Bye bye to Jinja

[Resident]

Hello

Can you believe that Jinja has closed their doors? I think that they were only open about seven months or so. I would love to hear why they closed, they seemed to be doing very well to me. Always had customers, pretty tasty, very inexpensive, nice atmosphere... I was so surprised yesterday when I read the note on their door.

[linda5]

I just read this in the PB Post dated 11/25 and titled: "Red Tape Doomed Jinja Bar"

"Robbin Hedges, a partner in Jinja Bar & Bistro, said a seven-month wait for city renovation permits resulted in lost income and extra expenses. "That permitting process just killed us," Hedges said in an interview last week. "If I could have gotten into the (CityPlace) location within the time frame we laid out, we wouldn't be having this conversation.""

All I have to say..."What a shame."

[Resident]

Hi Linda5

That is interesting, it really seemed like there had to be more to this story, they appeared to be doing very well.
I remember watching that place sit for months and months with no activity and thinking that it must have failed. Now I wonder if this is the issue with Panera, Italian Oven and the others? Is this bad planning on the builders part or inefficient city processes? So many questions...

[MsRobbyn]

Hi Linda5

That is interesting, it really seemed like there had to be more to this story, they appeared to be doing very well.
I remember watching that place sit for months and months with no activity and thinking that it must have failed. Now I wonder if this is the issue with Panera, Italian Oven and the others? Is this bad planning on the builders part or inefficient city processes? So many questions...
The city is very inefficient...I sometimes wonder how my fiance manages to get through the day without tearing his hair out. One inspector will say one thing, and tell him all you need to do to close this out is this and this, then another inspector will get it and say no, you need to do this and this instead. It's so totally absurd. Oh my, the stories I could tell you are the red tape they put these poor businesses through and people wonder why our government is in such shambles...mostly because they have no idea what they're doing! My fiance has been in the commercial construction business for over 30 years...it's not like he doesn't know what he's doing, but the building dept., inspectors, etc., make it hard for everyone.

[Resident]

Hi MsRobbyn

Thanks for your reply, it is very interesting to hear from you on this since you have close knowledge of the situation.
Isn't it amazing, the city is trying so hard to revitalize itself and at the same time they are shooting themselves in the foot by killing the businesses that could really draw people to this area.

[Shelley]

I"m writing this while on vacation, so please excuse any typos because I"m using a Spanish typewriter and can"t find all the right keys.

More importantly, I can"t believe I"m reading this post about Jinja. :( We just ate in a restaurant last night (in Mexico) that we were comparing to Jinja. Similar menu, lovely atmosphere. Wait until I tell my hubby - he"ll be devastated! What a loss!

I agree, too, MsRobbyn, with the hoops the city puts everyone through. And, of course, it"s not just commercial, as we had first hand experience with moving to our condo. Soon the whole city will be wearing signs = OPENING SOON! but nothing will. :mad:

[MsRobbyn]

It's sad, but doubtful that anything will ever change with the city and will probably in fact, get worse. It can take literally take 7 or 8 weeks to even get plans back from the City that are in for review and then they have "comments" on them which you have to answer and resubmit and it again will take weeks and weeks to get them back. It's amazing to me that our government is so inefficient...to me, a lot of this is simply common sense, but as we all know, common sense is not so common these days.

Robbyn