Island wing Company (iwc) restaurant

Buck lake alliance works with IWC and leon County on fallschase restaurant site plan

The Buck Lake Alliance (BLA) met with IWC representatives and the Leon County Department of Development Support & Environmental Mgt. to discuss the proposed Island Wing Restaurant in the Fallschase Village Center. At that time, IWC presented a draft site plan for the restaurant. As a result of that discussion, a number of significant issues were raised, particularly the size of the restaurant (proposed 11,427 square feet) and the parking lot design. Suggestions for addressing the size of the restaurant (overage of 1,427 sq. ft.) and redesigning the parking lot to be more environmental friendly were presented. Other issues were also discussed, e.g., on-street parking, landscaping, the exterior architectural design, addition space between the street and the front of the restaurant. 
The architect for the Island Wing Company, BKJ, Architecture, Inc. reduced the size of the restaurant by 684 sq. ft., redesigned the parking area, as well as agreeing to hire a professional landscaper to identify native plants of North Florida.
The BLA Board approved the total Island Wings Company restaurant of 10,744 square feet—inside and outside space for the following reasons:

• The Island Wings Company restaurant is the first in the Village Center with some presence that will hopefully encourage others to create vital public setting;
• The BLA Board wants a significant public/private presence that is pedestrian friendly and encourages more businesses to design site plans with a prominent outside atmosphere supporting the Village Center concept;

However, due to the increase in square footage, which creates more impermeable surfaces, thereby, increasing wet weather stream flow, the BLA Board strongly encourages the forthcoming IWC site plans to include low impact development (LID) practices, particularly with regard to parking and landscaped areas. Permeable pavement, i.e., porous asphalt, pervious concreate, or pavers, as well as “rain gardens” and/or bioretention ponds or planters should be used in the parking and “take out” pickup areas. Native grasses and vegetation should be used in the IWC restaurant landscaping plan. The BLA Board encourages IWC to consult with a certified landscape architect who understands North Florida native species and growing conditions. 
The BLA will be reviewing the revised IWC restaurant site plans, attending the upcoming Development Review Committee meetings and providing additional feedback on the revised site plans. ​