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CANDACE RONDEAUXTarpon Springs City Commission votes to allow Oxford House Tea Room to serve alcohol with its usual fare.
TARPON SPRINGS - Oxford House Tea Room owner Janet Jones is breaking out the bubbly.
About two years after the City Commission denied the Tarpon Springs restaurant owner's request to serve beer and wine on the premises, the commission voted unanimously Tuesday evening to approve the Oxford House application.
"We're just overjoyed to have it done," Jones said.
The city's decision comes roughly a month after a judge ruled that the City Commission erred when it denied the establishment permission to serve beer and wine. Jan. 15, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge John A. Schaefer ruled that the city had no good reason to block the request.
The city's planning and zoning board initially recommended approving the 100-seat Orange Street restaurant's request to serve beer and wine in October 2002.
But the next month, the City Commission voted to deny Oxford House's request after parishioners from the neighboring St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral objected to the proposed menu additions. Church members worried that customers who imbibed at Oxford House and then drove could be a danger to nearby schoolchildren and parishioners.
St. Nicholas members repeated their concerns at Tuesday's City Commission meeting. But after close questioning, city commissioners voted to allow Oxford House to serve alcohol on three conditions.
Jones, 46, agreed to only serve alcohol with food, to make sure that the restaurant would never operate as a bar or pub and that it will not become a nuisance to its neighbors. She also plans to train her employees on how to serve alcohol safely.
Jones expects to begin serving champagne, beer and wine at Oxford House in two or three months, after the state has approved her application for a license to serve on the premises.
"It should be smooth sailing after this," she said.