Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Council overturns planning decision, OK's Chart House seating on the patio

Almond Grove neighbors had opposed the proposal

Design still needs approval

By Clarence Cromwell

Outdoor seating at the Chart House won town approval July 7, after a long fight by the restaurant's owners, but the Town Council asked Chart House to try again on the details of a facelift for its Queen Anne Victorian at 115 N. Santa Cruz Ave.

Almond Grove neighbors have fought the project for months, arguing that noise from the diners and from the restaurant parking lot will carry into nearby back yards.

The 750-square-foot brick patio will cover the southern portion of the Chart House's lawn and will seat 30 diners. The restaurant also plans a 375-square-foot kitchen addition, and exterior improvements not yet approved.

The council decided with a 4-1 vote to allow the outdoor dining.

"I think we would gain a very valuable asset to the town," Councilmember Linda Lubeck said.

Despite the neighbors' concerns, Councilmember Jan Hutchins said, the restaurant has a right to update itself.

Steve Blanton opposed the decision, saying he didn't think the Planning Com-mission made an error or abused its discretion when denying the application. To overturn the commission, the council must find an error or abuse. Councilmember Randy Attaway said the commission erred in not weighing heavily enough testimony that patio noise will be insignificant.

The council changed the Chart House's conditional-use permit to require an annual review and restrict deliveries before 7 a.m. The council sent the Chart House to the Planning Commission for a site and architecture review that will ensure that renovation of the Chart House and its add-on wing is consistent with the style of the old house. The commission will also set the restaurant's hours of operation.

Neighbors lined up once again to ask for rejection of the project, predicting more neighborhood interruptions from dining and parking lot noise at the restaurant.

Councilmember Randy Attaway downplayed concerns about noise related to the outdoor dining.

"A certain amount of common sense says that's not a significant effect," Attaway said.

Some tossed in complaints that the Chart House's gaping garbage bins smell up the area and that deliveries and trash pickups sometimes take place early in the morning.

Architect Sandra Paim promised that the restaurant will have a new trash enclosure and parking lot signs to remind patrons and workers to be quiet. At an earlier Planning Commission hearing, acoustical consultant Jeffrey Pack testified that Almond Grove residents will not hear the fork-and-spoon noises diners make, because the sound won't carry very far and couldn't possibly penetrate the immense Victorian house as it would have to do to reach neighbors.

The Chart House first sought approval for the renovations last fall at the same time it asked for a conditional-use permit. The town required the Chart House, and every other restaurant in town, to acquire a CUP by the end of August 1997.

The Planning Commission considered the outdoor dining plan and the use permit last December and again in January. In February, the commission asked for a design without outdoor seating, saying it would create too much noise, and in March, the commission granted the restaurant a conditional-use permit but said no to a design that still included the outdoor seating.

The Chart House applied a second time for the outdoor seating April 10 and the commission refused to change the month-old use permit to allow for the patio. That's when the Chart House appealed.

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