Proposed Banquet Hall Poses Parking, Residential Concerns

The Planning Commission extended the public hearing on a proposed 8,300-sq-ft banquet facility on Route 66 Tuesday evening to address parking issues of the project.

Situated at the site of a 93-year-old former mortuary at 363 W. Route 66, the proposed project is surrounded by a medical facility, three mobile homes parks and a commercial and retail complex.

The existing building will be demolished to make room for the one-story Spanish Colonial-style banquet hall, which would accommodate music, dancing and full alcohol.

“We saw the community was lacking this kind of facility,” said property owner Dr. Rafik Girgis. “It would be a great addition to Route 66 and it would attract people from the surrounding areas.”

But parking has been a key challenge since the project was proposed three years ago. The non-conforming site currently does not have enough parking spaces to accommodate the estimated maximum of 350 people the facility can hold.

According to Planning Director Jeff Kugel, the property owners also own the neighboring medical building and have decided to utilize parking at the adjacent lot through a parking easement – or mutual agreement.

Architectural plans include 100 parking spaces with the added parking easement, seven more than the required 93 spaces.

But neighboring residents voiced concerns over the noise emanating from parties that can go late into the night.

“I just think we’re going to get more traffic and noise that we don’t need,” said Patrick Holland, a resident who lives across the street from the proposed project. “They say you won’t hear the noise, but you’ll hear it regardless.”

Property owners say the banquet hall will be open as late as 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, with alcohol service and music ending as late as 12:30 a.m.

According to the project staff report, a noise study conducted by consultants indicated that noise level would be minimal to surrounding neighbors.

Planning commissioners expressed concerns over the height of the wall separating the back parking lot and the residential mobile homes, asking if the wall could be raised from six feet to eight feet.

Additional questions and concerns were given to property owners to address at the Planning Commission meeting on April 5 at 7 p.m. in the City Hall Chambers, 116 E. Foothill Blvd.

Property owners and developers said that they have worked with the city and will continue to look for solutions to project issues. But after three years in the pipeline, developers are eager to move the project forward.

“We have worked very hard for this project to come to realization,” said project designer Jean-Pierre Boladian. “We have over-exceeded the conditions. We’ve been trying to get this project going at full speed and now we’re ready to fly.”

But Chris Kearney, owner of property on Parker Drive, said the combination of music and alcohol would create a disruptive environment he does not deal with anytime soon.

“It’s just a bad place to put this kind of project,” said Kearney.

Read the current full staff report here.