Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Parking topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning board backs land‑use change and trims parking requirement for Whittier Whisker cat café
Summary
The Planning & Zoning Board recommended a small‑scale land‑use amendment from residential low to commercial low intensity for 7 Old Mission Avenue and granted a two‑space parking variance (reducing required spaces from 9 to 7) for the proposed Whittier Whisker cat café, citing code ambiguity and nearby public parking.
The Planning & Zoning Board on Monday voted to recommend that the City Commission amend the Future Land Use Map for 7 Old Mission Avenue from residential‑low density to commercial‑low intensity, and separately granted a minor variance to reduce required off‑street parking from nine spaces to seven for a proposed Whittier Whisker cat café.
Attorney James Whitehouse, representing the applicant, told the board the property is already zoned commercial‑low and that the land‑use designation in the city map is an apparent legacy or mapping error. Whitehouse also presented a reinterpreted site plan that, in his view, reduced the parking obligation under existing code from 14 to 9 spaces and showed the property would provide seven on‑site spaces; the applicant asked the board to grant a two‑space variance on that basis.
Several staff and members of the public described the business and its community role. Catherine Whisker, founder of Whittier Whisker, said the café partners with a local rescue and currently houses and fosters more than a dozen adoptable cats; she and multiple employees and volunteers said the new location would expand adoption capacity and community services. Public commenters also included a nearby resident who objected on the basis that the building abuts a still‑residential parcel and expressed concerns about parking impacts.
Board members and staff debated the interpretation of the parking code for mixed uses and noted that Old Mission Avenue functions as a commercial corridor with substantial on‑street/public parking nearby. After discussion, the board moved to recommend the land‑use amendment to the City Commission and to grant the two‑space parking variance, finding that the code’s current language produces an interpretation hardship in this mixed commercial corridor and that the reduction would not create an adverse public impact.
The board’s action sends a positive recommendation on the land‑use change to the City Commission; the variance was granted by order of the board and will be conditioned on the applicant’s adherence to the site plan and any city or state permits required for the use.
