Jennifer Celio was scrolling through Facebook earlier this year when she saw a post that the popular restaurant next to the condo she purchased last year could be replaced by a seven-story apartment building. She immediately sprung into action.

Celio started posting fliers everywhere in her Atlantic Plaza condo building, hoping to spread the word not only that Padre Latin Table and Cocktails could be on the chopping block, but that the L-shaped, 48-unit building that could replace it had the potential to block the building’s residents from natural light and the ocean breeze.

“It just feels like a slap in the face, bordering on cruel for a developer to come in and box in our building,” Celio said.

The Long Beach Planning Commission will hear an appeal from Celio and other residents Thursday night who hope to win modifications of the project proposed for 525 E. Broadway that could increase the space between the two buildings in hopes of increasing air circulation and limit the loss of sunlight.

There are also concerns that the project is being built so close to the existing project that it would make it difficult for firefighters or other first responders to access the building in the event of an emergency. The two buildings could have just nine feet between them.

The proposed project includes six stories of apartments including 47 two-bedroom units and one three-bedroom unit sitting atop a ground-level retail space. It would also include a three-story integrated parking garage that could fit 60 vehicles.

The developer, Topanga Developments, have multiple pending and completed projects in Van Nuys and one in Lake Balboa. A leasing website for the project is already up listing units for about $2,500 a month.

Representatives from Topanga Developments did not respond to a request for comment on the project.

While the Long Beach project still faces procedural obstacles like Thursday’s appeal, its design complies with building standards that were adopted for the area in the 2012 Downtown Plan that the City Council approved for the area known as PD-30.

The parcel where Padre sits and the apartments have been proposed is zoned for 240-foot tall structures, which can be taller if they meet certain density standards. A typical seven-story building is between 70 and 80 feet tall.

Christopher Koontz, deputy director of Long Beach Development Services, said that when a project meets development standards the city cannot block a project. However, Koontz said that the appeal is an important part of the process to ensure that everyone is heard and considered, adding that the Planning Commission’s decision Thursday would be final.

“The only other option available to block the project would be a lawsuit,” Koontz said in an email.

Susan Taylor, who owns a unit at the Atlantic Plaza, said that the group of appellants are considering lawyers if the appeal is denied. Taylor’s unit has been in her family for decades and she is currently renting her fourth floor condo to her nephew who she plans to leave it to when she dies, she said.

Taylor emphasized that the group’s efforts are not about NIMBYism, it’s about trying to mitigate the loss of light and the breeze that residents of the 1968 building depend on to cool their units since many lack air conditioning.

“We were never trying to stop the development, we were trying to make it livable,” Taylor said.

Taylor said the group proposed a number of fixes like a vertical garden and an art element to give condo owners a prettier view of the building that could be built just feet away from their homes.

Taylor said they even proposed that the project actually be built taller on the Broadway side if the developers agreed to leave the western side of the project low enough to allow sun and air to reach their condo building from that direction.

They also proposed flipping the design to put the project’s raised courtyard on the north side of the building to allow for more space between the two buildings but Taylor said that idea was shot down by the developers who said it would take away from prospective renters’ views.

The group is asking for third-party studies to look at how police and fire access to the building would be affected by the project and another that would examine quality of life.

There is no anticipated start date for construction but Koontz said that a project of this size typically takes about 9-12 months after receiving approval to begin construction. Koontz said it was his understanding that Padre would be returning to the new building once it’s built.

A representative from Padre did not respond to request for comment on the future of the restaurant.

Celio, like others in the building are contemplating whether they should sell but it’s going to be a tough decision, she said. This condo was the first purchase that she and her partner made together and they bought it because they loved the views.

If they do move, Celio said she’s going to make it a point to look at the surrounding zoning and proposed projects maps, something she’s become familiar with during this process, to make sure that they don’t move next door to another soon-to-be tall building.

“Most likely we wouldn’t have bought this condo if we knew about this project,” Celio said.