Ongoing speculation over the future of the outdoor tent at Ocean Pours Taproom received some clarity this week as staff from the city of Ocean Shores met with Ocean Pours owners Roy Seeman and Randy Gardner to discuss the potential transition to a permanent structure.
The tent was approved under former Mayor Crystal Dingler’s executive order to temporarily allow restaurants and bars to use tents/membrane structures during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the executive order still remains in place, the owners of Ocean Pours have raised concerns over the long-term status of their investment.
“I’m not looking at changing the executive order any time soon, especially as the pandemic still persists, but eventually it will be repealed and I want to have a path forward,” said Mayor Jon Martin.
Ocean Shores issued a permit for a temporary tent structure at Ocean Pours on Nov. 25, 2020. The structure, which is anchored in concrete, is capable of withstanding intense weather, such as high winds and snowfall, and provides shelter in the taproom’s outdoor beer garden during winter months.
While the approval of the structure was conditional under the mayor’s executive order and Gov. Jay Inslee’s “Safe Start” plan, Seeman and Ocean Pours staff have been searching for a route to make the structure permanent. In a Tuesday, Jan. 18, meeting with the owners of Ocean Pours, city officials expressed an interest in finding a long-term solution to the presence of the tent.
“We’re going to go back to the beginning and treat it as a permanent structure, not a temporary structure allowed under the executive order,” said Martin. “We’ll have to figure out from our codes how to make it workable for the city and for Ocean Pours.”
Seeman, who has appeared at several public meetings to encourage a formal plan to make his tent structure permanent, is happy to work with the city to meet strict requirements that protect the overall vision of downtown Ocean Shores.
“We felt that they were very open to making it work, but that’ll just take time,” he said. “We’re a little hesitant because the planning commission is clearly against it and we don’t know how much sway they will have when we’re working on a solution.”
In a Jan. 11 meeting, the Ocean Shores Planning Commission unanimously recommended that permanent tents/membrane structures not be allowed anywhere in the business district of Ocean Shores. The commission was concerned that allowing such structures, such as the one at Ocean Pours, would encourage business owners to erect tents in the open lots downtown as a low-cost alternative to brick and mortar structures.
While Seeman understands the desire to protect the aesthetics of Ocean Shores, he feels that well-constructed structures that contribute positively to the economy of the city should be allowed should they meet a strict set of requirements.
“We need a rewrite of the ordinance to let these types of structures pass with very specific requirements,” said Seeman. “Under a revised ordinance, tents like ours would be allowed, but would prevent fears of ‘tent city’ in downtown Ocean Shores.”
The commission also raised concerns that allowing permanent use of tents/membrane structures would not be fair to existing brick and mortar businesses that made significant infrastructure investments in creating permanent seating options. Seeman believes that the tent at Ocean Pours does not undercut other businesses in town, as its intended purpose was to improve preapproved seating in the beer garden.
“Even if we had the money to build brick and mortar, we wouldn’t have done it. This is always what we wanted, an open space that allows people to bring their dogs and also encourages airflow. It wasn’t a solution for cheaper seating,” he said.
In order to meet the downtown vision, Seeman is prepared to make adjustments to improve the aesthetics of the tent in order to keep the area beautified, such as adding a line of trees right in front of the tent to make it less visible to passersby.
“I think we’re ultimately going to have to do something to improve the tent aesthetics from the streets. If we’re able to do that, I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to keep it,” he said.
Following Tuesday’s meeting, Martin formed an ad hoc committee, including a representative from building inspections, the fire department, and the planning department. The committee will review the codes as they apply to the tent at Ocean Pours, and will make a recommendation to the mayor for next steps.
Martin anticipates another meeting with Seeman before taking any recommendations to the Planning Commission or City Council.
“I want businesses to survive in Ocean Shores, and I see why this tent is so important to them, but I want to make sure we follow guidelines and do it in the correct way,” he said.
