Board sends 908 Avenue D alcohol waiver back for further review after parking and ADA concerns

A convenience-store owner seeking a waiver-of-distance to sell beer and wine at 908 Avenue D was directed back to planning staff to resolve parking, ADA and buffering issues after staff said the application is not complete.

Staff told the board the proposed Ninth Street Food Market does not control the adjacent corner lot that is currently used informally for parking, lacks a formal off-street-parking plan, has no landscape or lighting on that lot, and sits within 500 feet of churches and day-care facilities — factors staff said do not meet the code’s minimum standards for a waiver of distance for alcoholic-beverage sales. Staff recommended the planning board move the application to the city commission for disapproval unless the applicant returns with required evidence of legal access, proper parking and buffering.

Applicant Yasir Mammad said he has been working with staff and that the building is older; he said the corner lot had been used for parking in the past but that the owner objected when a formalized parking arrangement was attempted. "I could do the handicap parking in the back," he said, but staff and board members pointed out the applicant currently has no legal access to the rear and therefore cannot demonstrate compliance with federal ADA requirements or city off-street-parking standards.

Given the outstanding deficiencies, the board voted to send the application back to the planning department for further review and asked the applicant to return with a completed application (parking/cross-access agreement or ownership, ADA compliance, landscaping and stormwater as applicable).

Next steps: applicant will work with planning staff to secure legal parking access or a cross-access agreement and address ADA/landscape requirements; the item will return to the board once documentation is provided.