If south Fayetteville residents are hungry for a Waffle House on their side of town, they'll have to wait a little while longer.

City Planning Commission members said they had no choice but to deny the company's plans to provide almost twice as many parking spaces as city law allows, but they encouraged company representatives to appeal that decision to the City Council.

Council will hear the appeal during its Dec. 30 work session and Jan. 4 regular meeting. The work session will be at 7:30 p.m., the meeting at 7 p.m., both at at City Hall.

"We really don't have the authority to grant this variance," said commission chairman Bill Talley before casting a tie-breaking vote in favor of a motion to deny Waffle House's variance request.

The company wants 32 parking spaces for its restaurant planned at the corner of Ga. Highway 85 south and Ramah Road, just across Ramah from a Kroger shopping center under construction.

But city ordinances allow only 20, and the Planning Commission is prohibited from granting more than a 2 per cent variance in that requirement, members said.

Richard Renninger, who wants to build the 40-seat restaurant, said Waffle House is different from most restaurants in that many of its customers arrive alone. With six to seven employees parking, plus customers waiting for seating at peak times, a 20-seat parking lot will overflow, he said.

Without adequate parking, he will have to abandon plans to build the restaurant, he added.

Renninger also pointed out that the city granted a similar variance for a Waffle House on Ga. Highway 54 east, but commission members said that variance was granted before City Council passed new ordinances that limit the commission's authority in such matters.

"The City Council has the authority to give you what you want," commission member Allan Feldman told Waffle House representatives.

Commissioners seemed pleased with the company's development plan, which calls for an all-brick building exactly like the one on Hwy. 54, except that the firm has agreed to install additional screening so rooftop air conditioning and other equipment can't be seen from the road.

The firm also presented plans to aim all parking lot lights into the interior of the parking area, away from nearby homes.