The Planning, Zoning and Adjustment Board on Oct. 15 recommended that Village Council approve Resolution R2025-69, a master plan amendment for the 52-acre Lotus Wellington 2 project that removes the previously approved indoor/outdoor entertainment use and allows a freestanding 8,500-square-foot restaurant. The advisory board’s recommendation is conditioned on the applicant disclosing the restaurant tenant and providing the board and council with Popstroke’s termination letter.

The board’s action follows a multi-hour staff and applicant presentation and extended questioning from board members and staff. The applicant said Popstroke terminated its lease in September 2024 and that the developer spent months seeking an alternative entertainment tenant before pursuing a restaurant and a multi-tenant retail/restaurant building.

Why it matters: The project was originally approved with a high-profile entertainment tenant and a conditional-use approval tied to indoor/outdoor entertainment. Residents and board members expressed concern that replacing that use with conventional restaurants or retail could reduce the planned community-gathering function of the parcel along State Road 7, change traffic and noise characteristics, and deviate from representations the developer made to the council when the original approvals were secured.

Planning staff and the applicant

Damien Newell, senior planner, summarized the changes in the applicant’s request and identified the file as Resolution R2025-69; he told the board the request primarily affects the commercial “pod A” frontage along State Road 7. Brian Terry of Insight Studio and Rich Casor, representing the applicant, presented the proposed site changes and leasing progress. Terry described the existing site conditions, utility routing and the design work done for the original Popstroke layout, noting that the parcel’s geometry and installed utilities had been designed around the now-canceled tenant. Casor said Popstroke sent a termination letter in September 2024 and that the team tried for months to retenant the entertainment space with alternatives (indoor pickleball, bowling, indoor mini-golf and similar concepts) before securing interest from national restaurant and retail prospects.

Casor said the applicant is negotiating a lease for an 8,500-square-foot freestanding restaurant and is working on letters of intent or LOIs for the 8,000-square-foot multi-tenant building; he said the pad-lease restaurant is “expected to be signed in the next 30 days,” subject to execution of lease terms and attorney redlines. He also said the typical pad delivery to minimum tenant-ready conditions would be about four to five months.

Board concerns and staff recommendation

Board members pressed the applicant for documentary proof of Popstroke’s termination, detailed leasing commitments, and the commercial market analysis used to justify the change. A board member said, “I would strongly recommend you provide that [termination] letter to the council so they can see that indeed what you’re representing to the public is accurate,” and later the board insisted council receive the termination letter as part of the public record.

Staff recommended approval of the freestanding restaurant only and did not recommend approval of the proposed 8,000-square-foot multi-tenant building as submitted. Staff suggested the multi-tenant building should retain either an entertainment component or additional evidence of viable entertainment tenants before council approval.

Votes and conditions

After extended deliberations the board voted 5-2 to recommend approval of the resolution as recommended by staff, with explicit conditions that the applicant disclose the identity of the 8,500-square-foot restaurant tenant to council and provide Popstroke’s termination letter for the public record. The motion passed after several failed and amended motions; the final motion sent to council included the staff recommendation for the standalone restaurant, left open the entertainment conditional-use question for council review, and asked for the applicant’s additional documentation.

Key details from the record

- Site and zoning: 52.44-acre mixed-use site (MUPD) north of the Forest Hill/State Road 7 intersection; Lotus 1 (phase 1) is separate and unchanged by this amendment.
- Timeline: Master plan and conditional-use approvals originally in December 2023; site plan approved January 2024; Popstroke termination dated Sept. 2024 (applicant stated).
- Day care: No change to Pod B’s architecture; applicant requests an increase of daycare capacity by 20 children (reported from about 210 to 230 capacity as part of the amendment). Applicant said the daycare building was constructed for up to 288 in design capacity but currently requests a 20-child increase.
- Traffic and permits: County traffic review letter ties building-permit authority to a traffic reservation through Dec. 31, 2029; staff noted the change arose from updated traffic-assessment conditions and does not replace local master-plan vesting.
- School mitigation: The transcript references earlier school mitigation estimates (paragraph 29 of the staff resolution) and a proposed change in contribution: earlier figure reported at roughly $632,000 based on initial submittal; applicant and staff indicated the contribution recalculates to $255,000 following a reduction in residential unit counts to 172.
- Leasing: Applicant reported the signature restaurant’s corporate real-estate committee has approved the site concept; retailer interest is described as “further behind” in LOI negotiations; initial lease terms discussed as typically 10-year minimums for anchor tenants.

What the board asked council to consider

The board’s recommendation directs council to review the resolution with the termination letter and tenant disclosure included in the council packet. The board also requested council weigh staff’s suggestion that the multi-tenant building either retain a clear entertainment component or provide additional feasibility evidence for entertainment uses before changing the conditional-use status of pod A.

What’s next

The item will be heard by Village Council on Nov. 12. Staff and the applicant told the board they expect to submit any revised resolution conditions and additional documentation to staff prior to the council date, including—if executed—the lease documents for the freestanding restaurant and, per the applicant, a representative from the leased restaurant may attend council to answer questions.

Ending note

Board members and residents reiterated the importance of written documentation and clarity when a developer requests changes that deviate from prior council-approved community benefits. The board’s recommendation preserves staff’s preference for a single freestanding restaurant while requiring additional documentation before council final action.