At its August work session, Newtown Township Supervisors approved the addition of one restaurant and the expansion of another. The board held a conditional use hearing for the Blue Point Grill (BPG) proposed in Newtown Shopping Center at the site of the former Corner Bakery restaurant at 3 West Road.
Mike Meginniss, counsel for BPG, addressed the board to confirm all the necessary details regarding the project. BPG proposes to keep the exterior and parking of the former Corner Bakery location exactly as it is today. The shared parking lot of the location with TD Bank contains 52 parking spaces.
The existing restaurant is approximately 5,000 square feet. Meginniss stated that BPG is content with Corner Bakery’s previous occupancy totals, coming in at 145 seats inside and 36 outside. The restaurant’s proposed hours are 4-10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends.
Jack Morrison, owner of the Princeton-based restaurant, addressed the board: “We opened the Blue Point Grill in 1999, 23 years ago and we’re a family-run business. We’re very active in the community, we support the local breast cancer center and we support the food bank. ... We’re really excited to be in Newtown, we think we will complement it well.”
Member Philip Calabro informed Morrison that the board is able to grant extended hours from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. so that BPG has the flexibility to operate during those hours without the need to reappear in front of the board in the future.
Morrison agreed but stated his restaurant still intends to be a dinner-only establishment. The board unanimously approved the project.
The board conducted another conditional use hearing to consider a proposed expansion of the Newtown-based Piccolo Trattoria restaurant. The applicant plans to take over the former Dogs and Cats Rule store directly adjacent to its existing restaurant in the Newtown Shopping Center at 32-34 West Street Road.
The plan calls for the former store to be part of a kitchen expansion for Piccolo while also utilizing the additional space outdoors as an official outside seating area.
Longtime owner Fahmi Elabed was present for the hearing, and the board seemed very receptive to the idea.
Calabro said, “I think this is a great thing for Newtown, Piccolo has been around a long time.” His fellow board members agreed and unanimously approved the restaurant expansion.
A land development application for Piccolo’s proposed outdoor seating expansion was also heard at the meeting. This proposed to take 6 parking spaces immediately adjacent to the restaurant to create the outdoor venue. The plan also included adding 6 additional spaces so there is no net loss in parking. The board also unanimously approved this proposal.
A separate matter discussed was a proposal Supervisor Elen Snyder put forth at a July board meeting asking Solicitor David Sander to draft a resolution from the township decrying the recent Supreme Court decision regarding Roe v. Wade and to support a woman’s right to choose.
Supervisor Kyle Davis, the lone Republican on the board, stated “I don’t think we should be bringing these issues in here to essentially fan the flames of these controversies. For that reason, I’m not in favor of this.”
He continued, “I’m not looking to make waves and make problems, I just think we should focus on Newtown and the things we do have control over”.
Snyder said in response, “Simply what we’re doing is supporting our elected officials as they fight for women’s rights and to keep them in the Constitution as they already exist.”
All of the board members present had remarks regarding this topic, and ultimately the vote was 3-1 in support of drafting the resolution. Supervisors Fisher, Calabro, and Snyder voted yes while Davis dissented. The next step will be whether or not to adopt the resolution.
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