214 Maple Avenue restaurant development prospects?

Folks are asking what's going on at the former COA Mexican Eatery at Maple and Washington.

Town of La Conner officials are wondering as well.

Unspecified renovations are under way at the building, which was transported to the site in the 1970s as the new Joe's Drive-In when that business outgrew its original venue at Maple and Talbott.

The Town Planning Department wants to contact property owners Adrian and Ruth Ibarra to learn their intentions for the structure since it has been vacant and may require new permitting.

"It's a very interesting property," Town Assistant Planner Ajah Eills told the Weekly News Friday. "We're in the process of trying to contact the owners to see what they're planning to do."

The building is in a residential area but has been a restaurant for more than four decades. It has morphed from Joe's Drive-in, which longtime locals fondly recall for its signature shrimp burgers, to Gourmet Burger and to Mexican restaurants, most recently COA.

"It could be that it has operated as a legal non-conforming use," Eills said. "Those expire after six months of inactivity. The COA has been vacant for about a year, maybe 18 months. So, if it reopens as a restaurant, they most likely would need to have a variance."

The Ibarras are well-known restaurateurs in the region, best known for their El Gitano restaurants in Skagit and Whatcom counties.

The La Conner COA eatery enjoyed a successful run at Maple and Washington before relocating to the former site of Seeds Bistro and Bar on Morris Street.

The La Conner COA was opened by the brother of Viridiana (Viry) Delgado, a niece of Adrian Ibarra, who in 2013 assumed the helm of COA restaurants in the area. COA has a Mount Vernon site, also.