Planners Give Green Light to Tip Top Sandwiches

The Fountain Valley Planning Commission unanimously approved plans Wednesday night for the opening of Tip Top Sandwiches on the site formerly occupied by Blockbuster Video on Brookhurst Street.

The 5,000-square-foot building seats 120 diners, and will have free-standing glass windows on the south and east sides. The original proposal called for outdoor seating, but that seating was taken out of the plans approved by the commission. The restaurant will serve sandwiches, baked goods and smoothies.

The commission also approved a request by Nick Pondoff to have a 10-foot wall in the back yard of his house at 17933 Toiyabe Circle. Pondoff also requested variances for similar fences and a gate, as well as a variance on his driveway, but those requests were denied by the commission.

Pondoff's house backs up to the 76 gas station at the corner of Brookhurst Street and Talbert Avenue, and the wall is used to separate his property from the has station as well as block fumes. The requested variances would have been retroactive, as the wall, fences and gate are already in place. Pondoff will now have to lower the fences and the gate, and get building permits for the back wall. He'll also have to remove at least some portion of his driveway and plant grass.

"The sign denotes 'A Nice Place to Live,'" said Pondoff's son Mark, appearing before the commission on behalf of his father. "But I've been here five years and I've yet to see that."