Additional outdoor dining opportunities have been proposed for downtown, and are currently being considered by the Bellefontaine City Council.
A proposal to install a vestibule at the entrance of 137 W. Columbus Ave. and to fence in an area at the front of the building for an outdoor dining area will be considered by council’s streets committee before making its way before the full council.
The outdoor seating would be diners of the Flying Pepper Cantina, which is set to open this summer in the building that once housed the House of Szechwan and the Palm Grill.
A public hearing on the issue was conducted Jan. 28, and a copy of the maps, description and other pertinent information are on file in the city engineer’s office at 135 N. Detroit St., Bellefontaine, for public examination Monday through Friday, between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Mayor Ben Stahler also reported during the meeting that a co-working office space concept is being planned for 139-141 W. Columbus Ave., next door to the Flying Pepper, that will allow entrepreneurs and small business owners to share temporary work space. Similar concepts have become popular among younger business professionals in urban locations, and have the potential to create additional opportunities for growing small businesses here, the mayor said.
City administrators intend to expand use of the Bellefontaine Armory building for storage of snow plow blades, and other heavy-duty equipment.
Service-safety director David Henry said capital improvement budget requests from city departments proposed building a new storage facility at a cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. It was quickly determined a more prudent use of the city’s resources would be to utilize existing space within the Bellefontaine Armory, the service-safety director said.
City council and administrators have been approached about potentially sharing space in the Armory to host a flea market-style collection of vendors. Administrators indicated Tuesday during the meeting they would attempt to work out logistics so that a space-sharing aggreement could be arranged.
Prior to council’s regular session, newly-appointed councilwoman Jenna James was sworn-in. She fills a seat vacated by the resignation of Allen Hadley, as detailed in the Jan. 25 Examiner.
Mike Vetorino was appointed to fill a vacant seat on the Board of Zoning Appeals.
The next regular city council meeting is 7:30 p.m., Feb. 11.