Request for Walker Street building to go wet for future wedding venue

Former Ash Grove church to potentially be turned into event center if board complies with changes
 
At the request of Phaedra Ferguson, Battlefield, the Ash Grove Board of Aldermen was asked Monday night to consider granting her an alcohol consumption license on a property she has yet to purchase at 415 E. Walker Street. Ferguson is interested in buying the former church and transforming it into a wedding and event venue. The alcohol license would allow the possession of alcohol on the premises, but wouldn’t actually allow her to sell it, although other vendors still could.
As part of her due diligence, Ferguson wanted to make sure she would be allowed the license before actually going ahead with the major undertaking. However, the aldermen weren’t yet on board, and neither was neighbor Mike Davis, who spoke against the business prior to the meeting.
Alderman Troy Watts implored Ferguson to get more information on the facility regarding capacity, parking and square footage, for the board to review. He also encouraged her to ask the neighbors if they would welcome her business, which would likely bring traffic and people to an otherwise calm street.
“My opinion is you need to go and talk to some of the neighbors and sit down with them and say, ‘This is what I want to do,’ Watts told Ferguson. “I’m not saying I’m for this or against it, but this is what we normally tell somebody when they are going to do something in a building that’s already there and maybe it’s been changed and might be contradictory to what some of the neighbors think it should be. Those are the waters you need to test.”
Ferguson seemed conscious of the weight of what she was pursuing.
“I’m very aware of the fact that this is a residential neighborhood. … Obviously you’re parking right outside of somebody’s home because the parking wraps around that property… I’m very aware of the fact of where it’s at,” Ferguson told the board. “If I can’t get a wedding consumption license then I don’t need to go any further, because that’s a pretty big deal for me running a wedding venue. I don’t need to go stir up a pot if I’m never going to get there.”
The board will again address the request at the next meeting in mid-January, which will give them enough time to check the legal implications with city attorney Mel Gilbert. If the board agrees to the license, a zoning barrier to the business will still remain. The next hurdle will be changing the facility’s zoning from residential to commercial.
 because that’s a pretty big deal for me running a wedding venue. I don’t need to go stir up a pot if I’m never going to get there.”
The board will again address the request at the next meeting in mid-January, which will give them enough time to check the legal implications with city attorney Mel Gilbert. If the board agrees to the license, a zoning barrier to the business will still remain. The next hurdle will be changing the facility’s zoning from residential to commercial.