Update: Inn plan at Stirling Square is moving forward
Update: Greenport Village Planning Board members like a proposal to construct an inn at Stirling Square.
The historic plaza’s new owner, Brent Pelton, came before the board Thursday night and got the go-ahead to submit his plans to the village.
He looking to build a five-room inn above the former “Main” restaurant, the plaza’s anchor building.
Mr. Pelton bought Main Street property in September for $1.95 million. The next step for Mr. Pelton is to present a full site plan to the Planning Board, and he expects to do so next month, said village building inspector Eileen Wingate.
Also last night, Planning Board members tabled a decision on an application for a fish shop that has been operating since the summer without proper permits on First Street.
Talks will be suspended until the village’s Zoning Board of Appeals rules on the owner’s application for a variance, which would allow the shop to operate with a more intense use than the building’s zoning currently allows.
Phil Karlin of Riverhead, who owns the business, called North Fork Smoked Fish House, is renting space from K & M Properties, for which Village Board Trustee Mary Bess Phillips is the secretary/treasurer and her husband, Mark, is president.
The ZBA will likely vote on the matter in late December or early January, officials said.
Prior coverage: A five-room inn could be coming to the former Main restaurant in Greenport’s historic Stirling Square plaza.
The village Planning Board will hold its first discussion on an application proposed by the square’s new owner, Brent Pelton, on Thursday evening. Mr. Pelton purchased the property for $1.95 million in September.
The proposed plan calls for the full renovation of the Square’s anchor building and repurposing the second floor to be used as an inn.
“We want to take the existing vacant space above the restaurant, which is commercially zoned, and turn it into an inn with five nice-sized room,” said Mr. Pelton told The Suffolk Times prior to the meeting. “I think it makes incredible sense. And I think a lot of people could use public transportation to get there.”
“The rooms are going to look fantastic,” Mr. Pelton said.
Also on Thursday’s agenda, the board is expected to suspend any further talks about a fish shop that has been open for business, allegedly illegally, in a building owned a Village Board trustee’s husband since the summer.
Talks will be suspended, that is, at least until the village’s Zoning Board of Appeals rules on the owner’s application for a variance, which would allow it to operate with a more intense use than the building’s zoning currently allows.
The Planning Board is scheduled to table a discussion on North Fork Smoked Fish House’s site plan application, according to Thursday’s agenda.
Phil Karlin, owner of the fish house located on First Street, is renting space from K & M Properties, for which Village Board Trustee Mary Bess Phillips is the secretary/treasurer and her husband, Mark, is president.
Earlier this month, the Planning Board discussed the application at length, debating how the store has been able to operate without permits.
The ZBA is expected to hold its first public hearing on the application in December, ZBA member David Corwin said, adding the board would likely vote on the matter in late December or early January.
As for Stirling Square, in the spring of 2013 the property became the site of a multi-venture restaurant complex operated by chef Keith Luce known as “The Square.” It closed the following December. Entrepreneur Matt Michel has since opened the popular pizza joint 1943 Pizza Bar and the cocktail pound Brix and Rye in the complex.
The building that housed anchor restaurant Main has been closed ever since.
Mr. Pelton said he plans to reopen the space as a restaurant though he has not selected an operator for the business yet.
“I’m still talking to several people about the restaurant,” Mr. Pelton said.
View the full agenda below:
Planning Board Work & Regular Session Meeting Agenda 11-20-2014
WITH VERA CHINESE
