Roost Cafe and Coffee shop trying to open on Oak St?

[KPettway]

Be thankful it's not one of those soooper dangerous pizza places coming in, what with the children and all...

The primary issue with the kids is being kept up at night by intoxicated patrons and the sound level of the live entertainment.

[KPettway]

I have friends who live directly across from the proposed building, and another who lives adjacent to where The Roost will be doing business. So, add that to your list of people who are in favor.

Johnny Liar,

Are you certain you have the location correct? While I admit I have not been able to hit every house in the entire neighborhood, I have spoken, personally, to every resident opposite the site on Oak, and every resident on the affected block. No one who lives there has admitted (to me, at any rate) being remotely in favor of this development.

Now I have not spoken to anyone at SNAP Fitness, which is in the same building as the proposed Roost site, so I guess could be considered adjacent. But it is also not a residence.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I mean, personally, I would love to live near a locally owned coffee house / restaurant with a full bar and possibly some live music on the weekends.

I don't think I would want to live somewhere nearby a place some people are trying to open that's probably going to serve some bar food and where people are going just to get drunk and listen Skynard cover bands on the patio until 2am.


I'm sure that your questioning leans more towards the former and not the latter, because, you know.... integrity.

[funwithteeth]

While we're sharing anecdotal stories, I'm a member at Snap Fitness and it isn't unusual on Friday and Saturday nights to find, across the street, a group of loud, boisterous, and (presumably) intoxicated people hanging out in front of their house and having a grand ol' time.

Were they against the new business, KPettway? I'll ask them myself next time I see them. They seem nice. Maybe they'll offer me a beer out of friendship.

[Adam White]

Why does everyone have to pile onto this guy just because they don't agree? I think it's reasonable - and very likely - that a number of residents in the area might be opposed to it. That doesn't mean they all will be - and I would love to see actual numbers and not anecdotal evidence both for and against - but it's likely that a lot of people will not want it there. That's just the nature of the beast, really - it's oftentimes a different story when you have to live next to something as opposed to just stopping by to visit it.

Anyway - I think we'd all be wise to appreciate there might be myriad opinions on this subject and not be dickheads to KPettway just because he/she has an opinion some of us might not share.

[funwithteeth]

KPettway is entitled to any opinion he or she chooses to believe. I just found it amusing they say no one in the area surrounding the place is in favor of this restaurant, and when someone responded by saying "I have friends who live directly across from the proposed building, and another who lives adjacent to where The Roost will be doing business" the response is to cast doubt that Johnny Liar is even aware of the location in question.

[funwithteeth]

Another way of looking at is KPettway comes in here and expects people to take him/her on good faith re: how the neighbors feel, but is skeptical when someone comes in and claims something contrary to what they posted.

[Adam White]

Another way of looking at is KPettway comes in here and expects people to take him/her on good faith re: how the neighbors feel, but is skeptical when someone comes in and claims something contrary to what they posted.

Perhaps - I don't trust what either poster says. Anecdotal evidence is not really worth a whole lot, as there is no way to verify it.

But I really just don't want this to degenerate the way the whole pizza thing did. That got really ugly.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I've got a pretty good feel on how this is being presented.  A good friend of mine owns a business on the same block but on Herschel, and the majority of her clientele live in the area.  Just like in most everything else that comes across as a completely biased representation, this is no different.

You present an argument framed for your audience to elicit the response you desire, anecdotal or not.

[mtraininjax]

I have friends who live directly across from the proposed building, and another who lives adjacent to where The Roost will be doing business. So, add that to your list of people who are in favor.

Yeah, because the Internet is full of honest and truthful posters! yeah, right!

A good friend of mine owns a business on the same block but on Herschel, and the majority of her clientele live in the area.

So what? We're not discussing business needs at 1 am in the morning. Its all about the residents and what they want. Besides SNAP, no one else is open on that block at 1 am.  So nice to see your last 3 posts have not been RAP related thrashings.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Its all about the residents and what they want.

And I agree to some extent, but the presentation is everything. 

I love the sweeping assumptions and one-sided truths presented anytime a place wants to open:

• Serving liquor automatically means loud, obnoxious drunks being belligerent outside of your bedroom window at 2 am.
• Live music automatically means amplified classic rock being blared throughout the neighborhood while people are trying to sleep.
• The area is a residential neighborhood.
• They're expanding to 150 seats because bigger is just better.
• No one in the neighborhood wants them to open

And I haven't blasted RAP or anyone else on the matter.  The first post was in support of AD and BS, but the sarcasm was missed by at least one respondent.  The rest has just been differing opinion.  I'm not saying I'm right;  I'm not saying they're wrong.  I just don't agree with any of the statements above, but that's how this project is being presented.

[JeffreyS]

I have mixed feelings on this one. Full disclosure I am actively engaged in moving into Riverside. I love all of the shops, bars and restaurants.  I can also see the need to manage the needs of different parties. 

[Steve]

I have mixed feelings on this one. Full disclosure I am actively engaged in moving into Riverside. I love all of the shops, bars and restaurants.  I can also see the need to manage the needs of different parties. 

I'm with you on this. Putting aside the comments of the potential owners of this place said, "RAP would rather this sit abandoned" (sounds like playground BS), I'm also not of the opinion that just because it's a commercial building it's okay to be a restaurant/bar opened until 2AM. To Stephen's point earlier, this building was built next to residences because it was a day use-type place (and was historically). Now, many retail spaces aren't being used today for their historic use (most of Park and King is that way).

The current zoning plan is a little vague. For example, from a zoning perspective Orsay and Mellow Mushroom are very similar, but in reality they are very different places (and no, I don't now or ever believe that Mellow Mushroom was going to bring the apocalypse). To be clear, I'm not referring to price point, as that shouldn't matter whatsoever.

The one thing I thing is a horrible idea is outdoor seating there for dinner - no good can come from that in my opinion. Breakfast and lunch are fine by me. The other thing that seems odd is the 150 seats (don't know how I feel about that - would need to know the square footage). Obviously they're going for 150 for the SRX license (I'm 99% sure the JBill to move the requirement to 100 wouldn't apply there as the area isn't a commercial character area).

This is a tough one.

[jaxjags]

I too have trouble seeing issue here. Other 150 seat restaurants that serve liquor are not neighborhood nuisances in JAX. As others have said, they will not be playing head banging music till 2 am every night. There are still noise ordnances that need to be obeyed. If outdoor seating is an issues, fine then don't allow it. Wow, the memory of Mellow Mushrooms oppenents fades quickly in this city.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Here's the part that I have a hard time understanding:  You have someone wanting to come in, remodel an empty storefront and make a go of it.  How is that a bad thing?  Is the market really that good that we should be poo-pooing ideas before they even get a chance to succeed or fail all on their own?

Worse case scenario - they open, the product doesn't fit the 'character' of the neighborhood and they're forced to change the business model or close the doors.  Now the neighborhood has a newly renovated, empty storefront that might open the door for another brave soul to open something that fits the neighborhood a bit better.

Get out of the way and let the market decide if it's a viable business or not.  I think that's the point that some other posters on this site have stated a helluva lot more eloquently than I. 

If it fits and works, than it's yet another positive for the hood.  What's so bad if it doesn't work?  Where's the overall negative?