An alert FrontBurnervian last week sent me the photo that sits above this post. It’s at Good Latimer and Commerce in Deep Ellum, in the building that once housed the old Copper Tank Brewery. Soon, it will be a 23,000 square foot bar and restaurant and bowling and video game “eater-tainment” complex called Punch Bowl Social.
From my untrained yet skeptical eye, this seemed like a bit much to me. The contractors were taking up two lanes and using the sidewalk as storage for equipment. It didn’t seem like there was any sort of construction putting pedestrians in danger, and the occupation of the lanes didn’t make much sense either. I sent the photo over to the city’s PR folks, and didn’t get anything back. But that alert FrontBurnervian did. There was a happy outcome.
The next day, a city inspector emailed with his cell phone number. He noted that he’s “issued quite a few citations” to the contractors in the past. He offered to discuss the permit details, what the contractors were allowed to block, and when the construction should be completed. The next day, our intrepid source returned to his place of business and drove by the site. The crew had removed the barriers from both of the lanes. I’ve left a message with the inspector to get more details and will update when I hear back.
The sidewalk was still blocked for a day, but apparently there was waitstaff inside the building being trained. And, indeed, we got an email yesterday from Punch Bowl Social announcing that it would be opening this Saturday night. I can’t imagine they would want equipment in the way of their guests. Here is what the location looked like yesterday afternoon:
The lanes and the sidewalk are all clear. The inspector told our FrontBurnervian that the crew took the fine for taking up the lanes and sidewalks and finished the job.
The response is encouraging. So send me photos of street clutter and I’ll bug the city about it and try to make sure contractors are following the rules. In the mean time, these posts are getting more positive ever since the city passed its new right of way policy. May that trend continue.
