Westover Market owner/manager Devin Hicks talks about the plans for an indoor restaurant at the market. (Photo: Jay Westcott)

After complaints about noise from the establishment's live music, Westover Market's Devin Hicks thought he had done right by his neighbors last fall by pursuing all the proper permits, including a live music permit, for the now wildly popular beer garden in the Westover neighborhood of Arlington.

Then, in November, the complaints started rolling in again. The beer garden was operating two cast iron fire chimneys on the patio, and someone called repeatedly to complain about the smoke.

The complaints have leveled off, though, after Arlington County fire marshals went out to inspect the fire pits. "An assistant fire marshal went out, and they actually did measurements," says ACFD spokesman Ed Hughes. "They checked all the fire pits, and they were all up to code. There were no violations there."

Meanwhile, Hicks is focusing on the positive. By the end of the month, he's hoping to begin the work that will convert a section of the decades-old market into a fully operational bar and restaurant.

Hicks doesn't know who is responsible for the complaints — those targeting the smoke, or the earlier ones about the music — but he suspects it's a vocal minority.

"There's always someone out there who lives in a bubble, even though they're in one of the most congested urban areas in the country," Hicks told TBD's Sarah Godfrey when they talked for her story on Arlington's war on music earlier this month.

And he's seen enough community support to counteract the naysayers. "It's something the majority of the community wants," he says.

With any luck, Westover will be operating its restaurant by sometime this spring. The plans include a 20-seat restaurant, and a bar with eight seats. Jay Jencs, who previously worked at the Willard Intercontinental hotel in D.C. and has been operating Westover's grills at the beer garden, will run the kitchen. 

The restaurant — which is taking over space currently occupied by the market's offices — should be built by April, and Hicks hopes to go before the Arlington County Board for a live entertainment permit in April or May.