Universal City : Hearing Slated on Restaurant Permit

Like a boat with two rowers paddling in opposite directions, the city has decided to give In-N-Out Burger a building permit for a proposed new eatery at Cahuenga Boulevard and Regal Place, at the same time that it has scheduled a hearing to decide whether its building department erred in exempting the project from a public review.

The Board of Building and Safety Commissioners will hold the hearing on July 18 to determine whether the project should have been subjected to a site plan review, which requires a public hearing and enables the city to place restrictions on a proposed business.

In-N-Out Burger wants to build on the site of a former gas station. The Studio City Residents Assn. opposes the restaurant and says the drive-through would cheapen the look of the surrounding shopping strip and worsen existing traffic problems.

Tony Lucente, president of the residents group, said the proposed restaurant has pitted Mayor Richard Riordan against his association and Councilman John Ferraro. Riordan’s office has acknowledged contacting city departments to get information for In-N-Out regarding the status of its permit applications, but has denied trying to expedite their processing.

Lucente said he finds that statement hard to believe.

“That statement is inconsistent with the recent actions of the mayor’s office regarding other developments in our community,” he said.

Like Lucente, Ferraro believes the project should have undergone a site plan review, which is required of projects that are expected to generate at least 500 new car trips a day.

Building department officials, however, said such a review applies only to the expansion of an existing business and not to a new one.

Because the gas station on the site is to be demolished and a new building erected, the fast food operation is considered to be a new business, they said, exempt from the site plan review, even though traffic is expected to increase from 577 daily trips to 1,617.

That interpretation took the project off the hook on a technicality, critics charged, and the Studio City Residents Assn. appealed to the Board of Building and Safety Commissioners.

What’s more, a citizens panel overseeing the Ventura Boulevard Specific Plan recommended on June 20 that any project generating at least 500 car trips should be made to go through a site plan review.

Richard Holguin, head of the city’s building bureau, said the issuance of the construction permit--expected in a “couple weeks”--would not be delayed to await the decision of the board.

He said the department is legally required to issue such permits in a timely manner to all applicants who meet parking and other requirements.

In a related development, it was learned Thursday that the owners of a nearby car dealership that has been instrumental in fighting the project had tried to buy the property, raising the question whether they had financial motives for their opposition.

But Fred Gaines, attorney for Universal City Nissan, said his client’s concerns have to do with traffic, and that as far as he knows, the company is not currently interested in expanding onto the site.

The hearing will begin at 9:45 a.m. in City Hall, Room 402.