After being rejected by the ZBA in February, the developers of a potential hotel, cafe and market on Mill Hill Road in Woodstock have presented the planning board with a new concept they said conformed with most of the zoning regulations.
The project at 39 Mill Hill Road, site of the former Woodstock Automotive garage and up until about 2006 a Mobil gas station, calls for a 2.5-story structure with a cafe, food market and 15-room hotel, down from the originally proposed 19 rooms.
Craig Leonard purchased the property with his business partner Tom Pace. Leonard is co-owner of Silvia and Good Night, two high-end restaurants in town.
“Tom and I bought this property about nine months ago approximately,” said Leonard during an April 4 pre-pre-sketch plan review, “and we’ve been figuring out what we think will be best for this location, this lot, and we think this is an excellent idea to help the needs of the community — and we also want a cafe gathering space.”
The planning board does not yet have an official application. The project is in the very early concept phase.
“All of my businesses are gathering spaces for people, and this is no different. There will be a cafe, indoor and outdoor seating and a marketplace,” Leonard said. “We care about this town. We live in this town. We want to build something beautiful, to build something that everybody is happy with.”
Architect Barry Price acknowledged parking was an issue. One way to address it would be to place the building as close to Mill Hill Road and fit as much parking as possible in the rear.
“What we’re proposing is a building that pulls back from Mill Hill Road and creates a place that people can gather and embraces the commerce of the street,” Price said.
A proposed food market on the ground floor will feature homemade goods eaten on site or taken away, Leonard said. The market and the cafe will be open to the general public.
Planning-board member Genie Tartell was concerned about the parking and the impact on traffic.
“You can’t park in front of Silvia in the middle of the summer. You park three blocks down. You use the community parking lot for Good Night,” she said. “So you have a hotel coming in, a marketplace coming in, a store, a cafe, a hangout place coming in right next door to Early Terrible, and the bagel place. Early Terrible has four stops in the front that are the most dangerous spots to pull in and pull out in Woodstock with the exception of where the Route 375 entrance is.”
Tartell said the hotel will add 15 cars. Where would the employees park?
The applicants’ attorney, Ron Pordy, said they understood that would be a concern. Parking has always been an issue for all the businesses in town.
“But we think there’s a positive here to this project that we will be removing this eyesore from the center of town,” Pordy offered. “It’s putting in short-term hotel rooms for people to come and stay right in the center of town. Keep them out of their cars, on the sidewalks. So there’s a lot of positive attributes to the project. And it’s an excellent use of the property.”
Leonard hoped a number of hotel guests would come on the Trailways bus and won’t have cars.
Only one zoning variance is needed with the new proposal. The originally proposed three-story structure would have required a variance, but the new plan for a 2.5-story building is in compliance with the zoning. The building coverage of 25 percent of the lot still needs a variance, though.
The developers expect to make a variance request from the ZBA before making an application to the planning board.
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