Interpretation submission 73026

Application Addendum - Interpretation West Orange Plaza West Orange Plaza (the “Owner”) has been working very hard to bring high quality tenants to the West Orange Plaza shopping center located at 235 Prospect Avenue and has spent a considerable amount of time vetting proposed restaurant uses. It has rejected several restaurant tenants that have expressed an interest in locating in the shopping center because they don’t fit within the upscale vision that the Owner (and we believe the Township) has for the center. Despite these efforts, several of the proposed restaurant uses that have been told that they would need to go before the ZBA to obtain an interpretation that their use is permitted. In this application, the Owner seeks an interpretation that Cava, Just Salad, honeygrow1 and similar Fast Casual Restaurants are permitted uses in the P-C Zone in which the West Orange Plaza shopping center is located. Under the West Orange Zoning Code, there are only two categories of restaurants: “Fast Food Restaurant” and “Restaurant.” The definition of “Fast Food Restaurant” in the West Orange Code is as follows: FAST FOOD RESTAURANT - Shall mean the retail sale of ready-to-eat foods and beverages for on and/or off premises consumption, whenever the foods and beverages are available upon a short waiting time, and orders are placed by the customer at a counter, and primarily served in or on disposable wrappers, containers or plates, and where there is a seating capacity of more than 15 individuals. This does not include restaurants which have "take-out" as accessory to a traditional restaurant. There is no dispute that a “Fast Food Restaurant” is not a permitted use in the P-C Zone in which the shopping center is located. The definition of “Restaurant” is as follows: RESTAURANT - Shall mean a public establishment which serves food and drink primarily or exclusively for consumption on the premises and is not a "Fast Food Restaurant" as defined in this chapter. For the purposes of this chapter, a "Bar" shall also be deemed a "Restaurant" only if food is prepared, served and consumed on the premises. Therefore, under this definition, any restaurant that does not meet the definition of a Fast Food Restaurant,

a "Restaurant" only if food is prepared, served and consumed on the premises. Therefore, under this definition, any restaurant that does not meet the definition of a Fast Food Restaurant, is simply a Restaurant. There is no category for “Fast Casual Restaurant” which is a term used in the industry. As discussed below, the nature of the operations of Fast Casual Restaurants do not meet each of the elements required to be classified as Fast Food Restaurants. Fast Casual Restaurants should therefore be classified as Restaurants within the meaning of the West Orange Code. There are several important elements contained with the definition of Fast Food Restaurant, all of which must be satisfied for a restaurant to be classified as a Fast Food Restaurant. Stated again with each criterion bolded, the definition of Fast Food Restaurant is as follows: 1 honeygrow does not capitalize its name.