Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
We inform. You decide.
Friday, March 29, 2024

Big Mill’s, city go back-and-forth over building code

<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-7c141b05-e3cd-b82c-c3bd-bd9274f78dfc"><span>Red, white and blue buntings decorate Big Mill's Cheesesteaks, located at 2111 NW 13th St., before they were removed by owner Keith Miller on Wednesday. City officials told Miller his buntings were against code.</span></span></p>

Red, white and blue buntings decorate Big Mill's Cheesesteaks, located at 2111 NW 13th St., before they were removed by owner Keith Miller on Wednesday. City officials told Miller his buntings were against code.

Between Big Mill’s Cheesesteaks’ four walls, life is simple: the signature cheesesteak sandwiches are $8.25, Italian or Polish sausages are $6.75 and each chair is dedicated to a Major League Baseball team.

On the restaurant’s exterior, however, a code violation of more than 12 red, white and blue buntings has restaurant owner Keith Miller and city officials in a tense back-and-forth. After nearly two months open, Wednesday Miller had to remove the buntings that had adorned the restaurant’s front entrance since its grand opening Sept. 18.

A City of Gainesville code enforcer told Miller via phone last Tuesday the patriotic-themed decorations were against code and had to be removed immediately or else the restaurant, located at 2111 NW 13th St., would incur a citation and fine.

“I feel I should be able to decorate my building without getting any intervention,” Miller said. “If it’s tasteful and not obnoxious and it’s not interrupting traffic, I just don’t understand why it would be illegal.”

In the days leading up to the grand opening Sept. 18, Miller said he worked with the city’s Planning Department and obtained permits that allowed for the buntings and the restaurant’s interior as well.

Code enforcement officials argue that buntings on the exterior of any building fall under the same category as pennants, which are banned within the city limits, along with rooftop signs and electronic signs, according to city’s Code of Ordinances, Section 30-317.

City spokesperson Chip Skinner said the buntings’ American-style red, white and blue colors or their patriotic theme are unrelated to the prohibition.

“What he had out there was a violation of city sign ordinance,” Skinner said. “It had nothing to do with any coloration or design of it. It was just the actual items themselves that were the issue.”

On Friday, Miller received an email from city code enforcers requesting to meet in person to resolve how Miller can decorate his restaurant’s exterior as he sees fit while keeping up to code.

After 15 years of selling his signature cheesesteak sandwiches at Midtown during home games, Miller said he’s determined to meet with the city and figure out a solution, especially now that he has been living his dream with his own location.

He said, if he feels city code enforcers fail to plainly explain why his decorations were illegal and are uncooperative, he plans to go before the City Commission. He hopes the city will work with him so that he can put the buntings back up.

“I’m a small business trying to do the right thing,” he said. “I want my frustrations heard by the city.”

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox

Red, white and blue buntings decorate Big Mill's Cheesesteaks, located at 2111 NW 13th St., before they were removed by owner Keith Miller on Wednesday. City officials told Miller his buntings were against code.

Support your local paper
Donate Today
The Independent Florida Alligator has been independent of the university since 1971, your donation today could help #SaveStudentNewsrooms. Please consider giving today.

Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2024 The Independent Florida Alligator and Campus Communications, Inc.