COLUMBUS – One of German Village’s main attractions is at the heart of the neighborhood’s latest parking dust-up.
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Schmidt’s is scheduled to go before the German Village Commission today to ask for a parking variance for a proposed expansion.
The owners want to renovate the restaurant’s first floor and build a 1,618-square-foot rooftop patio, adding more than 80 seats. City code requires an additional 24 spaces at the restaurant at 240 E. Kossuth St. Schmidt’s says it is securing 18 offsite parking spots at a nearby Giant Eagle.
Commission members toured Schmidt’s on Friday to prepare for what is likely to be a packed and lively meeting that begins at 4 p.m. at the German Village Meeting Haus, 588 S. 3rd St. Many residents showed up to protest at the last meeting on April 5, worried about parking and noise.
“It’s not really new,” Shiloh Todorov, executive director of the German Village Society, said of ongoing parking struggles.
Schmidt’s attorney Mike Shannon said commission members took a look from the rooftop patio site. “Hopefully, we addressed concerns about the effect expansion would have on the neighborhood,” he said.
Schmidt’s wants the additional patio space for people waiting for a table, Shannon said. “The current scenario is they literally have 50, 60, 70 people outside the building,” he said.