The owner of the Monkey Hill bar wants to open a restaurant next door
The fate of a planned upscale restaurant on Magazine Street will be up to the New Orleans City Council, and it could depend on whether the operators can get permission to use the parking lot at a well-known clothing store across the street. The City Planning Commission divided 4-3 on the issue Tuesday, one vote short of the five needed for an official endorsement, meaning that the issue will go to the council without a recommendation from the commission. The site is in Councilwoman Susan Guidry's district.
View full sizeThe Monkey Hill bar on Magazine Street was photographed Tuesday. Johnny Vodanovich, owner of the Monkey Hill bar and a former general manager at Clancy's restaurant a few blocks away, wants to open a 98-seat restaurant called Johnny V's at 6104-08 Magazine, next to Monkey Hill.
He has attracted support from many residents, who say they would welcome having another first-class restaurant in the neighborhood, but he also faces determined opposition from some neighbors, primarily over the issue of parking.
One nearby residential organization, the Upper Hurstville Residents Association, is staying neutral on the issue because its members are so split.
Another group, the Audubon Riverside Neighborhood Association, has agreed "not to oppose" Vodanovich's plans provided that he meets a number of conditions, including signing a long-term lease for use of the 20-space parking lot at Perlis clothing store, across Webster Street from the bar.
For years Perlis has left the lot open at night, allowing Monkey Hill customers to use it, but without ever signing a formal agreement. Sharon Perlis told the planning commission two weeks ago that some bar patrons have abused the arrangement, littering and urinating in the lot and leaving cars there overnight.
She said she and her family would try to conclude a lease with Vodanovich for use of the lot, but that if they could not, they probably would start closing the lot at night. The commission deferred a decision in hopes that an agreement could be signed, but it was told Tuesday that the two parties have not reached an agreement.
The City Council actually has given permission for the restaurant twice before, first in 2005, when Jay Batt represented the district, and again in 2009, when Shelley Midura was in office. In 2005 it required that the owners provide four on-site parking spaces and 16 off-site spaces, not counting those in the Perlis lot. In 2009 the requirement was changed to seven on-site spaces and none off-site.
Vodanovich had to return to the planning commission and council this year because renovations to the building eliminated two of the on-site spaces and expanded the structure's floor space by 900 square feet beyond what was authorized by the city, although the dining room would grow by only 112 square feet.
The work began in July 2010 and was nearly complete when the city ordered it halted after inspectors discovered some of it had not been authorized.
Vodanovich's attorney, Justin Schmidt, said the contractor did most of the unauthorized work on his own, and the issue is now in court. Some of the project's critics are skeptical of that claim.
"Johnny got bad advice," said Jim MacPhaille, an investor in the project. "Changes were made in the course of the construction that he was told were OK. But if you have a conditional use permit, you can't change your plans without going through the process again."
Vodanovich said he has secured commitments for 18 off-site parking spaces, 12 at a gas station and six at a doctor's office, though the gas station is about 500 feet away, more than the normal 300-foot limit for counting off-site spaces for a business.
The planning staff said that securing the 18 off-site spaces, which were not required under the 2009 permit, would more than offset the loss of the two on-site spots, but some neighbors are not convinced, saying it already is hard for them to park near their homes at night, even with the Perlis lot available.
Other neighbors say the city and the neighborhood would benefit from having another quality restaurant and that the presence of such establishments close to their homes is an acceptable trade-off for any parking problems they must deal with.
The restaurant would be allowed to operate from 5 to 11 p.m. weekdays, from 5 p.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays, and from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sundays, meaning that it would be closed when most nearby businesses, such as Perlis, are open.
Lou Volz, one of the planning commissioners who voted against Vodanovich's requests to authorize the extra 900 square feet of building space and the loss of the two on-site parking spots, said he objected to an applicant's seeking after-the-fact approval of unauthorized work.
George Amedee and Lois Carlos-Lawrence voted with Volz. Chairman Craig Mitchell, Kelly Brown, Pamela Bryan and Joseph Williams voted in favor. Poco Sloss and Sandra Duckworth were absent.
Sara Meadows Tolleson, president of the Audubon Riverside Neighborhood Association, said last week that while the increase in square footage seems negligible, the fact that it was done without permission is a cause for concern to neighbors.
"It fuels the uncertainty about the changing landscape of the neighborhood when they see a developer overbuild his permits and get to continue anyway," Tolleson said. "It already happened to us with Romney (Pilates Studio) and it's happening again."