(WSB photo, Tuesday morning, taken from Genesee looking south at restaurant location)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The Pecos Pit Barbecue restaurant at 35th and Fauntleroy is expected to be open by mid-May.
That’s what representatives said at a meeting last night meant to address community safety concerns about the site, primarily stemming from its addition of a drive-through window.
“A lot of good solutions and ideas here tonight,” observed René Commons of the Junction Neighborhood Organization, organizer of the meeting, as it wrapped up. She stressed that the neighborhood is excited about the restaurant – whose plan for the two-years-closed teriyaki shack at 4400 35th SW was first reported here one year ago – but wants to be sure safety and traffic-flow concerns are addressed.
This was the second “community outreach meeting” involving neighbors and restaurant reps. Pecos Pit was represented by business-development vice president Nick Nordby, Jeremy McLachlan (a West Seattle resident) from operations, and Paul Krakow from real estate. Along with about half a dozen JuNO members and neighbors, City Councilmember Lisa Herbold sent rep Alex Clardy.
What was discussed answered some questions that have come up here on WSB in previous discussions:
Commons recapped what was discussed last time: 11 am-11 pm hours, delivery trucks will be in the early-morning vicinity. The Pecos Pit team explained that its meat is smoked offsite, at a facility in Southcenter, and no cooking is done at the restaurant – “no hoods” – so no grilling smoke or similar emissions. The hot food will be “warmed” at the restaurant.
Their delivery trucks are “small box trucks”; the only bigger trucks expected are from Coca-Cola and Franz bakery. Also, the company is adamant that the restaurant is “not a bar” – they expect to sell one type of draft beer and a “moonshine cocktail, kind of like a mint julep with a lot of citrus” but they’re still working on the branding. They’ll have three to five tables outside in season. They plan to “beautify the whole area with plants and some amazing vegetation.”
The one entrance to the site will be the west-east alley entrance north of the 7-11. That will lead either to the much-discussed drive-thru lane on the east side of the property, or to parking – three spaces right along the alley by 35th, at least 8 in the back of the old substation building to the east. That was something new. Customers who park there will have to walk into the alley and around to the restaurant, which will have a front door roughly where the old teriyaki restaurant did, facing 35th.
The other curb cut on 35th will be closed. They’ll be repaving the lot and, asked by a participant, might consider some kind of lights/signage to alert people to pedestrians crossing the driveways. The safety of people walking in the alley also was raised as a concern. There will be some fencing to enhance safety and to reinforce the lines and boundaries on the lot and the parking.
Pecos Pit reps reiterated that they expect 6 to 10 vehicles through the drive-through on average per hour, maybe some daily spikes, but they “don’t think it’s going to be a Taco Time type issue,” referring to the hugely popular drive-through fast-food restaurant across 35th from the future barbecue joint.
Commons said she is hopeful it will be clear to drivers heading out of the drive-through and onto eastbound SW Genesee that “You’re in a neighborhood now.” And yes, the Pecos Pit team said, they’re very well aware it will be a “busier” neighborhood as a result of their operation.
Another vehicle issue: As is increasingly common for restaurants (outside the pizza trade, anyway), they plan to use third-party services for delivery. They might have employees who deliver on foot to nearby residences (hundreds of apartments and condos are within a few blocks). “We’ll see what the demand is for that,” Nordby observed, suggesting people might be more interested in eating their “sloppy sandwiches” at the restaurant. They reiterated that things will evolve – they won’t know what the patronage patterns are until they open.
Neighbors voiced concerns including people running red lights at 35th and Fauntleroy, and their concerns that it’s “going to be a very sensitive traffic issue.” Wayne Scamuffa wondered if there might have been more of a neighborhood-friendly design if the restaurant operators had reached out to neighbors sooner, since it’s not incumbent on the city to have done so.
Krakow said that the area was designed for medium density and the nearby residents have been lucky to have had things so quiet for a while. He acknowledged they probably “should have” reached out to the neighbors sooner, “but that’s why we’re here now … I’m sure there will be issues … how do we deal with them, collectively?” He also said they hope to be good neighbors, including arranging to clean up a messy triangle of publicly owned land nearby.
The meeting ended amicably. It’s been a month since the city agreed to re-evaluate traffic around the restaurant if the drive-through seems to be causing problems.
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