By Brenna R. Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FLORENCE - A Ruby Tuesday restaurant is coming to town. The casual-dining chain will build a restaurant at Ky. 18 and Houston Road, according to paperwork filed with the Boone County Planning Commission.

The restaurant joins Hooters and a new-concept LaRosa's restaurant, which are both building new locations along Houston Road.

The 6,996-square-foot Ruby Tuesday will be built on 1.63 acres next to the Kmart parking lot. A tentative opening is set for February 2005.

Tennessee-based Ruby Tuesday, which has more than 600 locations nationwide, applied for design review with the Boone County Planning Commission on Sept. 18.

Because the restaurant is proposed in the Houston-Donaldson Corridor Overlay District, it needs design approval, site plan approval and a building permit to begin construction.

The restaurant must be brick and have a monument-type sign, because of the area's design standards, said Kevin Wall, director of zoning.

Florence will be the restaurant's second Northern Kentucky location. The other is in Cold Spring.

The restaurant is the third moving to the Houston Road area.

A LaRosa's restaurant is being built on Merchant Street. And a Hooters restaurant is planned just north of the Ruby Tuesday site.

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E-mail bkelly@enquirer.com