Russell Bennett addressed the Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen during the board’s Nov. 13 meeting, seeking an updated conditional-use permit to open Poe’s Tavern in Wrightsville Beach.
Bennett said he had been searching for an ideal town to open a third location of the gourmet burger restaurant, and after much consideration selected 212 Causeway Dr., the former location of the Olympia Restaurant. Poe’s Tavern has two existing locations, in Sullivan’s Island, S.C., and Jacksonville, Fla., both of which have received numerous accolades.
“We’re not a chain,” Bennett said. “To say Poe’s is iconic is really not a stretch. To become [so successful] in a city of culinary renown like Charleston, with all these great restaurants, and it’s a must-see place.”
Before allowing the public to offer opinions, the board heard a favorable recommendation from the Wrightsville Beach Planning Board, delivered by director of planning and parks Tony Wilson.
The planning board’s recommendation came with several conditions, mainly to not overly disturb the residents of nearby Seacrest Drive. The conditions include no outdoor seating after 10 p.m. and no amplified music outside.
The aldermen took issue with one of the conditions, which recommended no plastic covering to the proposed outdoor patio, a stipulation put on other surrounding restaurants as well.
Alderman Lisa Weeks said allowing plastic covering would let the restaurant to continue to seat people outside during the cold winter months. Mayor Bill Blair agreed, adding that the plastic covering could potentially buffer noise as well.
The aldermen decided to not only reword the condition, but to allow other restaurants to use plastic covering on outdoor areas as well for consistency.
“I’m glad you’re reconsidering that,” Bennett said, “because you want a business that doesn’t just service the summer crowd. We need [the covered patio] in the winter because we’re going to have people there, and they’re going to be locals.”
Poe’s Tavern was seeking a parking exception from the board as well. The restaurant requires 70 off-street parking spaces and with only 20 available on site, the applicant would need an exception for 50 spaces.
The aldermen had the option to grant an exception based on the fact that 39 public parking spaces are available within 400 feet of the property. Furthermore, the proposed establishment is consistent with the 2005 CAMA land use plan encouraging the development of commercial establishments providing basic goods and services to year-round residents and visitors.
Even if the board granted the exception, Mayor Blair pointed out, those spaces were not guaranteed to Poe’s Tavern, especially during the busy summer months.
Bennett said he had run into similar issues with his existing locations, especially in Sullivan’s Island. In that case, he came to an agreement with the nearby post office, which allowed restaurant patrons to use the many available spaces in that parking lot. Bennett said he hoped to establish a similar situation in Wrightsville Beach and work with his neighboring establishments to determine if any had unused parking spaces.
Mayor Blair invited members of the public to offer opinions. When nobody came forward to speak, Mayor Pro Tem Darryl Mills mentioned a few comments he had received from residents on Seacrest Drive, who had concerns about the proximity of the restaurant to their homes.
Bennett assured board members he was accustomed to managing restaurants in small beach communities. In fact, he said, Sullivan’s Island was a much more confined residential community than Wrightsville Beach; it only has a two-block commercial district and is 90 percent primary residences.
A 10-foot-high buffer wall at the south end of the patio would mitigate noise for residences on Seacrest Drive, he added, and recycling and dumping of bottles would be restricted to between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Furthermore, he said, the restaurant would not seat any patrons outdoors after 10 p.m. and would stop serving altogether at midnight.
The aldermen were very supportive of the restaurant as an exciting prospect for Wrightsville Beach. They voted unanimously to grant an updated conditional-use permit as well as the parking exception to Poe’s Tavern.
“I appreciate your consideration for the local folk,” Mayor Blair said. “I say we all jump off a cliff together and hope it all works. I think it’s a great idea.”
