FULLERTON : Restaurant Proposal Dispute to Be Aired

Disagreements over the design of a proposed hilltop restaurant are expected to come before the City Council tonight, following the collapse of discussions between the builder and a city design committee.

The city Redevelopment Design Review Committee wants the 30-foot-high restaurant building to blend better with its site in a proposed park, and has recommended several design changes, committee member Thomas Lennon said Monday.

The builder, Summit Restaurant Co. of Anaheim, disagrees with some of the committee’s recommendations, Lennon said. But Summit partner Gary Parkinson said that after dealing with the design committee, he is not certain whether the city really wants the restaurant.

“We’re at the point where we’ve been treated as third-class citizens on this,” said Parkinson, who is also a partner and general manager of The Catch Restaurant in Anaheim. He said that the design committee keeps asking for changes to the renderings of the restaurant drawings, even after the company has complied with previous requests.

In December, the City Council asked the design committee to examine the restaurant plans and make recommendations to the agency. The city’s master plan for the area states that the restaurant must not dominate the Vista Park site.

Fullerton wants the company to build and operate a restaurant in the 11-acre park, planned at the southwest corner of State College Boulevard and Bastanchury Road. Summit would make lease payments that would help repay the city’s cost of purchasing the hill and building the park.

Summit wants to build an English-country-style restaurant designed to take advantage of the 270-degree view, Parkinson said.

“There are obviously people in the city that aren’t comfortable with that concept,” he said.

Fullerton Associate Planner Robert S. Linnell said he hopes the City Council can provide more specific advice to the committee about what the restaurant should look like.

A public hearing on the restaurant is scheduled during the council’s 4 p.m. session today.