With the Zoning Ordinance behind it, the Planning Commission will consider allowing a slew of alcohol permits at new restaurants around Ocean Avenue and Olympic Drive next week.
The restaurants are going into the ground floor of a new apartment complex in the area.
Joan's on Third and Elovate would sit along Olympic Drive, between Ocean and Main Street.
Joan's has two other locations in the area founded by Joan McNamara. The 139-seat venue will offer take-out and dine-in options consisting of sandwiches, salads, soups, and baked goods.
"There is also a retail component of the operation that offers gourmet grocery items and will include the off-site sale of beer and wine in a limited area," city officials said.
Owners are seeking permission to serve on-site beer and wine. They are not seeking permission to operate a bar, city officials said.
Joan's would operate starting at 7 a.m. and close at midnight Sunday through Thursday and at 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Owners are asking to be allowed to serve alcohol during all of those hours. An outdoor patio at would close completely at 11 p.m. The Olympic Drive patio would not allow the consumption of alcohol but the Ocean patio would.
Elovate, which is slated for the same building, is an all-natural, organic and vegan restaurant headed by vegan chef Roberto Martin.
The 108-seat restaurant will include a patio along an Olympic Drive plaza. Owners would like permission to serve alcohol during the same hours as proposed by Joan's. The patio would close at the same time.
Herringbone, which is hosting a job fair at the Civic Auditorium today, is the third restaurant seeking alcohol permits next week.
The upscale seafood restaurant headed by chef Brian Malarkey currently has locations in West Hollywood and La Jolla.
The 245-seat space has two patios along Ocean. Owners would like to serve alcohol during the same hours as the aforementioned restaurants, with the same patio hours.
City planners are recommending the approval, with conditions, of all three permits. There are a handful of establishments within 500 feet of all three restaurants that serve alcohol.
The commission's decisions can be appealed to City Council.
Alcohol permits were an issue for a nearby Starbucks across from City Hall last year.
Residents complained when the international coffee chain sought to serve beer alongside its lattes. The request was approved by the commission with some compromises and both residents and Starbucks appealed the decision with the latter request more liberal requirements. Ultimately Starbucks dropped the appeal and withdrew its request for permit.
The meeting starts a 7 p.m. at City Hall next Wednesday.
The commission is also scheduled to hear an appeal of the Zoning Administrator's recent denial of new curb cuts at a property on Palisades Avenue.
dave@www.smdp.com
