CHRISTIANSBURG — A New River Valley business owner is looking to sink the eight ball on a new project in the town.
Ron Frank Jr., who owns 1st Pawn and Main Street Grill in Pulaski, is planning to open a restaurant in Christiansburg that will serve alcoholic beverages and include billiards or pool tables.
The project is prompting Christiansburg town officials to consider a code change.
The town code currently doesn’t allow billiards or pool in the same room that beer or wine is dispensed or sold. The proposed amendment prompted by Frank’s project would allow billiards or pool in a room where alcohol is being sold only if town council grants a conditional use permit for “public billiard parlors and poolrooms.”
Town staff expanded the language to include all alcoholic beverages — and not limit it to beer and wine — because beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages are common offerings of restaurants today, according to a document on the proposed code change.
A number of zoning districts in Christiansburg currently allow “public billiard parlors and poolrooms” by conditional use permit. They are the general business, central business, limited industrial and general industrial districts.
“The amendment would allow this use where deemed appropriate within the town while maintaining regulatory authority through the conditional use permit process for the protection of surrounding properties,” according to a town document on the proposed measure.
As far as where his new establishment will go, Frank said this past week that he can’t speak on the location yet.
“I can’t disclose the facility until I have all the red tape taken care of,” Frank wrote in a message. “I have a verbal agreement with the building owner.”
Mayor Mike Barber, who only votes in the event of a tie on council, said he doesn’t anticipate any major issues with the upcoming decision on the code change.
The current ordinance governing poolrooms probably went into effect in or near the mid-20th century when the culture around the sport was different and the perception was much more negative, the town mayor said. But the culture has changed a great deal since and activities such as recreational pool leagues are common, he said.
“I think it was a reasonable request to change,” Barber said. “When we do vote on it, there will probably be some conditions, as far as security and … responsibilities of the owner. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”
Also, Christiansburg can always use another restaurant, Barber said.
