Local residents and interested parties gathered Monday, 14 July for the official Land Use and Planning Committee (LUPC) “community outreach” meet to discuss the proposed Kim’s restaurant/market at Milwood (600 – 604) and Ocean, near intersection of Venice Blvd. Date for LUPC hearing has not been set.

Architect Stephen Vitalich and owners of Teuke, LLC answered questions proposed by the members of the area.

Most neighbors were concerned about lack of parking onsite to accommodate the restaurant. Many were concerned about the increase in traffic at that intersection. They were very vocal about not wanting customers traversing or parking in their neighborhood.

Kim’s market/deli is applying for a change of use from market/deli to market/restaurant. They plan to have 24 indoor seats, half on sidewalk, and 36 outdoor patio seats. In addition they want a full liquor license for onsite and offsite consumption. Proposed hours of operation are 7 to 7 during the week and 7 am to 9 or 10 pm during the weekend.

The specifications handed out at the meeting show that the property in question is 1477 square feet. Retail area is 342 square feet. Retail area would require 2 parking spaces. Service area for the restaurant is 600 square feet, which requires 12 parking spaces. That is a total of 14 spaces.

Three bike racks containing four bikes each will constitute 3 parking spaces, leaving total required at 11. Claim is that there are four non-conforming spaces which would leave a total of 7 required. Owners propose to obtain commitment from Department of Transportation to use Venice Blvd median for the parking. The proposed parking area is hundreds of feet from proposed restaurant and across Venice Blvd.

The project is located in the Silver Triangle and abuts RD3.1 zoning on south and across street on west. Across street north side, zoning is RD1.5. Across street on east side zoning is R1.