Zoning board asks SaladHead for more info

UPDATE: On Thursday night, the West University Place Zoning Board of Adjustment tabled the proposed shared-parking needed for SaladHead to get a Certificate of Occupancy. The ZBA asked the applicant for more concrete plans for the parking lot layout and plans for limiting the traffic congestion that may come from the site. The applicant will come back with that information at the next meeting.

The West University Place Board of Adjustment meets tonight to consider a shared-parking arrangement between a proposed restaurant called SaladHead, a locally-sourced upscale salad bar, and the Bank of Texas.

The meeting is tonight at 6:30 p.m. at West U City Hall, 3800 University Blvd. and is open to the public – citizens get three minutes each to speak their mind.

The property is located at 5410 Kirby Dr. at Sunset Blvd. The previous occupant of the space sold prepared food but there was no seating thus the parking requirement was half what is required for a dine-in eatery. So SaladHead must come up with seven additional parking spaces.

West U has a provision in its zoning ordinances that allows a business to “borrow” parking spaces from a neighbor if the neighbor has more parking spaces than required by the city’s development standards. But that ‘borrowed” or “shared” parking agreement must have the blessing of the ZBA.

Bank of Texas has 35 parking spaces and they are only required to have 17. So they have agreed to loan seven spaces to Salad Head to allow them to have the required parking. The final step is to get the support of the ZBA at tonight’s meeting.

The ZBA is a five-member city-council appointed, volunteer board whose actions are not subject to review by the city council. They hear appeals from administrative decisions, grants special exceptions and variances, and interprets the intent of the zoning ordinance. An affected party has the right to appeal the decision directly to the State District Court. ZBA actions are some of the few municipal decisions that are not subject to any review by the city council.