Vinsetta Garage Parking, Outdoor Dining on Planning Commission Agenda

The Berkley Planning Commission will address parking issues and outdoor dining at Vinsetta Garage on Tuesday evening at City Hall.

The Woodward Avenue restaurant has worked with residents and the city's Public Safety Department to craft a plan to resolve parking concerns and the Planning Commission will consider a related rezoning request during its meeting at 7:30 p.m., as well as special land use permit request for outdoor dining.

[Are you satisfied with the parking-related changes that are in the works near Vinsetta Garage? Leave a comment!]

City Planner Amy Vansen said Tuesday the restaurant's owners have applied for a rezoning request of 1010 Eaton, which they own, that would allow them to demolish a house on the property to make way for parking.

The Planning Commission will make a recommendation on the request after tonight's public hearing and it then will go to the City Council for a first reading Oct. 1 and a second reading Oct. 15, she said. If the city signs off on the rezoning request, the restaurant then would need site plan approval for any development on the property, Vansen said.

Vinsetta Garage co-owner Curt Catallo said Tuesday that once the rezoning request has been approved, the restaurant will make the changes as soon as it can.

"We want to provide spots as quickly as possible," he said.

BPS Deputy Director Robert North said Friday that the narrow streets near Vinsetta Garage, which were built in the 1920s, were never intended to handle the capacity of traffic they currently do.

He said after assessing the parking situation near the restaurant, and considering input from residents, the following changes will be made.

• Parking will be prohibited on the west side of Stanford, which will be marked as a fire route.
• Parking will be prohibited on the south side of Eaton, which will be marked as a fire route.
• The area on Eaton west of Stanford will get a "no parking here to corner" sign.
• Signage will be added at various corners to prevent vehicles from parking too close to intersections.
• Traffic traveling southbound from Eaton on the alley behind the restaurant will have to turn left on Oxford instead of going into the neighborhood.

North said signs and posts have been ordered and he hopes to have them up within the next couple of weeks.

"To the residents' credit, they all wish Catallo success," North said. "They were very reasonable, they were legitimate in their concerns."

He said once the parking and traffic changes are made, the city will evaluate their effectiveness and make changes if needed.

"We appreciate the neighborhood has been patient as the city looks at ways to address it and as we look at ways to address it," Catallo said. "It's a good problem to have (because it is the result of an influx of diners to Berkley), but we just want to solve it."

The Planning Commission also will consider whether to recommend a special land use request that would allow outdoor dining at Vinsetta Garage, Vansen said. The matter will be on the Oct. 1 City Council agenda, she added.

Vinsetta Garage already has approval for outdoor service from the Liquor Control Commission, Vansen said. While it awaits the city's OK, Catallo said the restaurant is using its outdoor space as a waiting area.

"Our fingers are crossed," he said.