After stop work order, restaurant may soon be able to open
A proposed restaurant, whose construction was halted earlier this year after it failed to receive the necessary permits before beginning construction, will likely be able to open in the near future after receiving approval for nearly all of its variance requests.
The Kokomo Board of Zoning Appeals on Tuesday voted to approve all but one variance requests for a proposed restaurant at 2323 N. Elizabeth St. Out of the seven variance requests, the one seeking a 4.9% variance for maximum lot coverage was denied by a 1-3 vote.
Despite the denial, Tori Tripp of Tripp Engineering and hired civil engineer for the project, and Paul Wyman, owner of The Wyman Group and the hired representative for the project, seemed confident after Tuesday's meeting the necessary changes could be made so the development would not need the variance for maximum lot coverage in order to move forward and open in the future.
The city of Kokomo's zoning ordinance states that the total square feet of all primary and accessory structures and impervious surface cannot exceed 70% of the total lot area in a medium- to-large-scale (C2) commercial zone.
To not need the variance, the proposed restaurant, headed and owned by Charles Jones, would need to decrease either the building size or the amount of concrete on the property and add the amount of permeable surface.
"We're going to try and figure that out," Tripp said when asked after the meeting if she thought the project could meet the maximum lot coverage standards.
The development has been dragged out over the last several months as it has faced numerous issues, most of which is tied to the fact the construction of the building began without first receiving development plan approval from the Kokomo Plan Commission and receiving the proper permits.
Before any new building or addition to an existing building can begin, it first must receive development plan approval.
Once the Kokomo-Howard County Plan Commission got wind of the new development in January, Greg Sheline, the office's executive director, issued a stop work order to the project's construction company, owned by Dan Dumoulin II.
Dumoulin's construction company, however, did not obey the order initially, according to Sheline, and was still adding siding and doing other work to the building several weeks later, prompting a stern reminder from Sheline that a stop work order means just that. It was listened to at that time, Sheline said.
The original plan was to use the existing building on the property and renovate the interior and exterior of the building but not to build a new building or add to the footprint of the building, which was also done by a couple hundred square feet.
Dumolin did receive a permit from the city to just renovate the building, Sheline said, but plans changed after it became clear the existing building was worse and more deteriorated than originally thought. The old building was then demolished and a new one put in its place, one slightly larger than the one it replaced.
The illegal construction of the building rubbed some on the BZA the wrong way.
"How you could not dot some of these i's and cross some of the t's way before you completely rebuild the building, I can't get my head around it," Mike Besser, a BZA board member, said.
Sheline described the predicament as something he and his office has rarely had to deal with during his tenure as executive director.
"This could and should've been avoided," Sheline said.
The restaurant's owner, Charles Jones, was present at Tuesday's BZA meeting. He apologized to the BZA for the "big mistakes" made and that he wanted to make things right.
"I'm truly sorry for the problems I've caused and the mistakes I've made," Jones said, fighting back tears.
It's unclear at this time if the restaurant will also need future development plan approval from the Plan Commission.
What it does need, though, is future approval to encroach on the city of Kokomo's right of way from the Board of Public Works and Safety. The city has a right of way from North Elizabeth to nearly all the way west to the building.
The encroachment is needed so the business can put in parking spaces on the building's east side.
