Official say owners’ original 2004 application deemed dormant, returned to mill owners
by David Kilby, Special Writer
ALLENTOWN — Summer is here, families and couples are making weekend getaways to beaches and quaint towns, and downtown Allentown would like to be considered among those destinations; but with Main Street’s main attraction still closed, businesses are struggling to make Allentown a destination town.
”Everybody agrees that the town is deteriorating,” said Dan Zorovich of the Environmental Commission and former councilman, at the packed Borough Hall on Tuesday during the Allentown Borough Council meeting.
”Businesses are closing and the ones open aren’t doing well. As for the mill, I hear both sides of the story,” Mr. Zorovich said. “I don’t know what side is right. I do know opening the mill will help other businesses in town.”
At a Borough Council meeting held two weeks prior, Daniel Green, attorney of Allentown’s unified zoning and Planning Board, shared with the public the procedures for an application to the board, and said no application for a restaurant in the Old Mill had been filed.
During Mr. Green’s previous presentation to the public, he said it was his understanding that the applicant’s current design for the property constituted a change from previous plans, necessitating a board review.
Later during that meeting, Council President Michael Shumacher said while he wanted to see things move forward with regards to the mill, he could not grant an exception for one application and not do so with all others.
”There’s a process,” he said. “We have to abide by it.”
This has caused a delay in plans for Coltello Restaurant. Now located on Main Street, the restaurant planned to move into the Old Mill by Mother’s Day.
At the meeting Mayor Stuart Fierstein affirmed that the original 2004 application for a restaurant in the mill “was deemed dormant and returned” to the owners of the mill, Corky and Kris Danch.
In the meantime, The Copper Frog, a studio and gallery shop, opened in the annex of the mill.
”Why was I allowed to open at all?” asked Ericka O’Rourke, owner of The Copper Frog, at the meeting. “If I was allowed to open with no change of use, Coltello’s going into Black Forest (the last restaurant in the Old Mill) should be no change of use and the two retail stores going onto the second floor should be no change of use. Why would they not be allowed to go through the same procedure that I was to open?”
Mayor Fierstein said he will get an answer to that question, but couldn’t provide one at the time since he didn’t attend the board meetings that covered the issue.
Ellen Sortore, owner of Green Lace Lion, plans to move her business into the second floor of the Old Mill but is also being held up.
”No one gets back to the owner (of the Old Mill)” she said after the meeting Tuesday. “No one answers any questions. Everything is just another phone call and then waiting for someone else.
”I thought I’d be in there by Christmas,” she added. “The whole reason I want to be there is because I love the town and live locally.”
Ms. Sortore, who lives on Province Line Road, Upper Freehold, just outside Allentown, also said her business refinishes and reupholsters furniture and requires her to live close to where she works.
Green Lace Lion is currently selling items at the Copper Frog while waiting to move into their own shop at the mill.
Previously, Mr. Danch has said he was unable to complete the 2004 application process due to Monmouth County’s seizure of the property through eminent domain to complete a bridge and dam project, with the county only handing the mill back to owners early last year.