Restaurant Opening May be Slowed by County Permit Process

A restaurant planned for 1860 N. Allen Ave. may not be open as early as the owner had estimated because of additional county permits that will be required to open the business.

As , local resident and chef Paul Ragan is planning to open AltaEats on that area.  He now owns the property and has even come up with a menu (which can be viewed on the right).

Ragan told Patch that he hoped to be open by mid-May, but now says that timetable is not realistic.

The problem appears to be that the county does not have a record of a legally-permitted restaurant operating on that property.

Though Ragan and several commenters on this site have noted that the site used to be inhabited by an eatery called "Jacks Kasbah," county planner Mark Child told Patch via email that the county does not have any record of the owners of that place applying for a permit.

According to Child, the address has been used as a fish and poultry market, a use that was permitted in 1990 by the county.  In 1996, a permit was issued for the sale of beer and wine on the site, but the application did not specify that those sales would take place at a restaurant.

Because the county has no record of of a restaurant operating there, the owners must either find records that would establish a restaurant has previously been permitted, or must file a site plan and parking permit application with the county, according to Child.

There is not enough parking on site to meet county requirements for a restaurant, so the owner would need to apply for a "parking deviation request" to void those requirements, Child said.  Depending on how many parking spots short of a requirement the place is, the county might be required to hold a public hearing on whether to grant the permit or not, Child said.

Ragan and his partner have already started the process of filing for a conditional use permit to serve beer and wine, according to Child.