East Long Beach residents plan to protest Del Taco drive-thru tonight

A plan to remove a gas station and replace it with a Del Taco restaurant has Los Altos residents up in arms.

The proposal to put a Del Taco at the coer of Bellflower Boulevard and Abbeyfield Road goes before the Plaing Commission tonight. The site is across the street from the I-HOP restaurant in the Los Altos Center.

The site is zoned as part of a community commercial automobile-oriented zone and currently is home to a Shell gas station. A restaurant is permitted under the current zoning, but a Conditional Use Permit is required for the proposed drive-through lane, which enters from Abbeyfield Street and runs between the building and Bellflower Boulevard.

According to the staff report, the design provides 150 feet of vehicular queuing space on the property, with the exit onto Bellflower Boulevard. While the pickup window is on the building’s west side, the menu board and speaker box is on the side nearest the residential area. It is, however angled toward the intersection to minimize impact on the residential zone.

Fourth District Councilman Daryl Supeaw said that he first heard last week that the Del Taco proposal was moving forward. He called a neighborhood meeting to talk about the project with the developer and Del Taco representatives.

“More than 70 neighborhood residents attended, and they expressed near unanimous disapproval of the project during the hour long meeting,” Supeaw wrote in his newsletter. “The day after the meeting, the developer informed me Del Taco would reduce the operating hours from 24 to 21 hours per day. Even with that concession, neighbors are plaing a protest.”

A couple of years ago, residents in that area also opposed a Taco Beach restaurant across Abbeyfield from the Del Taco site. While the Taco Beach ultimately received approval from the city and opened there, a series of restrictive special conditions was added at the Plaing Commission hearing.

Tonight’s Plaing Commission meeting starts at 5 p.m. in council chambers at City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd. The Del Taco is the fourth item on the agenda.

Harry Saltzgaver is executive editor of Gazette Newspapers. He can be reached at [email protected].

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