Parking at The Groves Could Reach Maximum Capacity
Ever ended up parking by Stater Bros. to get to Rodeo 72? The city's own data explains why — and two new businesses could make it worse.
CAPO Public House, the bar currently operating inside the Rodeo 72 food hall at The Groves, is seeking approval to expand into a building across the courtyard. The building is the former Superintendent's Residence at 7008 Walnut Grove Drive, a 100-year-old brick building that was once part of the Fred C. Nelles Youth Correctional Facility, California's oldest juvenile detention center, which operated from 1891 to 2004. The property is owned by Whittier and Sorensen LLC.
The proposed expansion would convert the 1,665-square-foot two-story building into a standalone bar and lounge with arcade games, pool tables, outdoor patio seating, and live entertainment, open daily from 6am to 1am.
To operate, CAPO is seeking a Type 48 On-Sale General Public Premises license from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. The license allows the sale of beer, wine, and distilled spirits for on-site consumption, and off-site sale of beer and wine. Food service is not required, though customers can bring in food from any of the Rodeo 72 eateries. Under a Type 48 license, minors are not allowed to enter and remain.
Separately, a new Korean BBQ restaurant called Sol Korean BBQ recently received permits to occupy the former Administration building of the same correctional facility at 7007 Walnut Grove Drive — adding a 5,270-square-foot restaurant with outdoor seating to Heritage Court.
The Parking Problem
The city's own staff report doesn't bury the concern. In the same document recommending approval of CAPO's expansion, city staff writes that adding both businesses "may result in parking demand at The Groves reaching maximum capacity."
To understand what that means, it helps to start at the beginning.
When The Groves was developed, standard city code would have required approximately 1,495 parking spaces for a development its size. The site was built with 749 — roughly half.
Under standard city code, EOS Fitness alone — which occupies 38,082 square feet at The Groves — would require approximately 761 parking spaces. More than the entire lot currently contains.
The city approved that shortfall under a shared parking model — a common planning approach that assumes different businesses draw crowds at different times of day. A gym fills up early morning; restaurants peak at lunch and dinner; retail draws afternoon shoppers. In theory, the same spaces serve everyone without the lot ever filling up at once.
Now subtract what's already spoken for. Of the 749 total spaces, 35 are handicap, 14 are time-limited, 13 are pickup, and 12 are reserved. That leaves 675 general parking spaces for the entire development — a gym, a food hall, a bank, a coffee shop, various food and retail tenants, and now a bar and a Korean BBQ restaurant.
The city's proposed parking management plan to help with limited parking would cut that number further. Under the plan, 120 spaces would be set aside for employee parking in what the study calls "less desirable" areas of the lot. An additional 8 spaces would be converted to curbside pickup and carpool stalls near the Whittier Cruiser stop. That brings usable customer parking down to approximately 547 spaces.
What the Parking Survey Found — And What It Missed
A parking demand analysis conducted by traffic engineering firm Linscott, Law & Greenspan (LLG) in April 2026 surveyed the lot on three days: Wednesday April 1, Friday March 27, and Saturday March 28. The results reveal a pattern familiar to anyone who parks at The Groves regularly.
The lot is divided into zones A through J.
- Zone E — the 133-space section closest to Rodeo 72 — ran between 85 and 99 percent full across all three days, hitting 99 percent on a Wednesday afternoon.
- Meanwhile, Zone C, the 157-space section in front of Stater Bros. and the farthest point from Rodeo 72, consistently had the most open spaces, dropping as low as 38 percent full on a Saturday.
- The most available parking exists almost entirely in the section that requires the longest walk — something anyone who has ended up near Stater Bros. after circling the Rodeo 72 lot has already figured out.
The survey has limits worth noting. All three observation days ended at 8pm, missing the Friday and Saturday evening hours when a bar, food hall, and Korean BBQ restaurant would all be drawing crowds at the same time. The underlying model also draws from national averages published in a 2020 Urban Land Institute manual for generic shopping centers — not from observed behavior at this specific, heavily trafficked destination.
The Proposed Solutions
The parking management plan includes several proposed fixes. Beyond setting aside employee parking and adding pickup stalls, the plan calls for 90-minute time limits on parking near Rodeo 72 to keep spaces turning over.
The plan also points to the Whittier Cruiser as an alternative for managing demand. The parking study identifies Rodeo 72 and EOS Fitness as the two most common destinations for Cruiser riders.
What Happens Next
The City Council opens the public hearing on CAPO Public House's conditional use permit tonight, May 26, at 6pm at Whittier City Hall. The hearing is expected to be continued to the July 14, 2026 City Council meeting, where a final decision will be made.
Public hearings are one of the few formal opportunities residents have to directly influence a land use decision before it's finalized. When members of the public speak or submit written comments, those statements become part of the official record that the City Council must consider before voting. If the permit is approved and later challenged, the public record — including community comments — becomes the foundation of that review.
Tonight's hearing will open the item and accept initial comments, but because it is expected to be continued to July 14, residents have time to review the full agenda packet, consult with neighbors, and prepare comments before the final hearing. Written comments submitted ahead of July 14 will also be incorporated into the record.
If you have concerns about parking, the bar expansion, or the broader development at The Groves, this is the formal channel to make your voice heard on the record.
