ZONING Restaurant gets approval to open patio for dining

Work on the patio will begin by Monday.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- A dispute between a township official and local businessman has been settled, and Oscar's restaurant will get a permit for a patio.
Ross Scianna, owner of Oscar's Restaurant on U.S. Route 224, applied for a permit through the township zoning office to attach a patio to the business in what is now a section of the parking lot.
Darren Crivelli, township zoning inspector, denied the request. He said there were safety concerns with allowing patrons to dine in an area initially intended for parking and used a line in the township zoning code granting the inspector discretion in such situations to back up his decision.
A paperwork mix up kept the situation from going before the zoning board of appeals this month. The matter was likely to go before the board in June, however, that is no longer necessary after the permit approval by Crivelli on Monday.
According to Crivelli, Scianna submitted detailed plans as to the patio's location and construction Friday. He said careful review of the plans is what led to his decision to grant the permit request.
Safety issue
"I am going to issue a permit for the project," said Crivelli. "I feel I have a right to look at projects like this not only as a use issue, but also as a safety issue. I still have a safety concern, but when I look at existing restaurants with outdoor dining I don't see a greater threat here than with the ones we already have."
Crivelli said other restaurants in the township with outside eating areas were given permits before he became zoning inspector. He feels outside dining in areas initially intended for parking pose a safety concern.
Crivelli said the plans for the patio at Oscar's addressed all safety concerns as well as could be expected, with detailed plans for low impact collisions. Scianna said the patio will have an awning, concrete wall and 3 feet of wrought iron fence on top of the concrete wall.
Scianna said he is pleased with the decision to grant the permit and will begin work on the $50,000 project by Monday. He expects the patio to be ready for customers in two to three weeks.
"This makes me real happy because now I can add employees and do what we need to do to make our customers happy and increase business," he said.
Crivelli said his decision to grant the permit to Oscar's is not an open door to other businesses with similar plans. He said similar request will be decided on a case by case basis and some may still need to go before the zoning board of appeals.
jgoodwin@vindy.com