Agenda Report
Fullerton City Council
MEETING DATE: OCTOBER 4, 2022
TO: CITY COUNCIL / SUCCESSOR AGENCY
SUBMITTED BY: meg mcwade, public works director
PREPARED BY: STEPHEN BISE, CITY ENGINEER
SUBJECT: STANDARD OUTDOOR DINING APPLICATION - LAGOS MEXICAN CUISINE
SUMMARY
Lagos Mexican Cuisine (Lagos) restaurant, located at 139 West Santa Fe Avenue, applied for outdoor dining on August 5, 2022. The application requests use of City paid parking in the Restaurant Overlay District which requires City Council approval per the Standard Outdoor Dining Guidelines.
RECOMMENDATION
Deny application due to conflicting objectives with the Restaurant Overlay District parking provisions and Long-Range Property Management Plan.
CITY MANAGER REMARKS
The City Manager concurs with the recommendation to deny the application. As the recommendation states, the City strives to obtain two important objectives. The loss of parking spaces in this case would have too great an impact on the ROD and could impact other restaurants and businesses.
PRIORITY POLICY STATEMENT
This item matches the following Priority Policy Statements:
Fiscal and Organizational Stability
Infrastructure and City Assets.
FISCAL IMPACT
The applicant proposed to occupy 2,025 square feet of public right-of-way for private outdoor dining use, providing full liquor service. The applicant would pay $1.71 per square-foot per the Standard Outdoor Dining Guidelines, generating $3,462.75 per month in lease revenue. In addition, the applicant shall be responsible for any parking revenue loss incurred by the City.
The paid parking program currently requires a $5 flat rate per space on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 9:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m., making the applicant responsible for an additional $60 per month for each parking stall utilized for outdoor dining. The Lagos application indicates it would utilize 15 parking spaces, which equals $900 per month.
Total monthly revenue = $4,362.75
Total annual revenue = $52,353.00
DISCUSSION
Lagos restaurant proposed to occupy 2,025 square feet of public right-of-way for private outdoor dining use, providing full liquor service. Attachment 1 provides a rendering of the proposed improvements. The rendering shows an attractive outdoor dining space. However, staff reviewed the application in relation to the Restaurant Overlay District and Long-Range Property Management Plan.
Restaurant Overlay District (2002)
Lagos is in the Restaurant Overlay District, which has specific provisions for parking within the Fullerton Municipal Code.
The City established the Restaurant Overlay District (ROD) as a tool to utilize when implementing its redevelopment goals, objectives and programs under the provisions of the Community Redevelopment Law, California Health and Safety Code Section 33000 et seq. The ROD allows restaurants to expand and/or locate in and around the Central Business District without the need to provide on-site parking or to obtain a Conditional Use Permit as part of the City's broader effort to revitalize the downtown. The ROD affects only those properties depicted in Section 15.67.020, in and around the Central Business District, and determined City Council as within a reasonable distance of the City's existing ample public parking supply.
The ROD promotes local businesses by providing parking for the collective. The use of public parking for an individual business may have negative impacts to other businesses in the ROD. In addition, the provisions of the ROD specifically do not apply to restaurants with more than 200 seats. Lagos’ proposed outdoor seating would add approximately 128 seats, resulting in over 300 seats for business. The increase in seating would require Lagos to provide on-site parking as well as possibly modify its facilities for building requirements, which may be infeasible.
Long-Range Property Management Plan (2015)
The Long-Range Property Management Plan identifies the parking lot proposed for outdoor dining as Asset #9 (see Attachment 2). The Agency stated the goals for the lot to “Maintain public parking and continue to work toward increasing parking to address current and future parking needs in the Downtown and Fullerton Transportation Center areas. In addition, continue to be in compliance with the ROD.” The City constructed the SOCO Parking structure prior to 2015.
The application to utilize parking spaces for private use will reduce available parking for the ROD, which contradicts the objectives in the Long-Range Property Management Plan.
Next Steps
Per the Standard Outdoor Dining Guidelines, the request to utilize public parking for private use within the ROD requires City Council approval. The Public Works Department, in conjunction with the Community and Economic Development Department, recommends denying the request to use public parking spaces for reasons previously stated in this report. If City Council denies the application, staff will notify the applicant and take no further action If City Council approves use of the parking lot spaces by Lagos for outdoor dining, staff will process the application and distribute plans to various departments and divisions for review.
Attachments:
Attachment 1 – Lagos proposed outdoor dining plan and rendering Attachment 2 – Excerpt from Long-Range Property Management Plan cc City Manager Eric J. Levitt
Lagos Mexican Cuisine – Standard Outdoor Dining Application October 4, 2022 - Page 3