OJAI : Restaurant Proposal Clears Hearing Stage
County planners are drawing up the final building requirements this week for a proposed spaghetti restaurant in Oak View.
Despite numerous concerns over the project raised by nearby residents and the city of Ojai over the past two years, no one showed up at a final public hearing on Friday to object to the proposal.
John Cuccia of Ojai, owner of the Vince’s Spaghetti House chain, is seeking to build the 7,984-square-foot restaurant with a drive-through window south of the Oak View Post Office.
The restaurant would employ 40 people and would operate weeknights and Saturdays from 4 to 9 p.m. and from noon to 9 p.m. Sundays.
As drafted, the county’s conditions require Cuccia to pay the county $12,089 to compensate for the smog the restaurant’s traffic would generate. The fee, the first of its kind in Ojai Valley, was slashed from $27,965 after Cuccia objected and proved the restaurant would generate less traffic than initially expected.
Cuccia would also be required to install a left-turn lane on California 33, as well as a curb, gutter and sidewalk.
If the California Department of Transportation does not approve a left-turn lane, the restaurant’s entrance would be off Larmier Avenue.
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