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STAFF
ITEM DATE SUBMITTED BY
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City of Caldwell
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
Land Use and Zoning Services
STEVE HASSON
Community Development Director
November 23,2003
Dick Ayres
31 10 East Cleveland Boulevard
Building "A" Suite A4
Caldwell ldaho 83605
Dear Richard:
This letter is in response to your letter sent regarding the placement of a small dance
floor in Victor's Restaurant Gepresenting appixima[e[ 6 percent of its total floor space)
and whether that additional land use aclivity requires a special use permit'
The installation of dance floor into an establishment prompts Agency concerns about the
potential for that activity to cause the exceeding of the facility's occupancy load and off
street parking requirements. lt is this concern, in part, that prompts a reticence to permit
this land use-activity without some higher level of scrutiny as offered through the special
use permitting process.
However, following the logic outlined in your letter that Victor's primary mission is the
serving of food an-d that tfie dance floorls simply an operational accoutrement - it is my
view that the dance fl,oor does not need special permitting'
A dance floor does require the facility (Victois)to possess one additional parking space
for every 100 feet of floor space (see 10-02-05(3)).
ln your letter you note that the dance floor will cover approximately 240 square feet'
Actordingly, i would request a follow up correspondence advising that Victor's
Restaurant can meet that additional parking requirement beyond the standard off street
parking requirements associated with that type of land use'
Absent the ability to meet the two additional parking space requirement, this l.etter should
serve as an administrative approval to forgo any further land use action resulting from
the placement of a small dance floor in Victor's Restaurant.
should the dance floor be expanded or this Agency receive complaints ab-oyt over flow
parking resulting from dance activity there may be a need to re-examine Victor's
permitting req uirements
very
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CITY HALL . 621 CLEVELAND BLVD.po. Box 1177 CALDWELL,ID 83605 . (208)4s5-3021 ' (FAX)(208)45s-305' 5 - I
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I *tnr,r",TrrtT& Helen Edmark
Edmark Development
Edmark Motors Inc.
November 7,2A03 lloy 10 2003
Steve Hasson
Community Development Director
City of Caldwell
Dear Steve,
I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to meet with me today.
This letter is an attempt to summarize our concerns and review the substance of the
meeting as well as previous conversations regarding this matter.
Basically we believe, that in many circumstances, the Caldwell Zoningordinances
do not grve you or your staffthe latitude to make decisions that should be handled
administratively. savingthe City of Caldwell Time and dollars that may be directed to
projects of greaterconcem and impact.
For example, the matter of our Tenant Victor's Restaurant. When we first applied for our
construction permiq we were informed that there was a potential conflict in the zoning. In
as much as the plans showed a bar and a dance floor. A restaurant being a permitted use
in a C3 zone, and a bar and a dance &a// would require special use permits. After some
discussion and your research into facts of law, you determined, and logically so, that the
primary focus of Victor's was a resaurant and that the serving of liquor was ancillary to
their main business. To summarize the thinking process Victor's is a restaurant that
serves liquor, not a Bar thaf might serve food. Consequently, their daily sales receipts
bear this out.
Now, the matter of tlreir dance floor comes into question^ If we apply the same logic, as
above, it would appear that Victor's is a restaurant that has a small dance floor for the
occasional entertainment of their eustomers, not a Dance Hall that may serve food.
Caldwell zoning ordinance uses the term "Danse Hall", by no stretch of the imagination
could an area 12' by 20' be considered a "Dance Hall" especially when it is an area that
is also used for seating diners. In the case of Victor's Restaurant, this 240-sq. ft. area
represents 6% of their total floor space of 4,000'sq. ft..
ln conclusion, we would greatly appreciate a statement from your office regarding this
"Dance Hall'7'Dance floor" concern. We believe that the costly and time consuming
special use permit process, (for all concerned), could be avoided in this case.
Respectfully,
3110 E. Cleveland Blvd., Bldg. A Ste. .{4, Caldwell ldaho 83605
Phone (208) 4544274
Fax(208) 4544292
e-mail eddev@wegointer. net
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