Porkland BBQ closes daily operations, but nonprofit Love City’s mission will continue

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - A west Louisville restaurant is returning to its roots after being shut down by the city. The one-daily barbecue joint will now become a weekly fundraiser for its parent nonprofit.

Porkland BBQ opened four years ago as a fundraising arm for the nonprofit Love City, founded by husband-wife duo Shawn and Inga Arvin. The idea was merely an expansion of the weekly fish fry fundraiser they had been holding for years at a building down the street.

“We wanted to create sustainability for our fundraising,” said Inga. Love City supports an elementary school, Mighty Oak, in the neighborhood, including subsidized tuition. The nonprofit also offers food and housing help for those in need, among many more initiatives.

When the Arvins opened Porkland BBQ, they say they received all of the appropriate permits through the Louisville Metro health department, Metro Sewer District, and the fire department. They were approved, they said, and at no time during the process did anyone bring up zoning approval.

“I just wish the city’s departments were better at talking to each other,” said Inga. Her understanding is that the zoning department wasn’t necessarily involved in their restaurant application, and she and her husband didn’t know to check zoning themselves. “It’s frustrating to get a permit to operate a restaurant and then think, okay, cool, we’re good.”

Inga and Shawn said they believe that is how Porkland BBQ operated for four full years before the zoning issue was detected. They didn’t know they were doing anything wrong, and the metro didn’t seem to know they were there.

“We was all for it,” said Rick Thomas, a longtime customer of Porkland and a supporter of Love City’s mission in the community. “We just don’t have any restaurants down here.”

Then, in February, the Arvins decided to apply for a license to sell beer at Porkland, wanting to create a partnership with Against the Grain Brewery down the street. After four years in business, they said they had no reason to believe they would run into a problem.

“Applying for an ABC license does involve the zoning department,” said Inga, which is when she said the trouble began. They received notice from the city that their building was not zoned for a commercial restaurant. “It was probably a combination of panic, sadness, and how can we fix this?--all at the same time.”

Just like that, the Arvins decided not to give up. They worked with the city to find a zone-friendly compromise. Now, while the restaurant Porkland BBQ is officially closed, the nonprofit Love City will still be allowed to operate as a catering service every day of the week, and, most importantly to them, they can host a “fundraiser” every Friday, selling their beloved food and using the funds–as they always have–to support the nonprofit’s work. Portland residents have mixed feelings about the relegated status of their neighborhood barbecue joint.

“The city really doesn’t do enough for us down here,” said Thomas. “They filled a need, and we’re all just so sad to see that it turned out this way.”

One customer, Kevin Stallard, Sr., found out Porkland BBQ’s fate while he was ordering dinner for he and his wife.

“A zoning issue?” said Stallard. “That is crazy and kind of heartbreaking.”

Another regular, LaDonna Dietz, said of the situation, “I didn’t like it at all.”

One family–grandparents and grandson–were trying Love City’s food and atmosphere for the first time.

“I read about their closing,” said Brenda, “but also the fact that their money goes toward missions, and I think that’s wonderful.”

The Arvins are staying positive. They are reacting with love, they said, because after all, that’s what Love City is all about.

“This was their decision, but it doesn’t mean that we don’t love them,” said Shawn. “We’re going to go with the rules.”

What they are also doing is working with an attorney who offered to help pro bono. They are looking into rezoning the area, but that could take up to two years. They also are checking the neighborhood for other potential buildings.

“The people around this community, they have our backs,” said Shawn, and I know that this is not the end of this story.”

“If anything comes out of this, I hope that the city will reevaluate how they make decisions,” said Shawn. “Because we have poured our blood, sweat and tears into this community for the last seven years, and never once did they come and actually see what we do. They just made a decision off a piece of paper. And I think that’s where the government failed.”

Love City is serving up a full menu for their weekly fundraisers every Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 2519 St. Cecilia Street.

On May 31, LOUISVILLE FORWARD, the metro’s department of economic development, issued WAVE News the following statement about the Porkland BBQ situation:

Zoning determines what uses are permitted to take place on a property (residential, commercial, institutional, etc.). Zoning is law adopted by Louisville Metro Council through powers given to them by the state, and the Office of Planning and Design Services (PDS) is charged with ensuring compliance with zoning laws through permitting and licensing and enforcing zoning compliance through investigations.

The Porkland BBQ site is zoned R-6, which is a multi-family residential zoning classification. R-6 can be proper zoning for a religious building/church (the former St. Cecilia), but restaurants are not permitted to operate in residentially zoned properties, unless it is zoned Commercial Residential, which allows both residential and commercial uses on the same property. Think first-floor retail with apartment units on the second floor.

When Porkland BBQ first opened, they did not apply for or receive any zoning approvals from PDS, and it is our understanding is that the restaurant was using kitchen facilities already in place in the former church building and the owner simply did not know the use was not permitted. Metro Public Health and Wellness and Louisville Fire Departments has continued to inspect the kitchen for compliance with health and fire codes as a continuation of the previous church’s use of the kitchen; neither of those processes automatically trigger a check of the property’s zoning.

PDS’s zoning enforcement is typically complaint-based, and in this case, there have been no complaints. For those reasons, we were unaware that the restaurant was operating without the proper zoning until Porkland BBQ applied for an ABC license through Codes and Regulations. The ABC license application requires a check to ensure property is properly zoned. At that time, it was discovered that the property was not in a zoning district that allows restaurants.

No enforcement action has been taken against Porkland BBQ. Following the discovery, PDS staff reached out to the restaurant’s owner to inform him that the restaurant must go through a property rezoning in order to comply with local land use regulations. The owner has talked to staff about that process, as well as other possible options for moving forward. Staff from Louisville Forward’s small business team also has spoken with the owner multiple times about helping him through this process. We have not heard from the owner whether he plans to go through the rezoning process, and we did not order him to cease restaurant operations. In fact, the owner was informed the restaurant could remain open during the zoning process.

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