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The Washington House restaurant in Basking Ridge was given approval to retain its outdoor dining area for five years by the Bernards Township Board of Adjustment on Thursday, Sept. 15.
The Washington House restaurant in Basking Ridge was given approval to retain its outdoor dining area for five years by the Bernards Township Board of Adjustment on Thursday, Sept. 15.
BERNARDS TWP. - Last-minute concessions that would allow the Washington House restaurant to keep its large outdoor dining tent for five years instead of permanently were just enough to gain Board of Adjustment approval after a marathon hearing on Thursday, Sept. 15.
A long-running request for a permanent approval was headed for a likely denial until the applicant's attorney, David B. Brady, offered to ask instead for a five-year approval.
At the end of five years, the applicant could seek approval to replace the tent behind the restaurant with a "traditional permanent structure." But regardless of whether that approval is obtained, the tent would need to be removed.
In addition, while the restaurant and the tent have a combined 350 dining seats, the applicant offered to serve no more than 250 diners at any one time.
With the proposal's request for a "D'' variance requiring a super-majority of five affirmative votes from the seven-member board, the concessions secured an approval in a 5-2 vote at 11:47 p.m. - more than four hours into the hearing.
"I'm more in favor of that than leaving a white tent up in perpetuity," said board member Joe Pavlosky.
Voting for approval were Board Chair Jeanmarie Genirs, Karl Kraus, Carl Cambria, Pavlosky and alternate Francis Helverson. Lisamarie Bauman and alternate Nimish Amin dissented.
Board Vice Chairman David Trancredi and Beth Pochtar recused themselves.
During a board deliberation shortly before the amendment, only Cambria indicated support for a permanent approval.
The tent, covering restaurant parking space, was granted by the township in June 2020 as temporary relief from the pandemic. On July 12, the Township Committee voted to extend the expiration of special permits by a year, to Dec. 31, 2023.
Finley Real Estate, LLC, which owns the Washington House at 55 South Finley Ave. in downtown Basking Ridge, applied to the zoning board last Oct. 1 seeking to make the tent permanent.
The two-and-a-half story Washington House has 174 restaurant seats, including 150 indoors and 24 outdoors. Prior to the construction of the tent, it had 59 off-street parking spaces, including 23 in the rear lot and 36 in an auxiliary lot at the corner of West Henry Street and Rankin Avenue.
The 50-by-100-foot tent added 164 seats, plus 12 on a stone patio at the rear of the building. That increased the restaurant's overall number of seats to 350.
Conversely, the loss of the 23 parking spaces in the rear reduced the number of off-street parking spaces to 36.
Based on the restaurant's size and number of seats, the standards of the Village Business Zone required it to have 216 parking spaces. The application therefore sought a variance to allow 36 parking spaces versus a zoning requirement for 216.
At hearings on May 4 and June 16, representatives for the restaurant said there were enough on-street parking spaces downtown to accommodate the shortfall.
Some board members, however, voiced skepticism.
Craig W. Peregoy, a Chester-based traffic consultant hired by the applicant, returned Thursday with a more detailed traffic study.
He said there were 454 parking spaces within a five-minute walk of the restaurant. His study indicated that even with pro-rated totals of 350 diners, a minimum of 82 spaces would remain vacant.
A second parking tally excluded the Wells Fargo Bank lot which the restaurant informally uses; a residential stretch of Rankin Avenue; time-limited parking spaces on Brownlee Place; and the township library lot.
The only parking shortage was recorded on a Friday between noon and 12:30 p.m.
Board members remained skeptical, however, saying the counts didn't consider special events that other downtown businesses or churches might have.
Mads Jepsen, whose family owns the restaurant, reiterated that kitchen capacity would limit total service to about 250 diners. He said the tent doesn't draw more diners but rather, gives a choice to those who come.
"We basically have something for everybody and that's what this is about," he said.
Mathew Flynn, a Morris Plains-based professional planner hired by the applicant, testified that the tent advances the township master plan goal of promoting downtown business.
Among an audience of eight residents, three spoke critically of the proposal while two voiced support.
Mike Reynolds of Brownlee Place said that since the tent covered the rear parking lot, food, beverage and linen trucks for the restaurant have idled and double-parked on West Henry Street and Brownlee Place, causing a nuisance for the neighbors.
Henry Barre of South Maple Avenue said the restaurant's parking deficit would impact other businesses.
The tent was "created for a pandemic," Barre told the board. "It was never presented to the town as a permanent structure."
Todd Edelstein of Riverside Drive said the tent was allowed because of the pandemic and "the pandemic is now over."
"I'm not against them making money but if there was no pandemic, would they even have it?" Edelstein asked. "It's big," he added. "Visually, it's not great looking. It doesn't fit into the character of the town."
Ken Simons of Cobble Lane supported the proposal, saying the Washington House has provided handicapped access that benefits all residents.
Jon Sacco of Appletree Lane also backed the proposal, saying the tent "greatly enhances the public environment."
Several board members, noting that Jepsen had said no more than 250 diners could be served at once, questioned why he had not agreed to formally limit service to less than 350.
That led Brady to ask for a recess. After the break, Brady said his client had agreed to a limit of 300.
But when the board began its deliberation, Genirs and Kraus expressed disappointment that Jepsen had not gone below 300.
"I want to be sure we're not cutting off growth for other businesses in the downtown area," Genirs said. "We don't have data for 300 and for the board to approve the variances, we have to make sure it's not a detriment to the town."
Bauman faulted the tent's size and scale.
"To fill an entire property with your restaurant is just too much," she said.
Cambria viewed it differently, saying the restaurant is enjoyed by many people.
"To have a downtown with activity is not such a bad thing," he said. "When you're downtown later at night, the Washington House is what's downtown at night."
He said he had not heard any business owners complain about the tent, and had not heard of other business patrons being displaced.
Bauman argued that the restaurant would still be a "place to go" even if there is no tent.
"I hate the idea of having them take it down but it was supposed to be temporary," she said.
Before the board could vote, Brady made the offer for only a five-year proposal and a maximum serving limit of 250.
Amin said 250 was "better but still a lot," and he remained opposed.
"It's kicking the can down the road," he said.
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