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County Commission To Mull 13 Liquor Licenses For Mall

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 9, 2008

WESLEY CHAPEL - WESLEY CHAPEL - As the planned Oct. 30 opening date draws near, the developers of Shops at Wiregrass will ask the county today for more than a dozen liquor licenses.

The permits would allow the sale of beer, wine and liquor at 13 establishments within the 800,000-square-foot outdoor mall under construction at State Road 56 and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

Planning commissioners will consider the requests by Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises when they meet at 1:30 p.m. today at the historical Pasco County Courthouse in Dade City. County commissioners will have the final say on the permits.
Forest City Enterprises is developing the plaza with The Goodman Co., based in West Palm Beach.

The developers are keeping a tight lid on the names of the future tenants that will benefit from those licenses.

Of the 13 permits requested, only four have identified beneficiaries: Moe's Southwest Grill, The Brass Tap, Grillsmith and Put A Cork In It, a wine shop.

Building permits pending with Pasco County confirm those three companies and several others that are likely to need permits to serve alcohol.

Among those are:

•BJ's Brewhouse, a brew pub with branches in Hillsborough County's Citrus Park area and Pinellas Park

•Yamato's, a Japanese steakhouse and sushi bar
•Cantina Laredo, a high-end Mexican restaurant with five locations in Florida. Wesley Chapel will be its first outlet in the Tampa Bay area.

The developers have received no opposition to the requested alcohol permits. The mall isn't within the county-mandated 1,000-foot radius of a school or church, where serving alcohol is banned without special permission.

County commissioners granted one such exception Tuesday to Cobb Theatres, a 16-screen cinema set to open in August at The Grove, the Shops at Wiregrass' competitor three miles to the north at County Road 54 and Oakley Boulevard.

Cobb officials sought the alcohol permit as part of an in-house restaurant planned to open on the facility's second floor.

Members of Faith Baptist Church, which is less than 1,000 feet from The Grove, tried to block Cobb from serving alcohol.

Forest City and Goodman are managing the construction of State Road 56 eastward from its current T-intersection with Bruce B. Downs.

The $25 million extension is needed for shoppers to access the new mall.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.

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