Planning board approves conditional use for 301‑seat restaurant and 50‑seat café at 1560 N. Orange Ave with parking, hours and noise conditions

The Planning & Zoning Board voted July 7 to recommend approval, subject to conditions, of a conditional‑use permit that would repurpose the existing office building at 1560 North Orange Avenue into a 301‑seat restaurant and a 50‑seat café and rework parking and landscaping.

Staff outlined the proposal and recommended conditions including a community benefit agreement to keep the across‑street parking tied to the project, limits on the use of that lot (not for restaurant patrons after office hours), valet during peak periods, an acoustical analysis before the issuance of building permits, limits on outdoor seating hours, and screening for transformers. "Those reductions based on hours of when each use is most popular ... says that 315 spaces are required. And that's exactly what the project has," staff said, summarizing the parking analysis and the use of the Urban Land Institute shared‑parking approach.

Applicant representative Rebecca Wilson described the project as an adaptive reuse, emphasizing investment in landscaping, facade improvements, and park beautification. "This is the concept for the restaurant ... and I do have the list, Allison, of restaurants... so not an outlier," she said, noting comparable seat counts at existing area restaurants. Traffic and parking were the primary concerns voiced by residents during public comment. Multiple neighbors urged strict enforcement of parking restrictions and attention to cut‑through traffic on Norfolk, Leith and Westchester.

Applicant and consultants presented a traffic study showing small increases in local residential streets (for example, "an additional 7 AM peak trips and 12 PM peak trips to Westchester," a consultant said) and described options to close a Westchester access and reconfigure driveways to limit cut‑through traffic. The board debated enforcement and mitigation measures and ultimately directed staff to include additional conditions: (1) require that outdoor seating and service cease by 10:30 p.m.; (2) incorporate the community benefit agreement that preserves and requires maintenance of the mini‑park and ties the 57‑space lot to the project; (3) close the Westchester access shown on the plan and one of the Vivian access points as further mitigation; and (4) ask staff to evaluate potential traffic‑calming measures on surrounding residential streets for the commission to consider.

During the motion that carried the recommendation, one board member recused earlier in the discussion for a conflict of interest; the motion passed by roll call. The conditions require an acoustical analysis prior to permitting and permit the city to require additional mitigation if noise impacts are demonstrated after opening.