UPDATED: City Council Approves Rafters Rooftop Patio

The Stillwater City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a proposal to allow a rooftop patio at Rafters Bar and Grill.

Larry Cramer was granted a special use permit to build a 48-seat rooftop patio with one additional condition, sales on the patio have to be 60 percent food and 40 percent alcohol.

Both the , but Stillwater City Council Member Doug Menikheim appealed it.

When asked why he appealed the special use permit and then voted in favor of the rooftop patio, Menikheim said he appealed it because he felt the decision should be made by the "elected members of the City Council, not appointed members of the commissions."

"I wanted to make clear that rooftop patios will be looked at very carefully to make sure they are as safe as possible," Menikheim said.

In conversations with Larry Cramer, Menikheim said he learned that Cramer is trying to change the culture of Rafters.

"Larry Cramer has been associated with the past reputation of the establishment, fairly or not, and I have learned he is committed to changing that reputation," Menikheim said. "After several conversations, it became clear that his intentions are to turn Rafters into an eating establishment with drinks, not just a bar with a grill ... I am convinced he is making an attempt and I hope he is successful."

In the last 18 months, police have responded to more than 100 calls at Rafters, Menikheim said. Many of those calls were for disorderly conduct or other alcohol-related offenses.

When comparing those police calls to the Green Room, which was also approved for a rooftop patio, Menikheim said he learned police were only called once in the last 18 months.

"I saw there was a big difference and that concerned me," he said. "Those are the things that didn't come out in the HPC or the Planning commissions and those are things that are important to know. The City Council is in an accountable role, and I wanted to come to a decision based on all the facts, not just a few."

UPDATED FROM Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.:

Both the , but Stillwater City Council Member Doug Menikheim appealed it.

The appeal means the City Council will now decide whether or not a special use permit will be granted to Owner Larry Cramer for the rooftop patio.

“I do not feel the Commission decision was necessarily in error or bad judgment, but rather they were not fully aware of all the implications of their decision; nor were they privy to relevant information, which had bearing on their decision,” Menikheim’s appeal reads. “Accordingly, I feel the best interest of Stillwater will be served better by having this special use permit acted upon by the full city council.”

If the City Council’s decision is appealed, it will take the proposal to Washington County District Court.

City staff is recommending that the City Council approve the proposal.

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Police Chief John Gannaway recommends that the City Council approve the permit with two conditions: that the special use permit is reviewed after one year taking into consideration any and all incidents that are reported, and that the permit may be suspended immediately if an “extraordinary event” were to occur.

“While I appreciate Mr. Cramer’s efforts to expand his business and attempt to change the culture of Rafter's, the bottom line is that this particular establishment, open under various names for many years, has had a history of calls for service requiring a response by the Police Department,” Gannaway wrote in a letter to the Council, “over 40 in the past calendar year alone, with approximately 20 of the calls related to criminal activity involving disorderly conduct or other alcohol related offenses. There are other similar establishments in Stillwater that have similar number of incidents; however, none are applying for a Special Use Permit for a rooftop patio.”

Rafters Owner Larry Cramer said the City Council has installed a process that is a very comprehensive, thorough, detailed, and accountable through public hearing for reviewing proposals for special use requests.

Two major review committees have offered up recommendations and Rafters has worked diligently to provide all the necessary information and design changes to respond to all public input, working with neighbors and their concerns, and respond to public and city official issues throughout the five-month process, he said.

“We believe that total efforts of all involved parties (Rafters, multiple meetings with police, fire, building and planning city officials, multiple meetings with our neighbors, four meetings with the HPC, two meetings with the PC, etc.) in this review and approval process likely exceed 10,000 hours of detailed work,” Cramer wrote in a letter to the City. “We have confidence that what has come out of the process is a very thoroughly evaluated design that incorporates the safety, security and noise concerns of our neighbors and public safety officials.”

The recommendations approved by the two commissions have set forth 19 conditions to the approval of the special use permit.

“The process was long and arduous,” Cramer wrote, “but we think virtually every conceivable concern was addressed.”

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