MISSION VIEJO : Restaurant Complex Appeal Is Rejected

Residents living next to a proposed restaurant complex failed to persuade the City Council last week that plans for the development should be denied.

The appeal of an earlier Planning Commission decision to allow the two-restaurant/retail space complex was rejected by a 5-0 council vote.

The neighborhood group complained that the site would bring too much traffic into the neighborhood and it wasn’t properly zoned. During a two-hour hearing, homeowners also expressed concern about liquor consumption at the restaurants.

“This is potentially a very large restaurant complex,” said Peter Casserly, who filed the appeal with City Hall. Casserly asked the council to limit operating hours of the restaurants and to reduce the size of the proposed bar areas.

Other residents expressed concern about increased traffic on Estanciero Drive, a side street that they described as already heavily impacted by existing traffic.

“It’s already a traffic nightmare,” Patricia Sult said. “I don’t know if we would have moved there if we had known how much traffic already exists” on Estanciero Drive.

But the council denied the appeal, with Councilwoman Susan Withrow noting that “even if we reduce the bar area, it’s not necessarily going to reduce the amount of consumption of alcohol.”

The restaurant use fits into the type of zoning approved for the area, she added.