, a ban on nightclub use and security requirements; the vote was 7-0.
The Arlington Planning and Zoning Commission voted 7-0 on June 18 to approve a specific-use permit for a banquet hall at 1645 New York Avenue, adding conditions intended to limit late-night uses and address site improvements.
Planner Alex Van Amberg told commissioners the proposal would convert a 17,000-square-foot suite in an existing shopping center into a banquet hall, noting the site is adjacent to single-family homes to the east and townhomes to the south and that staff recommended parking resurfacing/restriping and repainting the suite facade. "Banquet halls are permitted in community commercial with the issuance of a specific use permit," Van Amberg said during his presentation.
Applicant Armando Aguilar, who said his business "Aguilar Events" primarily hosts Saturday quinceañeras, described operations as evening events with an eight-hour window and said security is always on site. "We always have on-site securities for my protection… and the customer's protection," Aguilar said, describing setup, cleanup and an approximate event timetable of 5 p.m. to midnight.
Commissioner Blake successfully proposed conditions that the permit be limited to social events (not nightclub or rave use), require resurfacing or restriping of the parking area as needed, require painting the building facade, and mandate on-site security for events above a specified occupancy threshold. "We should probably put in there in the conditions that the banquet hall must not be used as a nightclub," Blake said during the hearing. Blake also asked that the SUP be specific to the applicant; the motion as amended included that limitation.
Commissioner Sumter moved approval with Blake's additions; commissioners cast votes and the chair announced the motion passed 7-0. The permit approval includes the staff-recommended landscape and parking considerations and a notation that the SUP is nontransferable and tied to the applicant. The applicant expressed appreciation and confirmed he would comply with the conditions.
The commission moved on to other zoning matters after the vote. The permit's implementation requires the applicant to satisfy the site-improvement conditions listed in staff recommendations.
