A Virginia couple will seek the Annapolis City Council's approval tonight to reopen Reynolds Tavern, a meticulously restored Colonial innin the heart of the historic district.

Ramsay and Sandy Stallman,restaurateurs from Montross, Va., want to revive the inn as an upscale restaurant and pub, featuring traditional American dishes and ale.The city's Planning and Zoning Commission backed their request for aconditional use permit Feb. 6.

Reynolds Tavern has a colorful history dating to before the American Revolution, when it was owned by a prosperous hatter. It is said that George Washington was once caught in bed with another man's wifethere.

The inn opposite St. Anne's Episcopal Church on Church Circle later served as Anne Arundel County's library headquarters. In the mid-1980s, Annapolis entrepreneur Paul M. Pearson II painstakingly restored the inn. But his partnership went bankrupt after the restoration took eight months longer and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars more than expected.

Closed since the summer of 1989, the inn isstill in good shape and could be reopened this summer with the city's permission, the Stallmans said. The couple agreed to ban amplified music and limit the outdoor courtyard hours in response to concerns by planning commission members.

In other business Monday night, thecouncil will hear an application from Amoco Oil Co. to open a gas station and convenience store on Forest Drive.

The council also willhear a proposal to create a valet parking area downtown.

The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in City Hall on Duke of Gloucester Street.