Monday, April 6, 1998 | 10:14 a.m.
HENDERSON -- The most famous mouse in the pizza business, Chuck E. Cheese, may on his way.
The Planning Commission has recommended approval for the restaurant to be built in the Shanalee Shopping Center at the southeast corner of Sunset Road and Whitney Ranch Drive, near Green Valley High School.
A request for final approval will go before the City Council on April 21.
City planners and Planning Commission members wrestled with the question of approving a business that serves alcohol close to a school.
Commissioner Guy Van Wyck said there were already businesses near the school that served alcohol. He said they had been granted business licenses partly because of walls and fences that act as a barrier to students.
"There are liquor sales right around the school, one of which we just granted approval for recently," Van Wyck said. "So, to withhold it (from Chuck E. Cheese) would be capricious."
Staff had recommended denial of a use permit for the project, but planner Tracey Foutz said that recommendation was partly based on the fact that adequate documentation had not been provided by the applicant, Showbiz Pizza Time Inc., prior to the meeting.
"We weren't provided with the documentation about the high school and the fence (that acts as a barrier) between the school and the restaurant," he said. "We lacked the justification to recommend approval."
The proposed Chuck E. Cheese will be 11,310 square feet and located 870 feet from Green Valley High School. Foutz said, however, that the actual distance a student would have to travel to gain entrance to the establishment would be about a mile, due to the physical barriers that already exist.
The overall vehicle-travel distance, taking into account the physical barriers, would be more than 1,500 feet from the school. This would satisfy the distance required by code.
As part of the conditions for recommending approval, Commissioner George Bochanis recommended making the use permit subject to immediate review based on the planning director's findings in the event of complaints.
Among the conditions agreed to by the developers was the stipulation that Chuck E. Cheese will only sell one glass of beer or wine per customer at a time, and would sell no hard liquor, even though their license would allow them to do so.
To quell concerns about students and other youths frequenting the restaurant unsupervised, Chuck E. Cheese will not allow anyone in under 18 without an adult accompanying them. There will also be a system of matching children with the adults they came with as they enter the restaurant. In addition, any person who appears to be under 30 will be carded.
Planning Commission Chairman Danny Sanders, who cast the lone dissenting vote, expressed doubt that the policies set forth by the restaurant could actually be enforced due to the entertainment atmosphere of the restaurant, which focuses on arcade games and children's parties.
George Garcia, the consultant for the developer, said he understands the caution.
"Children and families are our business," he said.
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