Community Backlash Changes Pasadena Doctor's Plans for Altadena Eatery

Written by Hazel Lodevico-To'o

Caving into neighborhood opposition, an Altadena restaurant owner from Pasadena has given up on plans to add a banquet hall where alcoholic beverages could be served and live entertainment could be performed.

The currently unnamed Indian restaurant on Altadena Drive and Washington Boulevard is under construction, and Pasadena doctor and owner Niral Kumar is looking for a tenant to rent the space where the banquet hall was to occupy, according to the Pasadena Star-News.

“The people have spoken, and I believe in the community and respect their opinion,” Kumar told the Star-News. “There’s no point having the neighborhood mad at me when they will be my tenants for the restaurant.”

The restaurant was first proposed as a 5,000-square-foot building, with the restaurant taking up 1,600 square feet. The rest of the building, according to the original proposal, would be reserved for retail space.

The Altadena Town Council requested that the Department of Regional Planning deny the conditional use permit that extends a liquor license and live entertainment outdoors.

In May 2012, Kumar was awarded a conditional use permit to serve alcohol at his restaurant, but there was no mention of a banquet hall at the time, drawing local concerns.

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