A first for central business district.
By: Jennifer Potash
Panera Bread patrons will now be able to eat outside as the Princeton Borough Zoning Board of Adjustment, in a 6-1 vote, gave the eatery permission to add five sidewalk tables.
The zoning board approved the sidewalk dining at the end of a lengthy session that did not adjourn until 1:10 a.m. Friday.
Zoning board member Mark Sanders cast the lone no vote. He opposed an arrangement for Panera to use the Palmer Square Value Pass, instead of purchasing a space, for a prior parking-space requirement.
Borough Zoning Officer Frank Slimak said he made the arrangement with Panera to give the restaurant some flexibility as it did not use the required five spaces for office workers.
The five wrought-iron tables, similar to the outdoor furniture at Panera’s Nassau Park shopping center location in West Windsor, will be bolted to the sidewalk. Three tables will have umbrellas, but without logos.
The outdoor dining will be the first in the borough’s central business district. Restaurants along the east end of Nassau Street, including Blue Point Grill, Chez Alice and Tiger Noodles, currently offer outdoor dining.
Some of the buildings along Nassau Street between Tulane Street and Vandeventer Avenue have lot lines that extend beyond the building facade into the sidewalk area. Only those buildings can submit a plan to the borough for outdoor seating. Panera has up to 15 feet of space past its front door and originally sought to install eight tables with 24 chairs. The overall sidewalk cartway is about 21 feet.
Since the new tables will increase the restaurant’s square footage and the associated parking requirement, the zoning board and the applicants sparred over whether the increase merits an additional four parking spaces as suggested by the borough officials or two spaces as requested by the applicants.
But the argument became moot once the zoning board decided to reduce the number of outdoor tables from eight to five, which meant an addition of one-half parking space.
Jim Nawn, partner of the Fenwick Group, which operates 14 Panera Bread cafes and stores in central and northern New Jersey, said the full eight tables with a total of 24 seats would create the impression of a dining area rather than some tables that happen to be outside.
But zoning board members said Panera’s section of sidewalk is one of the most heavily traveled along Nassau Street, where several pedestrians walk abreast and families walking with strollers or dogs are not uncommon.
The board agreed with a suggestion for five tables made by the borough’s Historic Preservation Review Committee, which stated the array of tables in a double row would be too great a limitation for pedestrians. The double row of tables would narrow the throughway to 9 feet 8 inches at its narrowest point.
Gerald Lenaz, a land-use planner who testified for Panera, said a pedestrian traffic study conducted on two moderate November days last year found that block of sidewalk operates at the highest performance level as determined by pedestrian traffic studies and would be unaffected by the addition of outdoor dining.
The only member of the public to speak at the hearing was PJ’s Pancake House owner Herb Tuchman, who asked if his restaurant also could apply for outdoor seating. The restaurant is on the same block as Panera. Zoning board attorney William Sutphin recommended Mr. Tuchman consult a lawyer with regard to lot boundaries first.
The zoning board also approved Panera’s request to add four more employees, requiring the eatery to provide four more off-site parking spaces. The board, however, agreed to Panera’s request to reduce that requirement to two spaces. Noting that Panera already has those employees on staff, zoning board member Ann McGoldrick said the eatery must come back to the board before adding any more staff.
The board also allowed building owner Barry Weisfeld to convert the basement to a storage area for his and other tenants’ business records and furniture.