I just confirmed this information. I won’t be at the meeting, but will follow up tomorrow to see what the upshot was.
Sheldon to Address Citizens’ Concerns About Espresso Gone Wild
Sister store in Gorst features “pastie” days.
By Chris Henry
chenry@kitsapsun.com
Mason County Commissioner Tim Sheldon will meet at 6 p.m. tonight
(Monday) at Belfair Elementary School with citizens worried about a proposed Espresso Gone
Wild stand in Belfair.
The stand’s sister store in Gorst features scantily-clad barristas.
The Gorst location features “Pastie Tuesdays and
Fridays.”
The citizens group voiced their concerns about the business,
located on Highway 3 in Belfair, at the July 30 meeting of the
Mason County Board of Commissioners.
Heather Fredrickson, a member of the group, said she senses public
discomfort with the paste-on breast ornaments and other skimpy
attire, such as is worn by women at the Gorst store.
“In general, the community feels uncomfortable with its location,”
she said. “We don’t feel like adult entertainment is what we want
at the gateway to our community.”
The Belfair stand opened approximately a week ago, but was
temporarily closed shortly afterward.
Sheldon said county planners determined there were some code
violations. The owner is resolving them, he said.
Following up on the group’s complaints, Sheldon and his staff
researched zoning code and found no provision for “erotic
entertainment,” which is how the county classifies the attire in
question.
At first, county staff thought such use was only prohibited in
mixed use areas, which is where the stand is located, but such use
is prohibited in all areas of the Belfair urban growth area,
Sheldon said.
In a letter to owners Phillip Olson and Jerry Wilson, the
commissioners rendered their ruling, saying, “Given the absence of
allowances for this use, either outright or with a special use
permit, it is the county’s interpretation that the use is
prohibited.”
Attempts to contact the owners were unsuccessful.
Sheldon said he had not personally heard from the owners, but he
understood they now plan more modest attire for their Belfair
branch.
“I’m getting the feeling they’re willing to change their approach,”
said Sheldon. “We certainly have no problem with an espresso stand,
but as it was originally proposed, it was erotic
entertainment.”
Betty Wing the county’s director of operations, confirmed that the
owners planned to modify the outfits for Belfair.
“They said they just didn’t expect the backlash they’ve gotten,”
said Wing. “They indicated they will comply with the
regulations.”
Espresso Gone Wild is at the edgy end of a growing trend in the
greater Seattle region toward the use of provocatively-dressed
barristas to sell coffee. The Gorst location regularly draws a
steady lineup of cars on Tuesdays and Fridays, when some but not
all servers wear pasties.
