City Hall has postponed a Planning Commission hearing on a proposed new Subway restaurant at 29 Miller Ave. indefinitely. City officials said that neighbor complaints about the amount of traffic the sandwich shop would generate incited the city to request specific traffic data from the applicant.

The hearing initially was scheduled for Jan. 9 but was delayed two weeks to Monday, Jan. 23 due to lack of sufficient public notice. 

Akki Patel, who has opened a number of Subway franchises in the North Bay and the Bay Area, signed a lease with building owner Lynn Spaulding in December to move into the space that was occupied for 43 years by Baskin-Robbins before it closed in July. Patel is looking to open a Subway in the 930-square-foot space, which would be the second Subway in the area along with the location at Tam Junction.

The transition from one food service business to another in a space smaller than 1,500 square feet normally wouldn't require the need for a Conditional Use Permit and a public hearing. But planning department officials have said that because so many of the city's regulations have changed over the past 43 years, Patel and Subway must go through the public hearing process.

The application serves as a litmus test for recent City Hall discussions about how chain businesses fit into the ongoing overhaul of the city’s zoning ordinances. In a recent reader poll that drew more than 140 votes, Subway's application received 65 percent support.