Honestly, the Jittery Joe’s question is probably over. An ordinance is an ordinance and we’ve decided, as a community, that we don’t want to promote surface parking in the CBD. But I don’t think a special use in the Jittery Joe’s case will draw developers in to swoop in and buy the Armstrong and Dobbs lot, raze the buildings and fill it with RVs on gamedays (as some officials fear). And paving a lot doesn’t fix the possible uses for the empty lot.
At the same time, the roaster is downtown, at the edge, and that area is going to become dense quick, so it’s in the county’s best interest to maintain the downtown parking strategy. Nonetheless, I’d like more debate on this issue – and I think we’ll get it. Here’s what I wrote following last Thursday’s meeting. I also wrote a 150 word version of this for City Dope this week.
How to interpret last Thursday’s planning vote on the Jittery Joe’s parking lot – that depends on whether your coffee cup is half full or half empty.
As the commission moved to deny both the special use permit and the variance application, roaster Charlie Mustard and Tasting Room owner Seth Hendershot also learned the 4-month-long parking debacle that’s shrouded their business is not the lost cause they thought it was.
The petitioners – in this case, Jittery Joe’s owner Bob Googe and lot owner Don Bennett – can withdraw their request before the legal ad runs in the Athens Banner-Herald – 4 weeks from now – and submit new plans more to the commission’s liking. The gravel has got to go, among other design flaws, and they’ll still need a special use permit and Mayor and Commission approval. But there’s a chance the heavy odor of roasting coffee beans can stay fixed on East Broad St.
Mustard and Hendershot thought that Jittery Joe’s had to buy the lot from Bennett, buy their warehouse from their landlord and bring the lot up to code – a project nearing the million dollar mark, according to Mustard. While a stand-alone parking lot is a bottom-rung use to some on the commission, Commissioner Dave Hudgins, echoing the sentiments of many on the board, said he doesn’t want to “close the door” on the issue. If Jittery Joe’s submitted an up-to-code plan, they’d be interested in “seeing this happen.”
Commissioner Jerry NeSmith asked Hendershot and Mustard, speaking on behalf of the out-of-town petitioner, that if the commission tabled the issue would they be work out a new plan or give up. “We’d love to hear options,” Mustard said. As of Thursday night, without discussing future plans with everyone else involved, Mustard said they’d withdraw and see what happens.
What we don’t know, as of press time, is if the temporary use granted to Jittery Joe’s will remain in effect until a final decision is reached.
By Hendershot’s own estimates, only 30 percent of his Tasting Room’s business is foot traffic, and while the roaster could survive the loss of extra parking, the coffee shop won’t make it. He inquired into parking in the Georgia Traditions deck, but to no response, and he doesn’t expect customers to use the Classic Center lot and walk down to the shop. “Convenience is a big factor is people wanting to come to your place,” Hendershot said in an interview a week before the commission meeting. “It’s the nature of business. They’ll just keep driving.”
Googe and Hendershot both told Flagpole last week there has been an active pursuit to find a new location for the roaster and the Tasting Room. They’re looking seriously at two possibilities but weren’t willing to divulge the locations.
But if they’re up for a few more months of red tape, the Jittery Joe’s team can scrap the search, maybe.
