Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/251767
later date to get rid of the retail operation and put in another restaurant or bar? If the County Commission approved the spe- cial exception petition, Loveridge said, the owners would find it a difficult undertaking to convert the structure back to a restaurant at some future time, thanks to the parking regulations implemented several years ago in Siesta Village. "[The owners] would never get enough parking to have a restaurant," he added. Architect Smith explained that if Syprett and Lancer decided at some point to lease the space to a new restaurant the same size as Napoli's, that establishment would have to have 23 parking spaces. "Napoli's [was] there, I think, since the key was the key," he added. It had eight parking spaces in the back, and it functioned under the grandfathered-in guide- lines implemented when the new parking ordinance went into effect about five years ago. Given the footprint of the new building, Smith continued, six parking spaces are required for the retail space, plus one space per each transient unit. Because one space is allotted in the parking design for a scooter and plans call for a bike rack as well, he pointed out, the parking plan will provide 10 spaces. "In all honesty and sincerity, the case of the property going from a restaurant/bar use to a higher-end retail tenant — the property own- ers and the rest of the Village believe it's a real positive asset to Siesta Key and to the Village," Smith said, "and we're all excited about it." When Patterson then asked Smith, as she had Loveridge, whether the transient units used up all the density allowed for the site, Smith told her that was correct. "So they couldn't come in with another three or four [units] on top [of those]?" Patterson questioned him. "That's not possible," Smith replied. In regard to the site plan, Patterson also asked how the tandem parking works. How do people get out of those spaces "other than backing out onto Ocean [Boulevard]?" Loveridge explained that the county Zoning Department staff and its administrator exam- ined the parking plan for Gidget's and deemed it acceptable. "That is a grandfather condition, Commissioner Nora Patterson listens to comments during the Jan. 28 meeting. Photo by Norman Schimmel Sarasota News Leader January 31, 2014 Page 63