This is a special review request to allow the location of an all-beverage liquor license in a new tenant space of 7,700 square feet in the West Park Plaza Shopping Center for a new restaurant, Umi in Billings, Inc. The property is zoned Community Commercial (CC) and is legally described as Lot 2A1, Partington Park Subdivision, 5^th Filing. The lot is a total of 15.94 acres and is generally located at 1603 Grand Avenue. The owner is West Park Plaza Shopping Center, LLC and the agents are Scott Heard and Andy Chan. The Zoning Commission conducted a public hearing on December 3, 2013, and is forwarding a recommendation of conditional approval and a waiver of the 600-foot separation to a church and a park with playground equipment based on the findings of the 3 criteria for special review on a 4-0 vote.

The Planning Division reviewed the application and recommended to the Zoning Commission the application receive conditional approval and a waiver of the 600-foot separation from a church and a public park. The Zoning Commission concurred with the staff recommendation.
 
Before a recommendation of approval or conditional approval can be made, each special review request must demonstrate conformance with three primary criteria: 1) The application complies with all parts of the Unified Zoning Regulations, 2) The application is consistent with the objectives and purposes of the Unified Zoning Regulations and the 2008 Growth Policy, and 3) the application is compatible with surrounding land uses and is otherwise screened and separated from adjacent land to minimize adverse impacts. This application conforms to the first criteria in so far that it is within a CC district where on premise consumption of alcoholic beverages may be allowed by special review. It also appears the proposal meets all of the zoning requirements for setbacks, lot coverage, and building height.   
 
The application also conforms to the second and third criteria. The zoning regulations adopted by the City Council have designated several zoning districts where on premise consumption of alcoholic beverages may be allowed. The CC zone is one of those districts but the property lines are within 600 feet of a church located at 1221 16^th Street West and within 600 feet of a public park with a playground located on Avenue D. The West Park Plaza Shopping Center has received 2 prior approvals for the location of all beverage liquor licenses and it does not appear the use has conflicted with the church or the park. There are intervening buildings that entirely obstruct the view between the park on Avenue D (Evergreen Park) and the proposed restaurant. The church on 16^th Street West is visible from the proposed restaurant space but there is no direct pedestrian route between the uses. There is a signalized pedestrian crossing on Grand Avenue at 16^th Street West, but there are no sidewalks leading from the intersection to the front of the building in the shopping center. For these reasons, the Planning Staff recommended a waiver of the 600-foot separation requirement in this case and the Zoning Commission concurred with this finding.
 
The proposed use is in a zoning district that allows this use with a special review.  The adjacent properties are not residential and have similar customer and employee traffic. The proposed expansion will be compatible with these adjacent uses. The proposal is consistent with goals of the 2008 Growth Policy, specifically the goal of encouraging uses that are compatible with the character of the adjacent land use patterns.  This site is surrounded by a mix of commercial businesses within the city limits. The CC zone district in this area is intended for commercial uses convenient to the surrounding community with service-oriented businesses. There are no direct impacts from the proposed location of the all-beverage liquor license that need to be mitigated by conditions of approval. The conditions recommended below are standard conditions applicable to all special review approvals.  
 
RECOMMENDATION
The Zoning Commission recommends conditional approval and a waiver of the 600-foot separation from a church and a park with playground equipment.

1. The special review approval shall be limited to Lot 2A1, Partington Park Subdivision 5^th Filing, in Suite 105 of the building located at 1603 Grand Avenue.
2. Development of the restaurant shall be in substantial conformance with the site plan submitted with this application and shown in this staff report.  Deviations from the approved site plan that show additional on-premise alcohol service area greater than 10% of the total approved 7,700 square feet will require additional special review approval. 
3. There shall be no outdoor seating area without additional special review approval of the City Council.
4. These conditions of special review approval shall run with the land described in this authorization and shall apply to all current and subsequent owners, operators, managers, lease holders, heirs and assigns. 
5. The proposed development shall comply with all other limitations of Section 27-613 of the Unified Zoning Regulations concerning special review uses, and all other City of Billings, regulations and ordinances that apply.

 
**NOTE**     Approval of this Special Review does not constitute approval of a building permit, sign permit or fence permit. Compliance with all applicable local codes will be reviewed at the building permit or zoning compliance permit level. This application is for a Special Review as noted above and no other request is being considered with this application. The use and development of the property must be in accordance with the submitted site plan.

If the request is approved, a building permit will be issued with permit fees to cover the cost of the permit review and required inspections. The city will issue a business tax determination that will also generate fees to cover the cost of inspections for fire code compliance and alcohol service compliance. The property will increase in taxable value and increase the city's tax revenue.

This is a special review request to locate an all beverage liquor license in a new restaurant tenant space at the West Park Plaza. The proposed restaurant will be 7,700 square feet and will feature Asian cuisine. The city has approved several liquor licenses within the vicinity, some for all beverage service and some for beer and wine service. The proposed restaurant will be adjacent to the new Lucky’s Supermarket. The owner is also developing 96 apartments to the north of the property. The Red Robin restaurant is directly east along with the OZ Fitness Center, additional retail tenants and the Sears Roebuck store. The building is currently undergoing a remodel to finish the space for the new tenant. Surrounding development is commercial in nature with a mix of retail sales and eating establishments and office buildings. Property to the south across Grand Avenue is used for auto sales and restaurants.
 
There is one church at 1221 16^th Street West less than 600 feet from the south property boundary and one public park with playground equipment, Evergreen Park on Avenue D, less than 600 feet from the east property boundary. There is no public school within 600 feet of the property boundary. The distance is measured from the exterior property boundary and not the tenant space within the shopping center. The distance from the tenant space to the church on 16^th Street West is more than 800 feet, and the distance to the park on Avenue D is more than 1,200 feet. The code requires the distance to be measured from property line to property line. The City Council may waive the required separation distance if it finds the uses are separated by a physical barrier such as an arterial street without a signalized pedestrian crossing, buildings that entirely obstruct the view between the uses, or no direct physical access exists between the uses.
 
Grand Avenue, 15^th Street West and 17^th Street West are arterial streets with a combined traffic volume of more than 34,000 vehicle trips per day in 2013. The additional traffic generated by the new restaurant should have no impact on the surrounding streets or traffic patterns. The signalized intersection at 17^th Street West and Grand Avenue is traffic controlled as well as the entrance to West Park Plaza at 16^th Street West, and the intersection of Grand Avenue and 15^th Street West. The shopping center has the parking capacity to serve the existing and proposed tenant. The current remodeling project will create up to 244 seats in the new restaurant, with a 1,198 square foot kitchen, a sushi bar, and 3 hibachi service areas.

The Zoning Commission conducted a public hearing on December 3, 2013, and received the staff recommendation and testimony from Scott Heard, an agent for the restaurant owner, Andy Chan. Mr. Heard stated the restaurant is in several states including Kansas, Kentucky and Maryland. The restaurant owner is excited to provide a new and unique dining experience for Billings' residents. He stated the owner will not offer gaming although the all beverage license comes with the permission to have 20 gaming machines. Mr. Heard stated construction has not yet started while the special review and state liquor license are pending but would start as soon as those processes are complete. In response to a question from Commission Chair Leonard Dailey, Jr. Mr. Heard stated the kitchen is large but necessary for a restaurant of this size. There was no other testimony from the public or applicants.

Zoning Commission Member Barbara Hawkins made a motion to recommend conditional approval and a waiver of the 600-foot separation distance to the church and the park and adoption of the findings of the 3 criteria. Member Dan Wagner seconded the motion. The Commission voted 4-0 in favor of the motion.

The Consistency with Adopted Plans and Policies is discussed in the Alternatives Analyzed section above.