The commercial strip on Belmont’s Hinton Avenue has seen steady development in the past few years. Businesses have come and gone. Now, the owners of 814 Hinton Ave. want to have their property rezoned, from residential to commercial, in an effort to open another new restaurant.
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Hannah Pittard and Andrew Ewell want to open a restaurant in their house, which abuts Belmont BBQ, but for some Belmont neighbors one more restaurant will be just one too many. |
Andrew Ewell and Hannah Pittard appeared in front of the City Planning Commission last month to request the change, but the decision was deferred after several residents opposed it. “Since [the meeting], there has been, I think, a far more organized movement among the residents of the area to oppose this application,” says Brian Haluska, city neighborhood planner. “It seems like the neighborhood is really divided on this, and a lot of time public opinion can really impact the outcome of these hearings.”
Just last week, the Belmont-Carlton Neighborhood Association hosted a town hall meeting to address the concerns of opening a new dining establishment. They ranged from late-night business operations, noise and loud music to parking. Jesse Fiske, president of the neighborhood association, says that people in Belmont have “enjoyed” the benefits of the commercial strip, but “the folks who have to really live in that immediate area, have to deal with the downsides of that area becoming sort of a restaurant zone.” The downsides, he says, are “the subtle details that sort of come out of that, from cigarette butts, to people urinating in other people’s backyards, and all that kind of crazy stuff,” he says.
But Ewell and Pittard say that their new restaurant won’t create any issue that does not already exist in the neighborhood.
“Not having us rezoned isn’t going to make Bel Rio quiet and is not going to make customers at Mas leave earlier than 2am,” says Ewell. “These things are going to exist and our feeling is that if we can go through with the rezoning and if we can open our restaurant, and serve as a model for how a business can work with a community, then hopefully that will be a first step in resolving some of the issues that exist.”
But an affected neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous, told C-VILLE that even if the concerns already exist, “the idea of adding another commercial property in a zone where commercial properties are creating a problem, is hard to conceive.”
Yet, Ewell and Pittard have received support for their application. Adam Frazier, owner of The Local, says that while he understands the concerns raised, “ultimately, if the place is run well, and I have no reason to believe it wouldn’t be, it would be a benefit to the business community down here as well as the residential community.”
Southern Crescent is intended to be a small, upscale, family-owned restaurant serving Creole and new Southern cooking, with soft shell crabs, gumbo, and crawfish. Ewell, who bought the property with his mother about five years ago, says he understands what he is asking of his neighbors; the lot that is four feet away from his front porch was converted into the Belmont BBQ after being a residence for many years. “Our ability to use the house as a house has gone down and down and down,” says Ewell.
To come to terms with the concerns, Ewell and Pittard have submitted a list of proffers to which they will be legally bound: They would build an S-3 type buffer—a wall of “opaque” vegetation to separate the commercial and residential corridors—and promise that the establishment will not be a music venue and will not have amplified music.
The couple has also circulated an open letter to the residents of the neighborhood outlining their plan for the restaurant.
“I think the neighborhood wants to enjoy all these things, but we also don’t want to lose the identity of a neighborhood,” says Fiske. “We are really trying to find a way before it gets too far out of hand, how to strike a balance between this lovely restaurant zone and also the place where people own homes and want to live…”
But according to the couple, their property is the perfect separation of commercial and residential. “If there is ever going to be a buffer, the only place it can be is in our backyard,” says Ewell, whose house sits on a double lot, with close to 37 feet of garden.
“Our house is the actual buffer for now between the two districts,” says Pittard.
However, the anonymous neighbor questions whether this rezoning is going to solve any problems. “I think it can be resolved, and I think that the 814 people have a really good approach trying to be the mediator,” she says. “But they can’t solve these issues. It will take The City, the residents and the businesses coming together to assess the goals, mediate issues and plan the future. To change zoning for for 814 Hinton without having addressed the existing issues lacks foresight.”
The Planning Commission will consider Ewell and Pittard’s application at its public meeting on Tuesday, May 12.
UPDATE (05/13/09): With a 4-2 vote the City Planning Commission denied the rezoning request at 814 Hinton Ave. in Belmont. Next up for the applicants is a vote from City Council.
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