Downtown Hooters tied up by protest to TABC

Plans for a Hooters restaurant in City Place downtown have been delayed by a protest pending before the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

Hooters executive Fred Sigmund said in January that the company expected to open the restaurant this summer, possibly by the end of June.

He made the remarks after Hooters won permission from the Downtown Design Review Board to include a patio at the restaurant, planned for City Place in the former Tandy towers at Second and Throckmorton streets.

A protest has since been filed with the state commission by the Downtown Fort Worth Families and Neighbors Committee.

Commission spokesman Chris Porter said the State Office of Administrative Hearings and attorneys for the protesters have been trying to coordinate a hearing date in Fort Worth. The hearing is required before the commission can issue a liquor permit, he said.

Porter said he couldn’t discuss the grounds for the protest.

Hooters has not returned phone calls seeking comment. Attorneys for the group declined to comment.

In the meantime, the city issued Hooters a change of use permit in April for the restaurant, which is planned for the street level of a multitenant office building. The city has also verified to the commission that the restaurant meets the zoning requirements for a liquor license.

Some residents in Sundance West, an apartment building across Throckmorton Street at Second Street, and other downtown residents spoke before the Downtown Design Review Board in January opposing the restaurant and its signs. They said the signs were vulgar, big and bright, and the “breastaurant” should not be allowed downtown.

The board, though, only considers issues regarding signs and architecture and had no authority to stop the restaurant. The board's action was required for Hooters to receive building permits.

Hooters agreed to install only one sign on the outside of the building that will be smaller and lit differently than was proposed. The restaurant also agreed not to put its logo on the patio umbrellas.

This story was originally published July 27, 2016 at 11:15 AM with the headline "Downtown Hooters tied up by protest to TABC."