Borscht Belt Sign Appeal To Be Heard By Newtown Township Zoning Board

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — A neon sign in the window of the Borscht Belt Delicatessen at the Village at Newtown South will be the subject of an appeal on Thursday, Jan. 4 before the Newtown Township Zoning Hearing Board.

The owners of the popular Jewish deli, which opened last spring, will be appealing a violation notice from the township's zoning officer who says the red and green neon sign containing the deli's name, is not permitted under the township's zoning ordinance and was installed without a building permit.

The violation notice was sent to the owner of the shopping center earlier this year after the township received a phone call complaining about the sign, which is displayed prominently in the front window of the deli.

In September, the Newtown Township Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to oppose the eatery's zoning board appeal.

Supervisor Phil Calabro made the motion to send its solicitor and the township's zoning officer to defend the township’s sign ordinance, which states that “any sign illuminated by inert gas or any form of exposed tubes is prohibited."

The sign is "an important part of our business," said the deli's co-founder Mike Dalewitz, explaining that neon signs were part of the famed Borscht Belt experience, which the deli has sought to capture in the design and atmosphere of its Newtown location.

The Borscht Belt, or Yiddish Alps, is a colloquial term for the mostly defunct summer resorts of the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York that once had more than 500 hotels, including the famous "Kutsher's Hotel and Country Club," which welcomed guests with a giant neon sign above its main entrance.

The Borscht Belt was a popular vacation spot for New York City Jews established in the 1920s and 1930s at a time when some hotels and resorts refused to accept Jews at their establishments. The Borscht Belt continued to flourish through the 1960s. Many of the hotels there were known for their distinctive food and entertainment offerings.

The owners of the Borscht Belt, who will be arguing to keep the neon sign as part of its identity, are asking its patrons and supporters through Facebook postings to attend the Jan. 4 meeting to show their support for the deli, which relocated here from Stockton, New Jersey, in 2023.