Seal Beach : Parking Variances Are Upheld for Tavern Plan

A hotly contested decision by the Planning Commission granting several parking variances to a Hennessey’s Tavern so it can open on Main Street has been unanimously upheld by the City Council.

The council’s decision came after a public hearing Monday night in which several residents protested commission and staff methods used in approving the variances.

The issue arrived at the council when the variance decision, made in December, was formally appealed by former city Principal Planner Charles Antos, former Planning Commissioner James Gilkerson and John Follis, an opponent of the controversial Bixby Ranch Co. development plan.

Antos, in a statement signed by the three, said “errors and omissions” were made in granting the variances.

The council, however, sided with City Atty. Greg Stepanicich and the current Principal Planner John Baucke, who maintained that no errors or omissions were made.

In addition, Baucke said, the appellants themselves had stated that their appeal “has nothing to do with a restaurant, service of alcoholic beverages or hours of operation.” The hearing, therefore, should be restricted to parking issues, he said, and the council agreed.

The variances granted by the commission and upheld by the council will allow on-site parking that is less than required; off-street parking more than 300 feet from the proposed restaurant, and changes in the required type, size and location of parking spaces.

City Manager Allen Parker told the council that several precedents for the variances exist in Seal Beach.