Restaurant owners plan to try again after City Council votes against expansion plans

The owners of The Hill Bar & Grill at 4800 E. Douglas say they will try again to get City Council approval for their plans to expand their business into the space next door and add a microbrewery.

Brad Steven, who co-owns the restaurant with his brother, Brent, said that their main goal is to get approval to turn the former T-Mobile space that’s directly west of The Hill into a microbrewery where they can brew their own beer for the restaurant, a goal they’ve had since they first opened The Hill in August of 2013.

But at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, their request to amend a conditional use permit that would allow them to add square footage and provide outdoor entertainment — namely speakers and TV sets — on the businesses’ outdoor patio was rejected by a vote of 4-3. A “super majority” of at least six votes was required to approve the request because more than 20 protest petitions against the request were received from members of the public, who cited worries about increased public intoxication, noise and excessive street parking. Those petitions represented 29% of the protest area, exceeding the 20% threshold established by the state.

Mayor Lily Wu and council members Maggie Ballard and Mike Hoheisel voted against the request. Council members Brandon Johnson, Becky Tuttle, Dalton Glasscock and J.V. Johnston voted to approve it.

On Wednesday, Brad Steven said that he and his brother planned to revise and resubmit their request so that the council can revisit the issue. At Tuesday’s meeting, council members discussed only concerns related to the speakers and television sets that the owners hope to install as part of the expansion. But what the owners are really after is the expansion itself.

“We need to change what we’re asking for,” Steven said. “The most important part for us is to be able to have our customers at The Hill walk into the brewery space. We already have zoning done for that to be a brewery.”

Steven said that the brothers had always hoped to open a brewery to accompany The Hill. They were just waiting for the space that adjoins their restaurant to come open.

When T-Mobile closed last year and the space finally was available, they secured the lease, hoping to turn it into a small microbrewery. They imagine adding an entry to the brewery from the restaurant and say the additional space would house brewing equipment and a few additional tables and chairs. The expansion would increase The Hill’s square footage from 4,860 to 7,291.

“It’ll be cool because people will be able to walk through the doorway and see the equipment,” Steven said.

They’d also like to put some speakers and television sets on their outdoor patio, which is on the east side of the building. They may want to add another patio onto the new side but haven’t gotten that far in their plans, Steven said. Their request stipulated that the speakers and television sets would be turned off by 10 p.m.

“It’s always a nice addition to have some music when you’re at a restaurant sitting outside,” he said. “It’s nice to have some background music rather than hear a bunch of cars driving by.”

Tuesday’s council discussion was solely focused around the request to add speakers and television sets. The council was told that years ago, the owners had put up speakers without seeking permission but took them down after neighbors complained. The fact that the speakers were put up without permission was concerning, Ballard said during council discussion.

When discussion ended, council member Brandon Johnson —whose district includes The Hill — moved that the council approve the request, but the motion failed.

Steven expressed frustration at the vote, noting that restaurants all around The Hill have outdoor ambient music — including his Wine Dive — with no issues. In fact, he said, over the past decade years, Douglas Avenue has become a hot spot for restaurants and bars, and many have some type of outdoor music.

“It’s the place to be in Wichita,” he said. “This strip all the way from FioRito restaurant to The Hill is full of great restaurants and bars.

“This is Wichita trying to move forward, and we need more breweries. We need more things like this. You go to all these big cities, that’s what attracts people. Wichita needs more stuff like this.”

The owners are looking into their next steps, he said, but expanding the restaurant’s square footage remains the their main objective

They haven’t made any specific design plans because they “don’t want to put the cart before the horse,” he said, but if they can get the expansion approved, they’ll have the brewery up and running within a year.