By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

A gazebo between a food truck and a dining room at That One Place on Main St. in Marion was only partially constructed Thursday when work had to be stopped.

Co-owner Alison Tajchman said workers were putting up the grain bin gazebo Thursday morning, when they were told to stop work immediately and wait until code inspector James Masters looked at the gazebo Monday.

She was told that several people had called the city to complain.

“The ultimate goal is for our customers to have a better experience,” she said.

Community enrichment director Margo Yates said she had spoken June 12 to co-owner Josh Tajchman about constructing the gazebo.

“I told him he’d need a building permit,” Yates said. “You just have to go in and ask for a building permit.”

Tajchman did not obtain one, contending they had looked into city codes and found nothing that prohibited putting a gazebo on the site.

Yates said having a building permit was a safety consideration because a dining establishment was a public space.

It’s different from putting a gazebo in someone’s back yard, she said.

A building permit costs $25.

Yates told the Record that the gazebo didn’t meet setback requirements and presented structural concerns.

She said she did not know who had spoken to the Tajchmans on Thursday.

Located between an indoor dining building and the restaurant’s food truck, the gazebo is intended to provide a shaded outdoor dining option and cast shade on the food truck during evening hours when things get hot, she said.

On Monday, Josh said, he and Alison were summoned to Yates’ office and told Masters wanted to see an engineer’s blueprint for the gazebo. He and Alison left the meeting.

“We’re just trying to make improvements,” Josh said.

The gazebo has no plumbing, electricity, or water service.

He said Tuesday that he would open for business as usual.

The business has been open since April 2, 2021. It started as a traveling food truck. That food truck still operates, but a food truck attached to a natural gas pipes caters to on-site diners.