A plan to transform Roy Pope Grocery into a full-service restaurant is off the table for now.<\/p>\n
Westland Hospitality Group, a growing Fort Worth-based restaurant group, was denied a zoning exemption Wednesday as they seek to open a Southern-style eatery and bar at the shuttered neighborhood grocery store at 2300 Merrick St.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In an 8-2 vote, the Fort Worth Zoning commissioners denied their recommendation to city council members because the site lacks the required 72 parking spaces. On Oct. 13, the council will consider exemption requests to add alcohol sales and restaurant uses to the site as well as a reduction in parking requirements.<\/p>\n
Developers are seeking to preserve the legacy of the gourmet grocery and meat market opened by the late Roy and Rose Pope in 1943. Westland Hospitality took over the lease of the one-story 7,218-square-foot building on June 1.<\/p>\n
Westland Hospitality managing partner Bourke Harvey, who bagged groceries at the store as a teenager, said the proposed restaurant would be a \u201creally cool neighborhood concept\u201d similar to Kinkaid\u2019s, a former west side grocer that is now a noted hamburger restaurant.<\/p>\n
Fort Worth entrepreneur and commercial real estate adviser Jordan Johnson told commissioners he supported the plan because potential customers from the neighborhood would likely walk to the site instead of driving.<\/p>\n
Lydia Guajardo Rickard, executive director of the Camp Bowie District Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to the revitalization of the Camp Bowie Boulevard corridor, said she also supports the proposal since it would be a strong commercial development that would add more dining options to the area.<\/p>\n
Zoning commissioner Charles Edmonds noted that the site lacks 37 parking spaces and that street spaces nearby don\u2019t add to the count. He also noted that more than 60 nearby residents wrote letters opposing the project while just a handful expressing support for the development were received.<\/p>\n
Arlington Heights resident Lisa Gilbert, who lives nearby on Collinwood Avenue, said she collected 81 signatures from residents opposed to the zoning waivers. She said the initial plan called for a bar bigger than the dining area.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot support the concepts on the table now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Tommy Stanley, a longtime resident of Collinwood Avenue, said residents want to see reduced bar seating and that the establishment should close by 8 p.m.<\/p>\n
Harvey said Westland restaurants generally close at 9 p.m. and staff is usually gone within an hour afterward.<\/p>\n
A city staff report said officials previously approved a site plan for the grocery that called for four parking spots per 1,000 square feet with a maximum of 34 off-street parking spaces and 10 on-street parking spaces. However, under the requirements for a restaurant, a total of 72 parking spaces are needed. The city recommended denial of the proposals.<\/p>\n
The building has attracted vagrants and trash while it is closed, Stanley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the restaurant is closed, that\u2019s what\u2019s going to happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Harvey, who said he recently picked up mattresses and trash from the store parking lot, said the business, when operational, would keep the site clean.<\/p>\n
Westland Hospitality officials previously said a new Southern menu will be developed<\/a> by restaurateur Gigi Howell, chef Juan Rodriguez and Levi Gardner, executive chef at Margie\u2019s Italian Gardens and a Westland Hospitality culinary leader.\u00a0<\/p>\n The hospitality group owns several Fort Worth restaurants including JD\u2019s Hamburgers, Pulido\u2019s Kitchen & Cantina, Margie\u2019s Italian Gardens, Curly\u2019s Frozen Custard, Magdalena\u2019s Catering & Events, West Side Cafe, Westland Gardens and Westland Bar Co.<\/p>\n Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n