Zoning Board Approves Kitchen Addition for Stone Rose

After appearing before the Conshohocken Zoning Hearing Board on Monday, Brian Pieri is one step closer to reopening his restaurant.

The board approved Piere’s request for exceptions and variances that would allow the to build a new kitchen addition to the back of its Fayette Street location.

The decision comes as a that originated in the restaurant’s original kitchen, which was located inside the building and not attached to the back. According to Victor Depallo, a Conshohocken-based planner who testified on behalf of Piere, the new addition will address safety issues presented by the restaurant’s original layout.

“Moving the kitchen would improve the safety of the location,” he said. “Being under and inside the location, and with the fact that kitchen was so small that the workers are very cramped in there, moving the kitchen into a one-story addition to the rear is not only functional, but safer.”

The proposed rear attachment would be approximately 20 by 15 square feet, or a 12 percent expansion of the existing property. Conshohocken code allows for a one-time expansion of such properties up to 25 percent.

Depallo said that, in his opinion, the addition would not impact the “character of the neighborhood.”

“I think it will lend another level of safety to the neighborhood,” he said. “It doesn’t adversely effect the welfare or health of the area.”

Piere said that the size of the restaurant not only made it hard to work in the kitchen, but it also made it difficult for fire fighters to combat the blaze in June.

“The alley [between the Stone Rose and the house next to it] is only four-and-a-half feet wide,” he said. “The day of the fire, flames were coming out of the windows pretty much against my neighbor’s wall. By putting the kitchen in the rear, it allows us more coverage for anything that goes under ventilation, gives us less chance of having a fire outside the kitchen area, puts more nozzles on hot zones and allows us to install a larger, stronger anti-fire system.”

The addition would also add approximately eight seats to the restaurant.

While some present, including local business owners, spoke in favor of the expansion, some residents did not want to see the kitchen expansion approved.

“My main concern is the parking near the facility,” area resident Carlo Malantonio said, referring to four parking spaces in the back of the restaurant commonly used by staff. “People don’t park across the street because they’re afraid they’ll get run over and they don’t use that back there for customers.”

The board unanimously approved of all requested exceptions and variances. Its next meeting is on September 5.