New Lansing barbecue restaurant under site plan review 

By Eddie Velazquez

A new BBQ restaurant could be coming to the town of Lansing.

The town board fielded an application for a site plan review for “Fittnell Barbeque,” a prospective new restaurant serving tender, smoked meats. The new culinary offering would be located at 42 Seacord Ln. in Lansing. Jacob Marnell, co-owner of the restaurant, said that his team will retrofit the existing structure on Seacord to build out the restaurant.

“We have been a business for seven years, looking to establish ourselves in a physical location. We found this property and felt it fits all of our needs for providing a good establishment for our vision, where you can come enjoy a meal, relax for a bit, move on.”

Marnell, who is a design professional in the area, said that he will only be seeking small changes to the structure.

“A small cover on the kitchen on the backside is the only change to the physical building that we are doing,” he noted. Marnell said he wants to build a cover for a smoker.

Fittnell started seven years ago, catering pop-up events and other outings. 

“It grew to a food truck,” he said. “The last year and a half we have operated in two different locations in downtown Ithaca: inside a brewery, and before that inside a bar. While those partnerships were nice, they also don’t fit our ultimate goal of having a place of our own, making it in our image, being able to present our food and our business in a very distinct way.”

In the last three years, Marnell said, the team has been looking to rent a space.

“This is the right location, right market,” he said. “A lot of our customer base typically lend to north northeast of Ithaca. A lot of our customer base have followed us and spent a lot of time with us in Freeville, Summerhill. There is a lot of growth around.”

Planning Board Chair Al Fiorille asked Marnell what the hours of operation would be.

“The initial goal, we’d probably ease into it,” Marnell said. “We’d start Saturday, Sunday. Our typical hours are 11 a.m. to sell out. That is determined by the crowd. We sell out on average by 4 to 5 p.m.”

Marnell added that they could tinker with starting their work week Friday or even Thursday.

“Our goal is to open and sell out as fast as possible so I can get the smoker loaded for the next day and get some sleep,” Marnell said. 

The restaurant will primarily rely on counter service. 

“You approach the meat cutter, you order your meats, you order your sides, check out, sit down,” he said.

Marnell said that there is an existing gravel lot, but Fittnell plans to add an adjacent parking lot. 

“Our goal is just to sell food to customers, become a part of the community, weave ourselves in,” he said. “We don’t want to have a lot of amenities where people stay for an hour or two.”

One of the concerns the board had regarding the project was that the documents submitted did not account for the nearby residents. 

Board member Larry Sharpsteen said he did not see in the plans how nearby residential properties would be affected. Sharpsteen said the restaurant might require fencing or some sort of buffer.

“You have a driveway laid out. My immediate question would be: the approach to your place on Seacord comes all the way through a residential district before it gets to your place,” Sharpsteen said. “I would encourage you to develop your alternate driveway location rather than depending on Seacord to bring people into your property. It is just being a good neighbor.”

Marnell said that a new driveway would be about $30,000 due to how woodsy the area is. 

“While I do agree that going through the neighborhood is atypical, the zoning allows for this usage, and this project was approved with two different variations with the road continuing back there,” Marnell said.

The project will come in front of the board again in early 2025. 

At the meeting, the board also honored longtime member Sharpsteen, who will retire from the board after 40 years of service.

“On behalf of the board and the community, I want to express my deepest appreciation for your wisdom, as well as your quips throughout the years,” Fiorille said.

Sharpsteen thanked Fiorille and the board.

“I have been very happy to use my professional experience and training in some small role to benefit the town,” he noted. “It’s been a hoot for me, and I have enjoyed every minute of it.”

Lansing at Large appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com. Contact Eddie Velazquez at edvel37@gmail.com or on X (formerly Twitter): @ezvelazquez.