‘Proper cocktails,’ continued pizza use gain board approval

A former real estate office next door to a candy store in Bedford Village is slated to become a high-end bar. (GOOGLE STREET VIEW)

By JEFF MORRIS

Two applications before the Bedford Planning Board this week, both of which were approved, raised parking and wastewater issues that have long affected Bedford Village. 

Back before the board again was oHHo Botanicals, Ltd. at 34 Village Green, in the former Bedford Village firehouse, applying for an extension of a previously approved site plan for the continued use of an outdoor pizza oven. The business was previously approved as a café and retail establishment.

In order to continue using the pizza oven, run by Pizza Girls NY, oHHo must obtain periodic approvals from the board, now set at every six months. The last extension was approved in January.

The pizza oven was brought in as a way of augmenting the café’s offerings, which are restricted by the lack of septic capacity in Bedford Village. That limitation prevents oHHo from having a kitchen or any food preparation facilities.

Though the boutique/café has been lauded by both patrons and neighbors for bringing customers and a sense of vitality to the Village Green area, owner Nicola Stephenson has faced repeated scrutiny from the board regarding whether operations comply with the conditions for approval of the original site plan.

In January, Stephenson was questioned about the types, size and frequency of events held at the site. This week, board Chair Deirdre Courtney-Batson asked about stacks of pizza boxes seen at the oven, which she said was “a bit confusing” because there is not supposed to be any takeout. 

Stephenson said those were for people taking home leftovers, not ordering takeout. Board member Nilus Klingel said he was somewhat skeptical, as he has driven by and seen pedestrians leaving with “five, six, seven” boxes at a time, but he did not see it as an impediment to considering the application. 

Planning Director Jesica Youngblood noted the takeaway component is “just to take the food you ordered,” not to order takeout; board member Diane Lewis confirmed she had never seen people driving and lining up “like at some of the restaurants.”

Courtney-Batson said assessing compliance was difficult because “it’s not just fitting a square peg into a round hole; we’re trying to fit a peg of entirely indeterminate shape into a round hole.” She said as this application has gone on, she has concluded that some of the board’s conditions might be unreasonable; if the board determines that is the case, members should change the conditions, not set them and then say it is okay that they be ignored, she said.

Board member Jared Antin said considering all the positive things they have heard about the business as an anchor tenant in town, “it frustrates me, quite honestly, that we’re talking about pizza boxes.” He said it was important to recognize and welcome a business that is doing well and “keeps tax revenue here.” 

Courtney-Batson said while she agreed, she did not think in any given case board members could reach that conclusion without discussing it. If they change the rules, she said, they must consider the law of unintended consequences, “so that things that work in one place need to be able to work anywhere or need to be limited to certain places.” Lewis said they should aim to be “descriptive, not restrictive” in granting approvals. 

Courtney-Batson noted that about five years ago, it was decided the food use ordinances were much too restrictive, and she had helped to write the café ordinance, which she said is still flawed, but the Planning Board was tired of turning down projects  they knew people wanted but the law didn’t allow. She said she asks questions because “if we don’t talk about it, the law stays as it is and things don’t change.”

There was considerably more discussion about what constituted takeout food, though they were not pertinent to this specific application. Ultimately, a six-month extension for the pizza oven was approved. Courtney-Batson said this would have to be the last extension, and they would need to find a more permanent solution.

Proposed new bar

Jordan Vogel, the owner of 625-629 Old Post Road in Bedford Village under the name Benchmark Bedford Retail, LLC, asked the board to consider a site plan application for a new high-end bar and pub called The Oak.

The building, Vogel said, currently houses four individual retail stores, and one of the tenants, Vincent & Whittemore real estate brokerage, vacated the space in February..

“My hope is to turn the vacant space into a high-end bar,” he said. “It’s a small bar, it’s about 700 square feet; we only have 12 seats that will fit at the bar, so I don’t believe it will be a big imposition to the town. I’m also making it very mature; this is not a place for college kids to come get drunk, this is a place for people our age to come and have a proper cocktail.” 

In a letter to the board, he described it as having “wood panel walls, classic design, moody atmosphere, eclectic, while still a spot you can visit in your sandals in the summer!”

Vogel said although the town has interpreted the intended use to be that of a “restaurant” pursuant to the town zoning code based upon his business plan, he has no plans for a formal kitchen. “We will be able to serve food with a convection oven and food prepared off site, he said.  Vogel told the board the restaurant use fits better than a café use, and Courtney-Batson agreed. She said a café implies it is ancillary to a retail use, which this is not, and state law requires a bar to make food available anyway.

Vogel owns both the retail building and the Bedford Playhouse building next door. He said there is ample parking available, with a 37-car parking lot directly behind the building and a 32-car parking lot just north of the building, which serves the residential apartments above the Playhouse.

Vogel said his long-term plan is to have outdoor seating, but he wants to proceed in phases, and would come back before the board in the spring of 2026.

The application was approved.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article accurately quoted Jordan Vogel, the owner of 625-629 Old Post Road in Bedford Village, as saying that Vincent & Whittemore, one of the property's tenants, "went out of business." That statement was incorrect and the article has been updated to reflect this correction. The real estate brokerage remains in business. It can be contacted via its website at vinwhit.com or by phone at 914-234-3642.