HIS NEIGHBORS
Neighbors slam Luca's over zoning
Luca's Steakhouse is trying to avoid fixing its premises to meet zoning codes by perennially submitting land-use applications that have little chance of gaining approval, neighbors said.
"This should not be allowed to continue," Church Street resident Kathryn Payne told the Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday night at Town Hall. "These continual planning and zoning filings are merely an effort to keep this pot boiling.
Every year for the past several years, Luca's has submitted a new zoning application for permission to alter its building. In each case, the zoning commission has denied the application, saying the Church Street restaurant and banquet hall seeks to build too much. After a few months, sometimes after trying unsuccessfully to appeal the zoning commission's decision in state Superior Court, Luca's then starts the process over again and submits a new application with a slightly different request.
On Tuesday, Luca's owners were at the zoning commission again to present yet another new plan to slightly enlarge its 35 Church St. building to add a new rear entry and replace two apartments that had been removed from the second floor without the town's permission....
....Jane Hogeman, the neighbors' lawyer, said the plan was another delay tactic Luca's was using to avoid having to tear down a dance floor the restaurateur built without permission several years ago to replace the two apartments that were removed.
"This is the sixth application since the zoning violations were discovered at Luca's Steakhouse," Hogeman said. "There's been a scramble over the last five years to try and come in with something that's going to allow him to keep the great big dance floor that he pulled out the apartments in order to put it in, and keep on with his big parties."
Hogeman asked the zoning commission to revoke Luca's right to use the second-floor space for banquets, saying the restaurant had "abused" its permit privileges. The neighbors Hogeman represents are unhappy with what they say is an increase in traffic and noise from the restaurant in recent years.....
Neighbors oppose larger Luca's
| Jun 12, 2003 |
"You have a whole bunch of people that come out of this boom- boom party atmosphere (in Luca's)," she said. "I really want you to understand what a nightmare this atmosphere has been for the people who live there."
In its first public hearing at the meeting at Town Hall, Luca's proposal drew nearly three dozen condominium and nearby property owners who voiced disapproval of the restaurant's current operation and opposed expansion plans. Most complained of noise and rowdy customers who they said leave Luca's late at night.
Her main argument was that Luca's is not only in violation of zoning laws, but has a history of disobeying them, such as eliminating two apartments without seeking a building permit for the change. In the past, the restaurant has received zoning commission approval over neighbors' objections, [Jane Hogeman] said.
| Jun 8, 2004 |
Town officials had evicted them from their Church Street apartment days before, after determining the unit in the basement of Luca's Steak House was unsafe and lacked proper permits. [Jessica Dorneles]'s parents, [Jose Dorneles] and Laura Dorneles, both 41, were praying for a stable home for their three children: Jessica, a 14-year-old Greenwich High School freshman; Edward, 11, a fifth-grader at Julian Curtiss School; and Keziah, 3. "Laura was asking me, 'What's this thing on Jessica's neck?' " [Annie Brown] recalled. Greenwich High School guidance counselor Anthony Smokovich arranged for a tutor to help Jessica, who has been out of school since February, study at home so she can return to high school in the fall. Jessica, who will start three weeks of daily radiation treatment today, said she enjoys drawing and wants to be a fashion designer - but her favorite subject is biology. Restaurant again denied permit to expand May 25, 2005 "Definitely, it was not a surprise," Danny Gabriele, who runs Luca's Steakhouse, a family-owned restaurant and banquet hall, said last night after listening to the zoning commission's unanimous denial of the proposal. This is the third time in two years the project was rejected or withdrawn following an unfavorable reception during zoning commission hearings. This time, the application asked for a more modest expansion of the banquet hall, but zoning commissioners said the plans still fell short of certain zoning requirements. Town considers hiring another zoning inspector Feb 6, 2005 About a year after First Selectman Jim Lash pledged to tackle the issue of illegal housing in Greenwich, town officials are closer to approving money to pay for another zoning inspector. This week the Board of Estimate and Taxation's Budget Committee will discuss hiring a zoning inspector whose primary job will be to root out illegal dwellings or units built without the required town permits or that violate town codes. There is currently a zoning enforcement officer and two other town employees who spend most of their time reviewing plans submitted as part of a building permit application, making sure zoning regulations are met.
Jan 27, 2005
Tom Heagney, the [Luca Gabriele]'s lawyer, argued that although the proposal seeks to increase the number of people the banquet hall can serve, holding banquets at the restaurant is allowable.
After the meeting, some commissioners doubted whether they needed to review the recent proposal given that it still seeks to expand the "non-conforming" banquet space, one of the reasons for the prior denial. But chairman Harry LeBien said the proposal had been revised and the commission was obligated to hear the Gabriele's lawyer present the latest proposal.
Officials reject restaurant expansion dealNov 14, 2006
"The proposed settlement does nothing to lessen the impact of the original application," Stewart L. Napoleon, president of the Board of Directors for the Town & Country Condominiums, said in a letter of protest to the zoning commission. "Luca's did not get the approval for a banquet facility in 2005. But, his settlement proposal still calls for this facility with all its detractions from the quality of life on Church and Sherwood streets."
May 10, 2007
"As we all know, what's being done there now is not legal," [Richard Maitland] had just told the lawyer for Luca's Steakhouse, which wants to double its second-floor banquet space at 35 Church St. over the objections of more than 100 nearby condominium residents. "It was not done under a building permit, which was not properly vetted by Planning and Zoning."
While Luca's application may have been one of the more controversial ones to come before the zoning commission during Tuesday's hearing, the accompanying drama seemed all too familiar. This is the fourth time in four years Luca's has sought permission for larger banquet space. Each time, town officials have denied the request and proprietors have appealed to the state Superior Court. Unsuccessful in its last legal appeal, Luca's has resubmitted another version to the zoning commission.
"They want to change the way the building is operated," said Greenwich lawyer Jane Hogeman, who represents condominium owners. "The parties are quite different because when people come in a group to celebrate a wedding or celebrate some kind of event, they behave differently. They all show up at the same time instead of staggered times. They stay later into the night. There's a DJ or a bandstand with a lot of noise, with a lot of music. When they all come piling out into the street at 1 o'clock at night, they're feeling happy. It's a nuisance. It's just a nuisance."
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