Talks continue over Mellow Mushroom plans
By Susanna P. Barton
There has been no mellowing of discussion between Mellow Mushroom restaurant planners and the newly formed We Love Avondale partnership over the summer. Lunches, meetings and conversations between the opposing groups have been ongoing, according to We Love Avondale founder and Avondale resident Tommy Donahoo. A mid-July meeting, in fact, produced a deviation-free, reduced-scope plan that restaurant designers currently are mulling.
“We’re talking,” Donahoo said. “What they want is for us to tell them specifically what’s wrong with their plan, and what we want to say is, ‘look, it’s about size, scale, density, parking and late night noise.’ It’s that kind of conversation.”
We Love Avondale LLC is a group of Avondale residents and merchants who take issue with the scope, density, parking, traffic and safety impacts of the planned 220-seat Mellow Mushroom restaurant. Mellow Mushroom wants to build a restaurant in the space formerly occupied by ‘town and the gas station adjacent to the building. Outdoor seating and a green space also are part of the restaurant’s plan. We Love Avondale, and others in the neighborhood, feel the Shoppes of Avondale already is squeezed for parking — and that the emergence of another large-scale restaurant would push the retail area’s capacity past the tipping point.
While restaurant owner John Valentino originally applied for a PUD zoning modification, that plan has been dropped. Instead, Mellow Mushroom will attempt to remedy parking requirements and impact through an administrative deviation process.
The two groups met to discuss some of the larger issues in mid- and late-July. Riverside Avondale Preservation Chair Jonathan Oliff and executive director, Carmen Godwin, attended the first meeting. During that gathering, a We Love Avondale designer presented some ideas for a new plan that would be more in line with parameters allowed under the current zoning regulations.
“What they presented was interesting — it showed them there’s a way to do the project, but within the confines of the overlay,” Godwin said. “In that respect, it’s probably something we’d like them to look at.”
Simon Keymer, who is handling community relations for Mellow Mushroom in Avondale, said there are some concerns that We Love Avondale is asking Mellow Mushroom to “compromise the vision for the restaurant in a way that runs counter to the best interests of Avondale.”
“Our plan was always ‘adaptive reuse’ of the derelict gas station,” Keymer said in an email following an interview about the discussions. “Their plan, though not without its merits, seems to require us to demolish it and build a new building instead. Though the gas station is a non-conforming building, we think it has real potential and that to adapt and reuse it would be more in keeping with the ethos of a historic district.”
But Keymer said Mellow Mushroom owners would look carefully at what they’d been given and hoped they could work toward a solution that “works for everyone in our community.”
He indicated a compromise design was in the works.
Donahoo said We Love Avondale’s ask is simple: “follow the law. The historical overlay is there for a reason.”
Since last month, We Love Avondale has established an online presence for communication about future meetings and plans. The site is at www.weloveavondale.com. Mellow Mushroom also launched a website for community engagement. That site is at www.igetmellow.com.
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