Prospective Brittany Hill patrons who were waiting to enjoy the famed Sunday brunches once served at the hilltop event venue will have to wait a little longer.

Jay Byerly, the owner of Golden-based event-planning company Crystal Rose, announced last month that his company had acquired a new 12-year lease on the sprawling 17,241-square-foot restaurant at 9350 Grant St. in Thornton, and was accepting event reservations beginning in the first week of this month.

However, Byerly said last week that his company will have to delay the opening for another month while repairs continue in certain parts of the restaurant.

“We are doing many things to make the restaurant better and try to get things so it’s totally done,” Byerly said.

Thornton Development Director Chris Molison said city building and fire staff inspected the Brittany Hill site with several Crystal Rose representatives a few weeks ago and discovered that there were several issues that needed to be resolved before the restaurant could reopen.

Molison said all the previous kitchen equipment has been removed and is being replaced, but explained that certain parts of the kitchen must still be brought up to city code standards.

He said cooking for events will not be allowed until the fire suppression system is re-installed in the hoods over the cooking equipment, the air handling equipment is re-balanced, the new cooking equipment is installed and calculations are provided regarding the electrical and gas loads required for this equipment.

Molison also said the restaurant’s bar area has also been deemed “unsanitary and unusable” by the Tri-County Health Department.

“We really hope that (Byerly) will follow through,” City Manager Jack Ethredge said during a Dec. 4, 2012 city council planning session. “It’s better to have the site open than it is closed, but on the same token, he is going to have to meet the city codes in order to get it opened.”

As of last week, Byerly said the Crystal Rose had laid down new carpet in the restaurant, received a new shipment of table linens, and was in the final process of having the aging chairs in the restaurant redone.

Byerly also said he is in the process of scheduling an appointment with the Tri-County Health Department to inspect the recent renovations completed on the restaurant’s bar area and working with the state and the city to transfer the restaurant’s liquor license from Anaheim, Calif.-based Specialty Restaurants, which still owns the Brittany Hill property.

If everything falls into place, Byerly said he is currently planning to open the restaurant for brunch sometime around the first week of next month and is only booking private events starting at that same time.