To their surprise, the Development Department's Building Division came back with several requested changes reflecting code updates that were made since the original plans were approved. However, some of the new requirements seem to be more about aesthetics than functionality. “The front, where we have our kitchen, which has a service window — 57 square feet of it is supposed to be window space,” explains Renshaw. “So to meet that code, we had to do fake windows, and just that’s like $6,000. ... We just want to be able to cook in there. We don’t care what it looks like. It doesn’t make sense to us, but it’s not up to us, unfortunately.”
King of Wings' insurance claim for the fire was denied, so the renovation cost is coming out of small-business loans and any revenue the eatery generates from its Saturday-only Snipeburger pop-up series.
“Just in terms of stuff that we are required on this build compared to the last one, I’d say it's about $70,000 more. It’s like 55 percent more expensive this time around, unfortunately,” Renshaw notes. “It’s tough to swallow, but you know, we just gotta do what we gotta do.” More than a year after the fire, King of Wings is hoping to make its comeback in February.
The opening day for bakery and plant nursery GetRight’s is still up in the air, according to owner Matt Dulin, who signed a lease on what was a former office space at 6985 West 38th Avenue in Wheat Ridge last February. Since the space required a major electrical overhaul, it took Dulin’s contracted architects and engineers three months to submit the plans to the Wheat Ridge Community Development Department. The subsequent back-and-forth lasted nearly another half a year before GetRight’s received its permit to begin construction in January.
The largest headache of the process came from getting ventilation approval for electrical ovens that Dulin purchased and has been paying for in installments since last February. “The city needed to have a letter from the manufacturer that states the ovens do what they say they do, so that they would have an assurance that the ovens were up to code and actually ventilate the space as they should,” explains Dulin. “[It required] a ton of back-and-forth with the city and trying to get ahold of the manufacturer, which is an Italian company [and] was on summer vacation basically the entire time we needed to talk to someone.”
After receiving the manufacturer’s confirmation, the city approved the ovens, but then retracted the approval almost immediately. Dulin ended up having to work with his mechanical engineers to resubmit the plans to include ventilation to the outside for the ovens.
Independent of the specific codes and regulations, both Renshaw and Dulin wish there was an increased sense of urgency from the city. Long response times — up to one month for a simple email reply — led to a "hurry up and wait" feeling through the entire process, they say.
Dulin, though, is understanding about the lack of communication in the fall of 2022, when the City of Wheat Ridge was the victim of a cyberattack by hacker group BlackCat. The attack crippled the city, and Dulin estimates that there was a month and a half during which he got no communication at all.
Both restaurateurs advocate for the permitting process to be more approachable (especially for first-time business owners) and more expedient; they would also like for inspectors and those approving plans to have more latitude to be more solution-oriented.
“I found out that Wheat Ridge is not a full-service city, which means that their reviewers and inspectors are actually a third-party company [Charles Abbott Associates, Inc. (CAA)],” explains Dulin. “There’s been a few city employees that I can call and talk to and then they will reach out to the reviewers to talk with them. And then hopefully I can get a response either from the reviewers or from the city workers at that point. But it’s a weird triangular communication where there’s three points of contact to talk about one issue.”
This is not an unusual arrangement; Centennial, Bennett and Lyons also have fully outsourced building departments responsible for contractor licensing, plan review, permitting and inspections, as well as supporting business licensing and code enforcement. In fact, this is true of cities across America as they deal with budget cuts, an aging workforce, and not being able to attract and retain young talent.
Wheat Ridge’s relationship with CAA began in April 2017, when it was used to supplement and augment the building department as the volume of permit and inspections ebbed and flowed. This backup option was especially crucial in May 2017, when a hailstorm that hit most of Colorado damaged a record number of roofs and structures.
“In their on-call capacity, CAA was able to bring inspectors and permit technicians to Wheat Ridge from across the country to meet the customer-service needs associated with storm-related permits,” explains Lauren Mikulak, interim Community Development director for Wheat Ridge. “The city maintained the ability to provide next-day inspections, and continuity of service during this period was thanks to the presence [of] CAA staff.”
Having proved itself in the city’s time of need, CAA was awarded the full-service contract when, later that year, Wheat Ridge decided it was not feasible to maintain an in-house building division.
“CAA is fully integrated into the department and the city staff team. CAA staff office out of City Hall with the rest of the Community Development Department; they have city email addresses, shirts and car decals. Most CAA staff are fully dedicated to the City of Wheat Ridge,” says Mikulak. “CAA staff attend interdepartmental meetings, and many customers probably have no realization that they are contracted employees.”
Renshaw is skeptical. “That’s what’s crazy. You have to deal with a person who isn’t even invested in the city,” he says.
Queen City opened its Wheat Ridge location last August.
Queen City Coffee/Instagram
Byington even remembers an incident where the workers went above and beyond to help him print an updated architectural plan in time for an inspection happening that day. “They’re like, 'No big deal, we can just print it for you guys right here,' and they stamped it, and it was just a breeze,” he recounts.
Paul Sullivan, who owns Esters Pub with his wife, Emily Brown, agrees. “I would say overall, nothing’s perfect, but it was overall a pretty positive experience,” he says. “Whenever there was an issue or something we had questions on, we were able to contact someone directly and get an answer. And when we did contact somebody, it’s not like you were starting over.”
Both Byington and Sullivan opened the first two locations of their respective businesses in Denver, adding Wheat Ridge locations within the last year in Gold’s Marketplace, a redevelopment project by Denver-based real estate firms Quannah Partners and Outpost Investments. The 59,000-square-foot shopping center at the corner of 26th Avenue and Kipling Street is also home to Illegal Pete’s, Live Slow Brewing, Em's Ice Cream and more.
Having Quannah Partners as its landlord meant that both Queen City and Esters Pub were able to bypass the bulk of the construction phase (and the associated permitting and inspections). Their responsibility was limited to “tenant finishes,” which could still run the gamut from HVAC to electrical; both were unable to comment on the experience their landlord had with the City of Wheat Ridge permitting process. Quannah Partners did not respond to a request for comment.
As for future restaurateurs looking to start their own concept in Wheat Ridge, Sullivan offers the key to his successful journey at Esters: “You have to be organized on your end, because the city does require specific requirements and all of that,” he says. “If they ask you a question, I think it’s valuable to get back to them immediately with the exact points they’re asking for. Every conversation I go into with any city official, it’s like ‘Hey, you’re here to do a job just like I am. How do we get along? How do we do this together?’"
