Cape's strict shipping container rules collide with barbecue restaurant; special permit needed

A St. Louis architectural and design firm wants to incorporate part of a shipping container in a new barbecue restaurant that will be built in Cape Girardeau.

But first the company, Verve Design Studio of St. Louis, must obtain a special-use permit from the Cape Girardeau City Council as part of a new city ordinance that severely restricts use of shipping containers.

The city's planning and zoning commission will hold a public hearing on the request when it meets 7 p.m. Wednesday in City Hall.

The shipping container section would be used as part of the decor in Sugarfire Smoke House, said Anna Kangas, the city's building and enforcement code manager.

Kangas said the plan submitted to the city calls for it to be part of the new restaurant's dining area.

City planner Ryan Shrimplin said in a report to the planning commission "the proposed shipping container is part of the image and design theme associated with this particular restaurant."

Shrimplin said the container will be located inside the restaurant and "will be compatible with other design elements."

Plans for the restaurant also call for the use of materials that mimic a shipping container in other areas of the building, including the smoker enclosure, the city planner said.

"Both the shipping container and the other materials will be painted to be compatible with the design theme," he wrote in his report to the planning commission.

City staff has recommended approval of the permit.

The council last September voted unanimously to ban the use of shipping containers as dwellings and limit the use of them for other purposes.

The new regulations allow the council to approve special-use permits for use of shipping containers for business and storage purposes in commercial and manufacturing districts and at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport on a case-by-case basis.

Sugarfire Smoke House will have inside seating for about 100 diners, plus a garden patio that will seat another 40, company officials have said.

Kangas said the architectural drawings show the shipping container will house only a small part of the seating.

Even though the container is not being used as construction material for the restaurant, city ordinance still requires a permit for use of a shipping container or any part of a container, she said.

"It is a technicality," Kangas said.

The Sugarfire Smoke House in Cape Girardeau will be the restaurant's 11th location, according to a company release. It is scheduled to open in June.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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