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WEST COLUMBIA — A new neighborhood-friendly dive bar set to open in West Columbia is hitting snags in its path to final approval from the city.

Rucker’s posted on social media March 1 that it had been denied zoning approval for a second time. The second rejection came after owners posted that they had changed the structure and model of the dive bar to comply with the city’s demands.

The bar, set to open on 735 Meeting Street, has received an outpouring of support and anticipation from residents of West Columbia and beyond. Its owners said in a Feb. 14 Facebook post that they are “waiting on a few final approvals” before setting a grand opening date.

But those final approvals are being withheld by the city, with no predictable timeline on when the bar will be discussed again. Meanwhile, its neon signs remain unlit and its many hand-painted murals go largely unseen.

The bar’s first zoning denial

Rucker’s was first denied zoning approval a few months ago. While the owners were upset, they decided to “comply completely” with the city’s demands, they posted on Facebook. They were told that if they “restructured to meet certain criteria,” the bar’s updated case would be reviewed, they said.

The board’s specific reasoning for initially denying Rucker’s was not made immediately clear. Winslow posted on March 2 that the owners were told, “Our words alone were the reason we couldn’t get zoning approval.”

But following the first denial, the owners said they formed a nonprofit, transformed the bar’s structure into a membership-based social club, built a food-forward model and created alcohol policies — essentially, they “changed the entire structure,” the March 1 post reads.

Rucker’s will operate as a private club with a yearly membership fee of $10, which is due to liquor-by-the-drink rules, Jason Cherry, Winslow’s business partner, previously told the Free Times. The bar also announced plans to host multiple events supporting charities as part of its new nonprofit status.

But then the bar was told that the first denial still stands, the post reads. Its new application was not reviewed, and the decision stayed tied to the original filing, they said.

“If local hospitality businesses are willing to adjust and comply with the guidance given,” a post reads from the bar’s Facebook page, “that effort should count. Our bartenders, servers, musicians, food vendors, and small business owners deserve a process that actually evaluates what is submitted.”

“We are not asking for a favor,” they added. “We are asking for a fair read of what we are now.”

Owner Shay Winslow could not be reached for additional comment.

What are city leaders saying?

When asked for specifics on what made Rucker’s unfit for approval, a city spokesperson said only, “They applied to do something that the City of West Columbia Zoning does not allow.”

West Columbia Mayor Tem Miles responded to the post, calling Rucker’s situation “a complex issue.” That zoning district does not allow “drinking establishments,” which are commonly referred to as bars, the mayor said.

The city was “working on a path forward to hopefully get approval” for Rucker’s following its rebrand as a social club, he said. But while that was going on, Miles said the owners “undertook a public media campaign” that he said highlighted plans to identify as a “dive bar.”

“It’s kinda hard to argue for approval as a different type of establishment when you are actively publicizing something else,” Miles commented on Facebook.

Rucker’s replied to the mayor’s comment in a lengthy statement affirming that their documentation, policies and membership structure all reflect a nonprofit social club model.

“At no point did we represent ourselves as operating outside of zoning rules,” owners commented on Facebook. “The term ‘dive bar’ was used conversationally to describe aesthetic and culture, not zoning classification or principal use. Words describing atmosphere do not redefine legal structure.”

“We have followed the process step by step and in good faith,” they added. “We remain committed to operating within the law and serving this community responsibly.”

What comes next?

If the bar’s updated documentation has to go back in front of West Columbia’s Board of Zoning Appeals for approval, the item will likely hit the board’s March 17 meeting agenda. That agenda has not yet been posted.

No discussion items concerning Rucker’s were placed on the board’s meeting agendas over the past six months. Christine Sharp, West Columbia’s director of zoning, could not immediately be reached for comment on whether the new application will be reviewed.

Rucker’s’ March 1 Facebook post called on the community to contact local leaders and ask them to review its updated application that establishes the bar as a membership-based social club.

Until then, the opening of the highly anticipated addition will remain stalled.

This is a developing story. Check back for more updates.