The balcony stays.
In a rare 4-3 vote, Athens City Council voted Monday night to allow a balcony on the second floor of a vacant Uptown building that is expected to be brought back to life this year.
The structure, 4 feet in depth, stretches over a city sidewalk at 63 N. Court St. and is part of the building’s owner’s plan to have new tenants in the space formerly home to the Blue Gator restaurant.
The ordinance passed Monday grants a revocable license to Gator Guys, LLC to keep the balcony even though some council members have doubts about new tenants allowing rowdy behavior above a pedestrian sidewalk.
Some council members argued that the developers built the structure without their permission.
Bryan Wharton, one of the owners of the building, said they went ahead with the project under the assumption it’d be approved. He seemed to have suggested that the balcony would have been taken down if the ordinance had failed.
“In no way is this an act of defiance toward the city,” Wharton said. “We’ve restyled, we’ve tried to compromise. We’re just optimistic that we’ll be given the license. Should we not receive it, we’ll have to pull back to what is acceptable.”
Councilwoman Chris Fahl, D-4th Ward, said she worries the process of asking for permission first could be tarnished.
“Something that cities and businesses rely on is process,” Fahl said, adding that the way Gator Guys handled the situation “creates an ‘I’ll do it and apologize later’ sort of atmosphere, which I don’t think benefits the city, the citizens and the businesses.”
Wharton said the balcony had to be constructed faster than the pace of local government regulations would allow because a state inspection was needed before leases start this month.
Process wasn’t the only concern council members brought up this week; they also worried about the safety of those on the balcony, as well as those strolling Court Street beneath it.
Even though Wharton outlined expectations of how the balcony should be used for tenants of the building, Councilwoman Chris Knisely, D-at large, said she isn’t convinced it’s completely safe.
“I credit the landlord, Mr. Wharton, for putting restrictions into the lease,” Knisely said, “but the dangerous activities may be committed by guests.”
Knisely proposed an amendment to the ordinance that would have changed the width of the balcony from 36 inches to 24 inches, but council did not adopt it.
Eric Moss and Barb North-Moss, owners of W.G. Grinders, 120 W. Union St., will open a new restaurant in the former Blue Gator space as early as October, according to a previous Post article.
The new restaurant will utilize local resources for food and drinks, something the couple says they had trouble doing at W.G. Grinders, and the Mosses estimate the new establishment will bring in 40 to 50 new jobs.
“You never want to see a building vacant for a long time,” Eric Moss said. “And (the Blue Gator building) was vacant long enough.”
kh547011@ohiou.edu
