Blog

By Carol Arnett

The Florissant City Council held two public hearings, both regarding new restaurants, at the last council meeting.

The first hearing dealt with a request by Weaver’s Deli  for a special use permit to allow for a barbecue pit on the parking lot of the restaurant at 12761 New Halls Ferry Road.

Thayer Weaver, the owner of Weaver’s,  said that he would be barbecuing from 6:30 a.m. until the restaurant opened at 11 a.m. three days a week. He said that he formerly owned a barbecue restaurant in Moline Acres and his customers have been requesting his barbecue.

He said he did barbecue for five or six months, until city officials told him to stop after a complaint. The pit he plans to use would take up one parking space. It would use wood instead of propane. All purchases will still be made inside, not on the lot. He said he would prefer to use the front lot since it was further away from any homes than the back lot.

Councilman Mark Schmidt questioned why Weaver needed a special use permit and Dierbergs did not. City Attorney John Hessel said he thought it was because Dierbergs had a different zoning than the center where Weaver’s restaurant is located.

Hessel said that one of P and Z’s concerns was the use of a parking space because the center currently had fewer spaces than it should under city ordinance.

Hessel warned that making this a permitted use under a special use permit could have repercussions for other businesses also.

Councilman Ben Hernandez said that his only concern was that any other restaurant could do this. He said he had seen other areas in other cities where there were pits in every strip center along the street.

The second hearing dealt with a request by The Rice House II for a special use permit to allow a restaurant at 2725 North Highway 67. This is near Johnny Mac’s Sporting Goods.

This would be the second Rice House in Florissant. Kenny Truong, the owner, said that his first restaurant has been very successful and he would like to open a second. The proposed restaurant would have space for dining in, as well as four tables for outside dining. The restaurant would be open Monday – Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.