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Planning board delays decision on detached 'restaurant waiting lounge,' cites enforceability and equity concerns
Summary
Board discussion of a proposed 'restaurant waiting lounge' — a detached, enclosed accessory space for patrons waiting for tables — produced disagreement over enforceability, parking, signage and whether the lounge would effectively create standalone bars. Staff will refine the language and return to the Board of Commissioners.
The Nags Head Planning Board on April 21 extensively debated a draft text amendment that would permit a detached "restaurant waiting lounge" accessory to a principal sit-down restaurant but approved no final recommendation on that item.
Public commenter Bob Mueller argued the waiting lounge — as currently written — would meet the town’s bar definition and be unenforceable in practice. "The waiting lounge is a bar by your own definition," he said during public comment, pressing the board to tighten definitions and enforcement language.
Staff presentation and proposal: Planning staff described the waiting lounge as an indoor, detached structure accessory to a principal restaurant that would be permitted only by special‑use permit and subject to a unified development plan tying the two parcels to common ownership or operational control. Proposed controls in the staff draft included limits on size (the lounge…
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