Sensing defeat in their request for additional space to open a new restaurant at the Malibu Planning Commission on Monday, the owners of the Malibu Lumberyard shopping center asked for and received a two-month delay on the proposal.
But amid the discussion came promises that parking at the Lumberyard would switch to a valet system to accommodate more traffic should the commission ultimately approve, in a policy to be instituted year-round from 10:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily.
Development consultant Don Schmitz, speaking on behalf of the applicant, assured a dubious planning commission that the valet parking would take care of any parking concerns brought on by increased traffic to the center.
“We’ve observed people walking across to [other centers.] That’s what we’re going to start managing,” Schmitz said. “It’s going to be strictly for the Lumberyard.”
Glimcher Realty Trust, the real estate firm that purchased the shopping center for a reported $35.5 million last May, seeks an additional 900 square feet of service area to open another restaurant above Cafe Habana on the second floor of the center.
The center’s original 2007 conditional use permit allowed for the operation of two restaurants at the center, totaling 2,000 square feet of service area. At the time the shopping center opened, the original owners allowed Cafe Habana to expand its outdoor dining service area, making for a total service area of 1,301 square feet. That left only 699 square feet of service area remaining for the second restaurant.
Calling the second floor of the center “a little bit of a dead zone,” Schmitz said a restaurant “will breathe some life into it.”
But while commissioners agreed a restaurant would be helpful to the applicant, several had strong misgivings about parking.
“I think it’s a beautiful restaurant space,” Planning Commission Chairman Mikke Pierson said. “I’m very concerned with the parking.”
The shopping center has 116 parking spaces, 50 of which are tandem spaces utilized through a parking valet service. The valet service is currently operational only during peak parking times.
A parking study commissioned by Schmitz & Associates on behalf of the applicant found that valet parking would yield 18 open parking spaces in the shopping center.
Commissioner John Mazza questioned the legitimacy of the study, stating that on a visit the previous morning he noticed fewer than 10 open parking spaces, which he said was confirmed by Pierson.
Mazza noted that at present, the center was filled to 84 percent of tenant capacity. He was skeptical about whether 18 spaces could reasonably accommodate staff and customers for a restaurant, and asked what would happen if other spaces in the center were filled later.
“I’m trying to get to the logic of how you can look at a parking lot and say, there’s 18 spaces there, and not factor in the fact that the building is full?” Mazza asked. “…[the parking projections] sounds like 10 pounds of potatoes in a five-pound sack.”
Schmitz offered to continue the hearing until a later date, and come back with a more detailed traffic study to address the concerns raised by the commission.
Commissioner David Brotman said he hoped to see very specific parking management plans.
“Let’s see it in use. Show us that you’re keeping people off that shouldn’t be there. Show us that you’re not using spaces in the back for storage,” he told Schmitz. “… Get the whole act together.”