Casa Ramos restaurant planned at 1526 E. Main St., site of burned building

A substantial conformance improvement permit is being sought to allow deviations from certain development standards for the redevelopment of a Casa Ramos restaurant at 1526 E. Main St. in the general commercial district.

The permit is to be discussed April 7 by the Mesa Board of Adjustment. The board meets at 5 p.m. for a study session and 5:30 p.m. for a meeting.

The applicant, Justin Pasternak, is proposing to reconstruct a 5,630-square-foot restaurant building within the footprint of a previous building that was destroyed by a fire, Mesa Planner Charlotte Bridges said in a staff report.

Significant alterations to the site, including demolition of the building foundation, parking area and on-site circulation, would need to occur to bring the site into full conformance with current Mesa zoning ordinance development standards, she said.

The building architecture and site design will be enhanced from the previous restaurant that burned down on the existing site, wrote Mr. Pasternak, managing principal at JMP Design LLC, in a project narrative.

“The rebuild of the restaurant will introduce new design elements and added landscaping and setbacks to align with the adjacent developments and standards. Special enhancements were given to the street-facing south and east elevations to increase the curb appeal and add to the character of Main Street. The existing parking lot will be broken up to add new landscaping islands/diamond and reduced parking to align more closely with the development standards. All proposed improvements will be a huge increase upon the previous and existing non-conforming site design,” he said.