Where once there were bingos and wedding receptions, there soon will be burgers and pizza.
Beer will be a constant, though.
Rodney Leadbetter, who owns Slo Odie’s in House Springs, has bought the Lions Club property at 6482 Hwy. MM in House Springs, with plans to relocate his restaurant there.
On Sept. 24, the Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Commission voted 6-0 to recommend rezoning of the
2.65-acre lot where the Lions Club had operated for more than four decades.
Leadbetter sought the rezoning as part of his plan to move his restaurant from 28 Gravois Station Road to the location on Hwy. MM.
The P and Z board advises the Jefferson County Council on land-use issues in unincorporated areas. The County Council will likely consider Leadbetter’s application at a meeting this month.
Leadbetter said he has operated Slo Odie’s for about three and a half years at its present location but was looking for a larger venue.
When the Lions Club decided to sell the building earlier this year because maintenance costs became too high in the face of dwindling membership – particularly this year, when the coronavirus limited rental of the hall – Leadbetter said it was the perfect place to expand his eatery.
He said the location on Gravois Station Road has about 3,500 square feet while the Lions facility has about 8,000 square feet.
“I’ll use the top floor for larger parties and meetings,” he said.
Leadbetter said he doesn’t plan many changes to the exterior of the building.
“All the changes will be on the inside,” he said.
The rezoning was necessary because most of the lot – including the portion with the building – is zoned single-family residential. While fraternal organizations are an allowed use in a residential zone, restaurants are not.
County planner Josh Jump noted the commercial zoning is not out of character for the neighborhood.
No one spoke against the proposal.
Leadbetter said if he receives County Council approval for the rezoning, he plans to open Slo Odie’s at its new location in March.
The building was completed in 1927 and housed other civic organizations before the Lions purchased it in the 1970s.