Firestone buys Knight’s Carpet building from card room owner
“I think it’s a win-win situation,” said Adam Firestone.
Firestone Walker Brewing Company and the Paso Robles Casino card room today announced the sale of 1649 Ramada Drive, the current location of Knight’s Carpet and a once proposed location of an expansion to the card-room, to the brewery. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
The card room tabled its application to relocate to Ramada Drive currently pending before the Paso Robles Planning Commission and City Council in favor of a different direction. The casino and Firestone sparred last year after the planning commission approved the Knight’s Carpet location for the casino. Adam Firestone and nearby property owners protested the move at a city council meeting and the council reversed the planning commissions decision. Casino operators then accused Firestone of having an undisclosed plan to buy the building. Late last year, the casino operators received permission from the council to reapply for the move, which involved a minor zoning change and a conditional use permit.
“We still plan to continue somewhere else,” said Rob Ezzell, operator of the card-room with his brother Don, saying that it has always been their plans to expand and that they will continue to press forward. When asked why they decided to accept the offer from Firestone and continue with another location, Ezzell declined an answer.
Adam Firestone said that he believed the sale to be a, “win-win” situation, saying that the Ezzells were a pleasure to do business with, and were very professional throughout the process. Firestone said that it was the brewery’s goal to, “keep everybody happy” in the neighborhood surrounding the brewery, and that there was a “different vision proposed for the neighborhood,” before they purchased the building— i.e. the building of the Paso Robles Casino. Firestone stated that he didn’t believe that the prior direction was necessarily a bad direction, but simply that it didn’t reflect the, “vision of the neighborhood.”
According to a press release from the Ezzells, all parties believe the transaction is in the best interest of the various local business, residential, and community stakeholders that showed interest in the relocation.
There is no planned change in the use of the building. The Knight’s Carpet & Interiors business will continue to serve its customers throughout the Central Coast from 1649 Ramada Drive.
When asked if the brewery had plans of expansion, or if they were interested in purchasing other surrounding buildings, Firestone said no, the brewery will not be expanding, and that the purchase was simply an effort to keep things, “as they are,” in the neighborhood.
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