Bent’s gets permission for 2 giant nutcrackers, outdoor fence during holidays

Photo by Tom Rivers: Bent’s Opera House has the Village Board’s permission to keep its fence up past the Nov. 15 deadline. The fence can stay up until Jan. 5 and Bent’s will have two 12-foot-high nutcracker statues along the wall inside the fence.

MEDINA – Bent’s Opera House has the Village Board permission to keep an outdoor fence up on the village sidewalk until Jan. 5. That is past the Nov. 15 deadline for outdoor fencing on Main Street.

The village has that deadline so the sidewalks are clear to be plowed. Justin Bruce, the restaurant manager at Bent’s, attended Monday’s meeting and asked for more time with the fence. He requested until Feb. 1, but that was pushed back to Jan. 5.

Bruce also asked that the village allow two 12-foot-high nutcracker statues that weigh 265 pounds each to be allowed on the village sidewalk, up against the wall at Bent’s. They would be in the fenced-in area at Bent’s.

“This will enhance Medinas overall charm,” Bruce said. “It won’t be too extreme.”

The nutcrackers should be considered holiday decorations, and there is more latitude for decorations on the sidewalks, said Dan Gardner, the village code officer.

The board asked for Bent’s to provide an insurance certificate for the nutcrackers, and also to clear any snow from the fenced-in area and also in front of the fence.

Bruce said part of the rationale for wanting the fence out longer is so Bent’s customers can be in that area and watch the Parade of Lights on Nov. 30.

The board said the fenced-in area should be open to others, too, during the parade and not just Bent’s customers. Bruce agreed.

He also asked the board to consider designating some parking spots in front of Bent’s on Main Street for overnight parking during the summer. Bruce said Bent’s parking lot often is short some spots when there are weddings on Saturday nights.

He said allowing some spots for overnight parking would ease the parking crunch. There is currently a two-hour parking limit on Main Street. If the board allowed some overnight parking, it would need to have a public hearing and change the ordinance.

It isn’t a pressing issue because Bruce said Bent’s has until next summer when the wedding season starts again. The board asked him to inquire if some spots would be available at the lot on West Center Street across from the Post Office.