Sculpting gallery’s events

The Planning Commission set Feb. 14 as the date to hear the response to its proposal to grant a temporary-use permit to Dawson Cole Fine Art Gallery for events to be held in its Sculpture Garden Parking Lot.

It was no sweetheart decision. Conditions proposed at the Dec. 13 meeting for the approval of the proposed temporary-use permit included limits on the number and times of events — less than requested by the gallery.

“We really tried to balance what the neighbors wanted with what the gallery wanted,” Commissioner Norm Grossman said.

The commission spent about 2 ½ hours on the hearing at which more than 15 people spoke, about two-thirds of them in favor of the gallery application.

“We set the hearing for February to allow our staff time to work out the details and to accommodate the schedule of the gallery attorney,” Grossman said.

Among the proposed conditions:

“We are using the Mozambique model — one step at a time,” Grossman said. “If it appears to be working after a year, the commission would consider expansion.”

The gallery also must keep the sculpture garden gate open and provide parking spaces during the gallery hours of operation, a requirement of the 1991 conditional use permit and still in effect. Violations of conditions are possible grounds for permit revocation.

The commission vote was 4-0, Chair Linda Dietrich absent.