A restaurant in the Beechmont neighborhood that was operating as a temporary emergency shelter amid frigid winter weather was ordered to stop Thursday, Louisville Division of Fire spokesperson Donovan Sims said in a news release.
The StrEatery, located at 304 W. Woodlawn Ave., ran afoul of city law by operating as a shelter without the proper permit, Sims said. The business holds a permit to sell food and drinks and would need to apply for a permit specifically for residential or shelter use to operate as an overnight shelter, he said.
Amanda Mills, founder the street outreach organization Southend Street Angels, said the organization has worked in partnership with The StrEatery to provide shelter services since Winter Storm Blair struck Louisville Sunday.
“We learned that the owner here has a huge heart. He wanted to help the community that you know he does business in, and he was willing to open his doors if somebody would help him,” Mills said.
Inside the The StrEatery, a restaurant in south Louisville that was ordered to cease operations as an overnight emergency shelter amid harsh winter weather.
The impromptu shelter has helped people every day since then, with new people seeking help each day, Mills said.
Twelve people were seeking refuge at the restaurant Thursday prior to Louisville Fire issuing the violation, Mills said. The organization is now providing those people supplies and transporting people who ask for help to white flag shelters, which are required to keep doors open amid extreme weather conditions.
The notice of the violation comes as Louisville is expected to receive 3-6 inches of snow Friday and more bitterly cold temperatures loom in the area.
While Southend Street Angels has provided pop-up shelters for south Louisville’s unhoused population for the past five winters, this is the first year they partnered with The StrEatery. Mills said she didn’t know of the city’s permitting requirements for hosting pop-up shelters.
She plans to work with Louisville Metro Government to obtain the proper permitting to operate pop-up shelters in the future.
“We’re looking forward to learning so that in the future we can do it correctly and we don’t run into these situations again,” Mills said. “It’s heartbreaking, as some of us volunteers, including me, feel defeated. But you know, we’ll take the good with the bad, and we’ll continue to press forward.”
This story may be updated.
Contact reporter Killian Baarlaer at kbaarlaer@gannett.com or @bkillian72 on X.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: The StrEatery cited for operating as pop-up overnight shelter