![The owners — Eddie Compo, Kristine Compo and Anthony Pakingan — of The Tar Roof, a gallery, shopping and event venue that recently opened in Pungo. [John-Henry Doucette/The Princess Anne Independent News]](https://princessanneindy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/tarroof-1-1-1024x732.jpg)
PUNGO – The Tar Roof, an art gallery that opened this past year in a 164-year-old farmhouse, is seeking conditional use permits to allow larger special events such as weddings and more regular open-air community events such as its popular bazaars in the heart of Pungo.
The business will host community events with vendors, food trucks, art and music, as it has in the past. Four previous events billed as Pungo Bazaars were held with special event permits. The number of these events are more limited without the conditional use permit.
With approval by the city council, the business would be able to host larger gatherings than it has to date. The Tar Roof’s owners — Eddie Compo, Kristine Compo and Anthony Pakingan — have said it is more than a gallery where local work can be seen and purchased.
It was designed as a destination and, as Eddie Compo said during an interview on Wednesday, Sept. 28, a place for community.
The applications are scheduled to be considered by the city council on Tuesday, Oct. 18. City Councilmember Barbara Henley, who represents the Princess Anne District, said she could not yet discuss the application in detail, but she said considerations will include issues such as traffic and parking.
The owners “provided a plan that reflects thoughtful consideration of its surroundings and has worked with staff in an effort to provide a high level of certainty in the implementation of their vision for these events,” Robert Davis, a city planner, wrote in a staff report about the application.
In recommending approval of the permits, Davis’ report noted that open-air market events would be limited to once per week. There will be space for as many as 34 vendors during community events, the report added.
“We’re not looking to do one per week,” Eddie Compo said, explaining that the permit gives them more flexibility but the Pungo Bazaars would be held about once per month. They might eventually try a second, smaller-scale event.
Assembly use event – weddings and other special gatherings – would be limited to no more than 20 per year, according to the staff report, and they would have a limit of 150 guests.
There is enough parking on site, Compo said, and the owners will work to help ensure customers park in spaces on the property.
© 2016 Pungo Publishing Co., LLC
