The Wycombe House in Wrightstown wants to continue offering outdoor seating.
But to do so, the bar and grill will need to obtain a variance from the local zoning hearing board.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, officials allowed the establishment to temporarily feature outdoor seating when indoor seating was not allowed due to fear of virus spread.
Now that the pandemic-era crisis has ended, however, many proprietors want to make outdoor seating permanent.
However, doing so would constitute what’s known in zoning terms as the “expansion of a nonconforming use” that requires a variance, which is an exception from the applicable zoning rules on a property.
The need for the variance arises from the fact that Wycombe Village, where the establishment is located, is in a residential zoning district, said Chester Pogonowski, chairman of the Wrightstown Board of Supervisors.
The restaurant now known as The Wycombe House has been an inn, hotel and/or restaurant since the early 20th century. Since it predates the zoning, it was allowed to continue as a pre-existing nonconforming commercial use, officials explained.
Still, expanding that use — as permanent outdoor seating would do — triggers the need for the variance.
The Wycombe House is also requesting variances to formally allow parking on an adjoining lot purchased a number of years ago, and to allow parking in the front yard within a newly acquired property that borders Mill Creek Road and Washington Avenue, officials said. The owner is also requesting variances to reduce the number of parking spaces required by the zoning ordinance and to increase the seating template from 142 to 153 seats, Pogonowski noted.
The Wrightstown Board of Supervisors weighed in on the topic at a June 19 meeting. The supervisors authorized the township solicitor to send the zoning hearing board a letter saying that supervisors do not object to the variances.
Even so, supervisors suggested that limitations be placed on the outdoor uses to only permit the sale of food and beverage, to park within the designated parking areas, and to set reasonable restrictions on acoustic music during limited hours.
“No amplified sound would be permitted outdoors,” said Pogonowski.
The zoning hearing board isn’t bound by supervisors’ recommendations but can take them into account at a formal hearing on the variances.
After purchasing the establishment formerly known as Wycombe Publick House, current Owner Jerry Driscoll and his team set about making upgrades and renovations aimed at transforming the establishment into a warm, welcoming, wholesome place for a delicious meal and a quality tipple or two — a place described as upscale but not pretentious. Newly branded, a re-imagined The Wycombe House opened in November 2022.
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