Enjoying cafe lattes and eating outdoors will continue at Ladera Country Shopper, thanks to the unanimous decision of the San Mateo County Planning Commission on Wednesday, Nov. 12.
The revised conditional use permit allows a total of 327 seats – that includes both indoor and outdoor seating – and a parking exception to allow seven employee tandem parking spaces for the updated center at 3130 Alpine Road, near Portola Valley.
More than 100 letters and e-mails supporting the shopping center and outdoor seating were received by the county planning department from Ladera residents, customers and friends from nearby communities. Petitions — signed by 492 customers who didn’t want to lose outdoor seating at the center — arrived at the planning department before the re-scheduled hearing last week.
Concerns over how much outdoor seating should be allowed for restaurants and Bianchini’s Market first surfaced last December at the county Planning Commission meeting. That’s when two board members of the Ladera Community Association objected to the center’s request for the conditional use permit to allow a maximum of 111 seats for outdoor use. They contended that additional parking, required by outdoor seating, would exceed the center’s parking capacity. Parking spills over onto La Mesa Drive, one of two main entrances to Ladera, causing traffic and safety issues.
The commission’s decision last week to reduce the parking requirements for the center came after further analysis by the planning staff of the county’s parking standards in comparison with those of other jurisdictions.
In particular, staff recognized that the county’s parking ratio of one parking space for each 160 square feet of retail space was not appropriate for the Ladera Garden Center’s outdoor nursery area of 7,000 square feet.
This recognition effectively reduces the required parking for the garden center from 58 spaces to 26, resulting in a reduction of total required parking spaces from 291 to 259. The provision of 259 parking spaces, based on county requirements, allows a total of 327 seats for both indoor and outdoor eating.
Commissioners did not specify how the seating would be divided between indoor and outdoor seating. That decision is left to Eric Willis, owner of the center, and the tenants.
The allowed seating, now reduced from the existing 339 seats to 327, gives restaurants and the center management flexibility, according to the staff, to determine how many seats will be located inside and outside, based on weather conditions, occupancy limits, and safety standards.
“As long as the absolute maximum number of seats is not exceeded, the number of parking spaces provided at the center will be sufficient to meet the parking need,” according to a report by project planner Tiare Pena.
Gail Slocum, Planning Commission chair, suggested allowing the current seating of 339 to remain, but the three other commissioners did not agree. They indicated the lower number had been recommended and was appropriate.
Speaking in favor of the staff recommendations for the center were long-time Ladera residents Judy Staples, Lennie Roberts and George Mader; center owner Mr. Willis; and Kevin Bianchini of Bianchini’s Market.
Rob Decker, president of the Ladera Community Association, thanked the commission for continuing the hearing from last December to allow time for staff to gather “complete and accurate” information so that all parties could seek a solution that will achieve both goals: “allowing lots of outdoor seating and addressing traffic safety and aesthetic concerns that arose when La Mesa Drive began to be used as overflow parking” for the shopping center.
Changes to mitigate the parking problem already have taken place at the center since last December. Mr. Willis has requested center employees to park at the edges of the center and not on Las Mesa Drive. Employees are required to place a placard on their vehicle’s dashboard. Signs have been posted in the parking area, limiting parking to three hours while shopping at the center and warning motorists their cars will be towed at their own expense if they park too long or aren’t shopping at the center.
Big change
The most dramatic physical changes happened last week when the former Ladera Chevron station, at the corner of Alpine Road and La Mesa Drive, was razed as was the former Ladera Automotive repair garage.
A one-story medical office building will be built on the gas station site and have 19 underground parking spaces and an additional 12 spaces, including two handicapped ones, at ground level. Plans call for the 6,000-square-foot building to be designed by Larick Alan Hill Inc., the same architectural firm that helped renovate the center.
Thirteen more parking spaces will be created in the area formerly occupied by the garage, said Mr. Willis. Seven tandem parking spaces have been added in back of the center for employee parking.
In response to the Ladera Community Association’s concerns, represented by Mr. Decker, the county Public Works Department is considering parking restrictions on both sides of La Mesa Drive from Alpine Road to North and South Balsamina Way.
