City Eyes Plans for Expansion at Popular Event Venue NOOR

NOOR, a popular restaurant and banquet facility located within the Paseo Colorado Shopping Center, wants to expand its facilities to include the adjacent tenant space and outdoor patio area (formerly Bodega Wine Bar).

The facility’s request goes before the City’s Hearing Officer this week.

“The expansion would add an 1,826 square-foot Garden Room ballroom and 725 square-foot patio area to NOOR’s existing restaurant and banquet facility,” according to a staff report presented to the Pasadena Hearing Officer for consideration of the expansion plan. It would also expand the live entertainment and full on-site alcohol sales into the adjacent tenant space that NOOR is expanding into; the space formerly operated as Bodega Wine Bar and restaurant in Suite A208 in the same building.

The Pasadena Zoning Code requires an Expressive Use Permit for live entertainment and a Conditional Use Permit for alcohol sales within the CD-2 (Central District Specific Plan, Civic Center/Midtown) zoning district.

The existing NOOR restaurant and banquet hall facility located in the western portion of Paseo Colorado, on the second floor, has an aggregate floor area of 13,663 square feet. The expansion would occur in the adjacent 1,826 square-foot tenant space and 725 square-foot outdoor patio, the staff report prepared by the Department of Planning and Community Development said.

An Expressive Use Permit (EUP #5279) was originally approved by the Hearing Officer on December 16, 2009 for the live entertainment and full on-site alcohol sales use within the 13,663 square foot restaurant and banquet hall. No changes to the restaurant and banquet facility’s hours of operation, existing floor plan, or operational characteristics are being proposed. The hours of operation would remain from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily, the report continued.

NOOR Restaurant and Banquet Hall has two existing ballrooms that can be used for seating and/or dancing. The Sofia Ballroom is 4,441 square feet, and the Ella Ballroom is 1,945 square feet. With the proposed expansion, a third ballroom, to be called the Garden Room, will be added; it will be primarily be used for dining and dancing, with the outdoor patio limited to dining only. Patron dancing and live entertainment will only occur within the interior spaces of the expanded facility.

On the 725-square-foot patio area, no dedicated stage area is proposed, and no live entertainment or amplified music will occur.

The staff report said conditions of approval have been added to mitigate potential noise impacts of the expansion. The original Expressive Use Permit’s conditions of approval required that “during all hours of operation, no doors leading from the restaurant and banquet facility to the exterior shall be propped open in order to prevent noise from filtering out.”

This condition is also proposed for the expanded use. Because the business is close to apartment residences, a condition of approval to soundproof the interior of the expanded tenant space is included in order to reduce the potential noise that may filter to the exterior of the site. In addition, the applicant will be required to comply with the City’s Noise Ordinance at all times.

As part of the review process, the Pasadena Police Department reviewed the application and informed the Planning and Community Development Department that there is no concern with the proposed expansion of the facility. 

The Planning Department included a number of conditions of approval to ensure the proposed use remains as a restaurant and banquet facility and does not become a nightclub.

One of the conditions is that no cover charge shall be required to enter the premise, and that alcohol consumption is only permitted inside the restaurant/banquet facility, not outdoors.

The City’s Code Compliance Section will periodically monitor the operation to ensure compliance, for which the applicant will pay a fee.

Another condition of approval gives the Zoning Administrator the authority to call for a review of the approved conditions at a public hearing; the Conditional Use Permit could potentially be revoked if sufficient cause is given.