Residents object to Panini Cafe move

NEWPORT BEACH — When the owners of the Panini Cafe made plans to move a few doors down on Pacific Coast Highway, they relished the opportunity to work in a building with more parking spaces, accessible restrooms and a spot in one of the city’s busiest intersections.

A number of residents, however, felt otherwise about having another restaurant on a crowded block. As the Planning Commission prepares to review Panini’s application Thursday, two petitions are circulating through the neighborhood asking the city to deny the owners a permit.

“We will work to get some solutions going,” said City Councilwoman Nancy Gardner, who plans to hold meetings in the coming weeks with residents and the city’s Business Improvement District. “I think Panini is just a flash point for some issues that have been festering.”

The first petition, written by longtime residents Lila and Cris Crespin, opposes the move because the Panini Cafe sells beer and wine with meals.

The authors refer to the stretch of Pacific Coast Highway between Begonia and Carnation avenues as “Alcohol Alley,” citing the high number of restaurants that serve liquor on the block.

The second petition, which is unsigned, argues the restaurant will make it harder for residents to park in the neighborhood. Several restaurant owners on the block said they had received copies of the petition, although its author remained a mystery.

Hansen Kamci, the restaurant’s manager, said most of the neighbors’ concerns are misguided.

The new location, he said, will have more on-site parking than the current one, meaning fewer cars on the surrounding streets.

And while the Panini Cafe offers beer and wine on the menu, it’s hardly a place where people go simply to drink.

“It’s not going to disturb the neighbors or anything,” Kamci said.

The Panini Cafe, which has been on Pacific Coast Highway since 1995, purchased the building recently vacated by the Orient Handel rug shop.

The area features a number of eateries packed together — including the Bungalow Restaurant, the Wine Gallery and Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt — and precious few parking spaces on the street and in back.

Jim Walker, owner of the Bungalow Restaurant, is among those opposed to the Panini Cafe moving down the block. The issue is not competition, he said, but congestion.

“If the back of our lot was wide open and had 150 spaces, I would welcome Panini,” he said. “I think restaurants do better when they cluster.”

Jim Huston, co-owner of the Wine Gallery, said he had been approached with the petition but declined to sign it.

“I’m for Panini going in this area,” he said. “Parking may be an issue, but I think the increased business will be good for the community.”