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Ever since he sold the Hillside Restaurant in Burkeville, former patrons have been asking Paul Ward Jr. to start something new. Now he’s one step closer to opening his latest Green Bay project, as Prince Edward supervisors approved his conditional use permit on Tuesday. 

Ward is applying for a special use permit to open a restaurant in Green Bay. Specifically, he’s building or rather renovating at the site of what used to be a gas station. The property is located at 8306 Patrick Henry Highway, next to the Green Bay Post Office and across the road from the Dollar General. A special use permit is needed because the property is currently zoned A1, that is agricultural 1. That zoning limits what is and isn’t allowed to be put up at the property, with exceptions given by permit. 

“We’re gonna try to seat around 45 people, we’re gonna have some picnic tables and to-go orders,” Ward told supervisors. “We’ll have brick oven pizza and we’ll have barbeque but we’ll have a full service menu. It’ll start at 6 in the morning and if you want to eat breakfast at 8 at night, we’ll still have breakfast.” 

Going into more detail in his application, Ward explained that this would be a family-style restaurant, serving home cooked meals and barbeque. The plan would be for it to be open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. The only day it would be closed, Ward told the commission, would be on Christmas Day. 

The plans call for seated dining for an estimated 45 guests. A patio with six picnic tables would be available for those who want to eat outside. Alcohol wouldn’t be served. Instead, drinks would be tea, coffee, water and soda, with an estimated 6 to 8 employees on staff. 

One thing they won’t have

There is one thing the restaurant won’t have, at least not right now. Supervisors Chairman Bill Jenkins asked if the place would have any type of buffet for certain times of the week or special occasions. 

“Not to start with,” Ward said. “Everything is so expensive, it’s hard to do buffets.” 

Jenkins, who remembers eating at Ward’s restaurant years ago in Burkeville, said he thinks this will be a good fit for the area. 

“I’ve seen the building. I think it’s a nice resource that’s coming to the Meherrin Green Bay area,” Jenkins said. “I think it’s a wonderful idea.” 

The application also included documentation of Ward’s discussions with Brian Lokker. Lokker serves as assistant land use administrator for the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)’s Lynchburg District, which includes Prince Edward County. 

Lokker had no problem with the property being used for a restaurant. In fact, he said that restaurants actually generate less traffic than a gas station, so since the property had no issues serving as a gas station, it should be fine for this use as well. The entrances there on site will also work as is, they won’t need to be adjusted, Lokker wrote. 

What happens now in Green Bay? 

Supervisors gave the project their unanimous approval. With the permit request approved, now the question is when will the restaurant open. That could happen within the next month. During the planning commission hearing, Ward had said he was aiming to be open by the end of July.