Planning Board OKs site plan for Church Street restaurant

PINE PLAINS — After hearing from the community about a proposed restaurant at 2938 Church St., the Pine Plains Planning Board approved KTB Properties LLC’s site plan application at the public hearing continued on Wednesday, June 23.

From Crumpets to the New Age Diner, the Church Street building has housed a variety of restaurants during the last three decades. For its next incarnation, KTB principal Jack Banning wants to rent the building to former Stissing House owners Michel and Patricia Jean, who want to open “a restaurant serving primarily French food for dinner five nights a week and brunch on Sundays,” according to Banning, the applicant before the Planning Board.

The project received an outpouring of support from local residents as well as complaints from its neighbors, Bill and Patti Hollick. Complaints and praise were voiced when the public hearing for the site plan opened on Wednesday, June 9, and again when it continued during a special Planning Board meeting on the 23rd. Both meetings can be viewed online on the “Pine Plains Planning and Zoning Boards” YouTube channel.

Before opening the hearing up for comments, the board displayed the site plan so that Banning could go over any changes or additions made to the plan based on changes requested at the previous meeting. Banning noted changes made to the lighting, the configuration of the seating area and the areas where they would like to plant cyprus or arborvitae. He mentioned that KTB’s attorney met with the Hollicks and their attorney Wayne Thompson to discuss any concerns.

Thanking Banning for referencing the meeting between the Hollicks and the attorneys, Thompson reported they made some significant progress and said he submitted a letter to the board saying they were “extremely close to coming to an agreement to having all the concerns addressed.” 

Regarding the Hollicks’ objections, he explained they never objected to the restaurant opening, but rather the site’s rear dining area’s lack of privacy next to its commercial usage, which borders their residential property.

Thompson asked Banning which side he was planning on planting the cyprus or arborvitae on, since the line of greenery for the restaurant and its neighbors “provides a wonderful noise attenuation, light barrier and a privacy hedge all in one.” 

Though there was a request for 20 12-foot arborvitae to be planted 3 feet apart, Banning said he assumed they were going to plant something in the 4- to 6-foot range and let them grow over time, since a 12-foot tree would be “pretty out of scale for everything else that’s around.” 

Thompson asked Banning if he’d consider planting something in the 6- to 8-foot range for his clients. Beyond that and other project aspects, he said if it goes forward and “we agree on that, then we’ve met the Hollicks’ objections to the project and wish everybody to move forward.”

Patti Hollick explained she and her husband mainly worry potential noise (particularly the sound of people walking over patio stones) and a lack of privacy in their backyard could be jeopardized by the restaurant.  She said they are hoping for either a solid fence or shrubs to create a sound and visual buffer for privacy, while her husband suggested planting 8- to 10-foot bushes to create a wall. The Hollicks also suggested moving the restaurant’s compressor and shared their concerns about its closing time.

As the hearing opened for other public comments, the Planning Board heard from residents who spoke in full support of the restaurant. Though he mentioned noises he used to hear coming from former The Stissing House, Pine Plains resident Douglas Koch pointed out other noises that can be heard in the town, such as those coming from the local gun club and passing motorcycles.

“I find it hard to believe that a few tinkling wine glasses is going to add to the noise in Pine Plains,” Koch said.

After the hearing closed at 9:34 p.m., Planning Board Chairman Michael Stabile asked the board if they had any questions or conditions about the site plan. Planning Board Attorney Warren Replansky reminded its members they must look at Part 2 of the mandated State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) process, which the board promptly reviewed and approved. 

A draft resolution for the site plan’s approval was brought up to assist the board as it discussed restrictions that should be included, like hours of operation, smoking, amplified music and screenings like hedges or other plantings. By 10:37 p.m., the board unanimously approved the site plan resolution as amended.