The new 3,690-square-foot building would include a 1,390-square-foot restaurant on the first floor with two apartments on the second floor.
By: Jennifer Potash
Expansion plans for a Chinese restaurant on Witherspoon Street hit a few bumps last week when the Site Plan Review Advisory Board tried to encourage the applicants to order a more dumpling-sized than Peking duck-sized building.
Ray and Elsie Pang, owners of the Hunan Chinese restaurant on Witherspoon Street for 20 years, are seeking to raze the existing restaurant, which has two apartments on the second floor, and replace it with a larger building. The new building also would have two apartments on the second floor. The Pangs, Princeton Township residents, also own the Orchid Center on Nassau Street.
The advisory board voted 8-1 Wednesday to recommend site plan approval for the restaurant.
The first set of plans for the Pangs’ new restaurant called for the tear-down of the existing restaurant and a single-family home on an adjacent lot, also owned by the restaurateurs. The new restaurant, which also would offer takeout service, would have been situated farther back on the combined lots, allowing for a larger parking lot and the setback requirements.
Borough Zoning Officer Frank Slimak said there was concern among borough officials and neighborhood residents about how the larger restaurant along with the loss of the house would change the character of the neighborhood.
Princeton Borough built a six-unit mix of affordable and moderate-income townhouses on Shirley Court last year.
Vincent Harvey, the project architect, said he and his clients "spent a great deal of time working with the borough to come up with a building that fits within the community."
The new 3,690-square-foot building would include a 1,390-square-foot restaurant on the first floor with two apartments on the second floor. The building is in the Residential Business Zone, which requires a 60 percent/40 percent split between residential and business uses in the building.
Since the larger building would be constructed on the footprint of the existing restaurant, the project requires variances for front, side and rear yard setbacks.
Also, the proposed nine-space parking lot at the rear of the restaurant off Shirley Court is a tight fit, said Borough Engineer Carl Peters.
Some advisory board members sought to convince the applicant to reduce the size of the restaurant and the apartments, thus requiring fewer parking spaces.
The restaurant plans call for a maximum of 12 seats, but advisory board member Peter Neilson pointed out that left a lot of open space in the restaurant. "I don’t understand why you’re going to all this trouble to build a new building for 12 seats," he said. Mr. Neilson said if the restaurant had more than 12 seats, then the nine-space lot, which also serves the residential units, would be insufficient.
"I believe that dining room is way oversized," said Mr. Neilson, who voted against recommending the plan.
But Mr. Neilson and board Chairman William Wolfe failed to get strong language that recommended the Planning Board require the applicant to reduce the size of the dining room. Advisory board members Barbara Trelstad and Anthony Lunn supported wording that advised the Planning Board to suggest a reduction of the building.
After all, said board member Harry Cooke, "The Planning Board can reject the application as too big and (the Pangs) would have to come back" with a smaller building.
Half a dozen residents from the John-Witherspoon neighborhood attended the meeting, but Mr. Wolfe did not hold a public comment session as the advisory board is "not a forum for the general public to speak." He encouraged the residents to attend the Planning Board’s hearing on the application next month.