AFFIRMED: The Fold has opened in this former service station, shown during construction. Loca Luna is just out of the picture to the right.

  • Facebook/The Fold: Botanos and Bar
  • AFFIRMED: The Fold has opened in this former service station, shown during construction. Loca Luna is just out of the picture to the right.

The Arkansas Court of Appeals today affirmed a circuit court ruling upholding a zoning variance given for The Fold, a new restaurant at 3501 Old Cantrell Road, just a few yards from Loca Luna.

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Loca Luna and the Abernathy-Wilkes LLC contested the plan that let the restaurant meet the required 22 parking spaces for the site with 12 slots on the property and 10 others on nearby property. The circuit court ruling that was affirmed said there was a hardship unique to the property — it’s a small lot that once housed a service station — and the variance was in keeping with the spirit of the ordinance.

The restaurant opened while the appeal was pending. Drake Mann, attorney for Loca Luna, said he had raised a question with the city, however, about whether the restaurant was actually providing only 10, rather than 12, slots on the site because of a change in building plans.

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