This story is part of Worthington Pulse's coverage of the September 10 Architectural Review Board meeting. Start with the September 10 meeting recap.
Joya's, the downtown restaurant on High Street, won the approvals it needs to expand into the neighboring storefront, add an accessible entrance, and stay open into the evening. At its September 10 meeting, the Architectural Review Board approved the exterior and signage changes, and the Municipal Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit for the larger restaurant, but only after the owners agreed to drop, for now, a plan to replace sidewalk landscaping with a paved patio.
What's changing
The restaurant is taking over the former Grid Furnishings space next door, connected on the inside by an existing set of stairs, and picking up an additional roughly 60 interior seats. Planning staff described most of the work as improvements to a building the owners clearly value. The front entrance, which currently requires stepping up, will be reworked so customers can enter by ramp from the public sidewalk, a change the owners said is meant to serve patrons who use wheelchairs. The plan also relocates the restaurant's blade sign to a column on the new space, adds a new dimensional wood-look sign, and extends the business's orange window trim to the expanded storefront.
Behind the building, mechanical equipment that could not be supported on the roof will sit on a pad along the south side, screened by a cedar fence, and the owners committed to repainting weathered exterior walls as part of the project. Staff also noted the expansion will require upgrading the building's water service, which the owners said they are working through with a civil engineer.
The sidewalk seating question
The one piece the board could not simply approve was outdoor seating in the public right-of-way. The original plan would have removed shrubs between two street trees and replaced them with pavers and café tables. Planning staff said that runs against a firm city position: "we do not want to remove any of the greenery that is still currently in the downtown and replace it with hardscape," and even if the board signed off, "the city is not going to approve it," because the right-of-way is outside the board's jurisdiction.
The applicants withdrew that portion. In its place, the conditional use permit allows about eight additional sidewalk seats, and staff suggested the restaurant could also look at seating in front of a neighboring storefront that currently has none.
One board member used the discussion to argue the city should write better guidelines so restaurants do not have to choose between greenery and seating. "You can do both," the member said. "It may cost a little more money, but you can build proper planter walls that still carry a tremendous amount of foliage and greenery," backing a bench-style seat with landscaping behind it.
Approved
The Architectural Review Board approved the building and signage changes unanimously. The Municipal Planning Commission, with only three of its five members present (meaning all three votes were needed), then approved the conditional use permit, clearing the restaurant to operate with hours of 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. and the eight added sidewalk seats. The owners said they expect to serve dinner Wednesday through Sunday, a change from the roughly 8-to-2 daytime hours they keep now.
This is one of 2 Worthington Pulse stories from the September 10 Architectural Review Board meeting recap.