Swan Chocolate's Lounge to Re-Open

Swan Chocolates upstairs lounge will be back in business just as soon as owners Michael and Theresa Anderson can tie up a few loose ends that were conditions of their approval from the Planning Board on Tuesday night.

On Feb. 1, members of the town's building and planning offices shut down the dessert lounge temporarily to handle issues of permitting and approvals the Andersons did not realize they needed before converting upstairs storage space into a 28-seat lounge with tables, chairs, couches and a gas fire place to enjoy sweets, coffee and company.

On Tuesday, Teresa Anderson met with the planning board to address the violations of their original site plan and obtain the change of use permission as well as a parking waiver.

Anderson said it's due to great success the chocolate shop has had in town that pushed the couple to renovate the upstairs space to make room for tables that were slowly being pushed closer together as they created more space for their product in the retail space.

“It truly does allow space for a nice relaxing quiet environment for people to come and get out of the hubbub of the store ... it's nice to have a spot that's away,” Anderson said.

which opened in Merrimack in 2003, moved in 2008 to the former Abbott's Market, a historic building that they have renovated to reveal original characteristics exposing brick walls, restoring black walnut floors and returning formerly boarded up windows.

Anderson said moving most of the cafe seats upstairs also makes it possible for customers to enjoy coffee, pastries or chocolates tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the store, which gets very busy in the early after school and work hours and is especially busy around holidays.

Coincidentally, the same day the lounge was closed, the Anderson's launched their newest line “Cake” with the release of more than a dozen and a half flavors of cupcakes. It's due in part to expansion of products and the introduction of "Cake" that the Andersons felt the need to provide a more comfortable seating area for their customers.

“I truly didn't understand that we were changing our use in regards to what we do, because we really haven't changed what we do, we're just changing where we're doing it, so I apologize in advance for the fact that we should have come to you and asked permission to get out the storage boxes and put in our seating area,” Anderson said.

She said she hoped they could move forward with the 727-square-foot upstairs lounge  with 28 seats and downstairs seating of eight seats for people who were not interested in going upstairs for whatever the reason.

In addition to approval of the lounge, they also needed approval for a walk up ice cream window they created by removing a wall air conditioning unit and replacing it with a window where one was located in the building originally. They built a small deck with steps where people enjoying a day at Watson Park across the street with their dogs could step up to buy an ice cream without having to come into the store.

Finally, a parking waiver was in order because of a unique situation that makes them deficient in spaces, Planning and Zoning Administrator Nancy Larson said. A parking lease agreement with Buckley's Great Steaks gives the restaurant use of nine of Swan's 23 parking spaces. With 19 spaces needed for the addition of seats upstairs, Swan's is short four spaces, though it wouldn't be if the lease didn't exist.

Because the lease works well for each business, neither has any desire to end it, and the planning board was fine with granting the waiver on the condition that each business signs a new lease agreement to have on file, as the last one expired in the fall.

The planning board granted conditional approval of the plan and a parking waiver based on the outlined conditions. The conditions must be met before a certificate of occupancy for upstairs will be given.

“In the future, let's keep the cart behind the horses,” Planning Board Chairman Robert Best said at the end of their meeting.

Anderson said they are looking forward to re-opening upstairs and will do so as soon as they can get their certificate of occupancy.