P&Z Fears Ramifications from Eliminating Parking Requirement for Taco Restaurant with Liquor Permit

Greenwich’s P&Z commission on Tuesday reviewed an application from Taco Project Greenwich LLC at 91 Railroad Ave that would modify the town’s building line map.

P&Z Shares Concerns about Unintended Consequences from Proposed  Building Line Change for Taco Restaurant with Liquor Permit and No Parking Requirement

The change would relieve the owners of a row of properties – 99, 95, 91, 87-89 & 85 Railroad Avenue –  from Greenwich’s parking requirements by amending rear building lines.

The properties were built in 1898, before zoning regulations existed, and do not have customer parking.

The buildings that already have restaurant uses are grandfathered.

The building at 91 Railroad Ave, previously longtime home to a cigar store, has operated as a retail use.

The rear building line correlates to the parking requirement. In addition to 91 Railroad Ave the applicant seeks to amend Sec. 6-205.1 Schedule of Building Lines within the Town’s Building Zone Regs to include the four other parcels along the northern side of Railroad Avenue: 85 (Britt & Co Bagels), 87-89 (Plaza Restaurant), 95 & 99 Railroad Ave (formerly MacDuff’s and more recently, Ollie’s 99). These are the parcels between the large office building at 55 Railroad Avenue and the M&T Bank building at the corner of Greenwich Avenue.

The applicant’s attorney Tom Heagney said the Taco Project is a restaurant that has already entered into a long term lease.

In Connecticut, The Taco Project has a Stamford location located on High Ridge Road in the High Ridge Center. The counter-service chain serves tacos, burritos, and other Mexican fare in a casual setting. Their website lists locations in Yonkers, Tarrytown, Bronxville, Pleasantville, and New Rochelle, NY.

Heagney said part of the Taco Project’s business plan they serve alcohol, and that to get a liquor license for a restaurant, a minimum of 20 seats is required.

Without the rear building line change, that would require 9 parking spaces based on seating and staff parking requirements.

He said staff at P&Z had suggested an extension of the rear building line might be appropriate.

“I don’t see that there is any opportunity for any further development. Each of the parcels is owned by a separate owner. There is no common ownership of any of them.”

“I would submit to you that this also supports maintaining a vibrant commercial area at a mass transit hub. You’re not going to get a lot of people driving here. This is going to be a lot of foot traffic coming from office buildings during lunch and people who are going home and commuting by train.”

 

Restaurants have a higher parking requirement than retail, which the commission discussed with the applicant’s attorney Tom Heagney.

Mr. Heagney said there is heavy foot traffic on Railroad Ave across from the train station and typically customers would be pedestrians.

One parking space is required for every 3 seats in a restaurant, and one for every two seats at a bar (if there is one), plus parking for staff, which he said would otherwise mean that Taco Project would be required to provide 9 spaces.

There is pubic parking in the area, but the commission noted that the bottom of Greenwich Avenue is particularly popular, and customers struggle to find parking spaces.

The commission chair Margarita Alban said building lines had been changed on a few occasions in the past, but she would like more information on the rationale used by applicant and to see the decision letters.

“What I’m looking for is, if we are amending 6-205 as pertains to the Avenue I would like the underlying process to have consistency. Again, the goal of this commission is for its decisions to be predictable and grounded in some sort of solid zoning consideration,” she said.

Also, she said the commission would like P&Z staff to compare scenarios to determine the maximum build-out that would be permitted under the rear building line scenario and without it should the row of buildings be demolished in the future.

“You now potentially get one ground floor of quite the size – of a much different size,” Alban said. “I’m curious to see exactly what you would get, in a bit more depth.”

“I would like the argument to be consistent with past decisions – not just, ‘Oh, we need to have 20 seats so that’s the only way to have a liquor license.’  But what works for the town’s plan of development and how are we being consistent.”

Alban said there is concern about potential negative impacts to surrounding businesses.

“We are hearing constantly from people who don’t want to go to the Avenue because they can’t find parking in the evening, particularly at the bottom of the Avenue.”

She said the commission has discussed during a planning session about possibly amending the building line scenario to trigger a parking requirement for large projects.

“We’re worried that the Avenue could lose – go to the Yogi Berra situation – it’s so crowded nobody goes there any more – and that’s our fear,” Alban explained. “And I realize we go from fear to fear, because in 2018 we were worried there was nobody on the Avenue. Now we’re worried there’s too many people. We’re always managing the Avenue,” Alban said. “Everyone would agree it’s one of our crown jewels.”

The application was left open and will be back before the commission at a later date.

See also:

Restaurant Might Replace Railroad Ave Cigar Store; Applicant Seeks Amendment to Rear Building Lines