A planning board hearing on the proposed massive expansion of Johnny Mac’s tavern has been postponed to April 8.
The board was slated to hear the application again on Monday, March 18, but architectural renderings were not complete in time, assistant planning and zoning officer Barbara Van Wagner said yesterday.
Owner John McGillion, with his attorney, architect and engineer, presented plans to the board on Feb. 25. The board requested more details before voting. They suggested McGillion’s architect and engineer provide renderings for each of the plan’s three phases of construction in time for the meeting on March 11.
The plans were reportedly submitted to city hall on March 8. City officials say they did not have enough time to properly review the plans for presentation at the March 11 meeting.
Board attorney Jack Serpico told McGillion at the March 11 meeting that the plans should have reached City Hall 10 days before the meeting, but McGillion said he was never informed of such a deadline.
Project engineer Carolyn Feigin and the board agreed at the March 11 meeting that if plans were submitted by March 13, the board could hear the application and vote on March 18.
But last week, Feigin notified City Hall that the plans would not be complete in time for the March 18 meeting, Van Wagner said. The presentation is now slated for the April 8 planning board meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. in council chambers.
The large-scale expansion includes plans for a beer garden and outdoor mezzanine where the tavern’s parking lot now stands, as well as a separate bar, Mary Mac, and an event space in the top floor of the building north of the parking lot, which McGillion owns. All would be connected by the second-floor mezzanine.
Previously, McGillion expected to have the first phase — an outdoor bar — completed before the summer. With the delays, he now expects the bar to be complete mid-season, he said today.
