Internet cafe, dance club not a done deal
ZONED OUT
By Lori Thomason

According to Don Carroll, nothing's been signed, no agreements have been made - but he knows there's been a meeting with Jeffery Fyffe.

Perhaps a bit premature for Fyffe - who has already told several media outlets and put Bullard Crossing's address on his Web site. According to Fyffe it's as good as done, but that's news to everyone else.

Fyffe's project is an Internet caf - and various other enterprises - housed together and cohesively.

Carroll, who works the leasing agent for Perry Hall - developer of the site - said there's nothing in writing - and while it's not out of the question Fyffe could open a business in Bullard, nothing is in writing.

Fyffe's plans for an Internet cafe in Bullard could face the same blocks he saw in Jacksonville, according to Bullard City Manager Larry Morgan.

Morgan and councilman A.W. Hines met with Fyffe after the Jacksonville council allowed a motion to die - effectively denying him the special-use permit he would need to operate his business.

"He needs to develop a firm business plan and an architectural layout of what he is proposing," Morgan said. "If he fits into our zoning requirements, there will be no problems. From what Mr. Fyffe described at our initial meeting last week, there didn't appear to be any problems."

But Fyffe appears to be changing plans constantly, and Morgan said the city has to protect the interests of its citizens.

Morgan said he has heard the proposed Jeffrey's Zone could include dancing - causing it to fall under different zoning than simply an Internet gaming site with live music.

"A situation where you have 11-year-olds in one area playing games and adults in another dancing - would probably require a meeting with the planning and zoning commission," Morgan said. "And we may be headed there anyway."

Morgan said talked to Jacksonville's Public Works Director Will Cole. Cole does a lot of work with Bullard - contracting inspections for the city. Cole has also looked at Bullard's newly updated code and zoning regulations - something the council spent about a year putting together.

"Fyffe kept changing his plans - and he didn't have a lot of experience with local zoning," Cole said. "A shaky and changing plan is what caused some of the confusion in Jacksonville and led its council's refusal to grant a special-use permit for Jackson Village Shopping Center.

"We take things in an orderly manner," Morgan said. "From the city's viewpoint, we make sure all the permits have time to be studied and granted and all inspections done."

Carroll said Fyffe did indeed meet with Perry Hall representatives, but it would be premature to say more. Fyffe said he met with Perry Hall and

architect Sherman Allenson last week to design a 9,000-square foot facility that would contain all three of Fyffe's concepts - Internet gaming and table games, coffeehouse with food and drink and Fyffe's C Tech Systems - under one roof.

"It will be a full family entertainment center," Fyffe said. "The food and kitchen areas will be bigger than they would have been in Jacksonville. We will be able to accommodate 800 people."

But in the end, it comes down to money.

"When Perry developed Bullard Crossing, he knew what to expect," Carroll said. "You and I know that Bullard is growing, but statewide and nationally, it takes time to see it.

"He's in no rush to fill the spaces," Carroll said. "He knew he was ahead of the growth curve, and he planned for it."