What's going on with Bar Veloce?

By LIAM MAYO

Posted 3/29/22

Early in 2020, Frederick Twomey’s Upper Delaware Hospitality Corp. begins talks with Narrowsburg Motors, a third-generation car dealership owned by Kathleen Johnson, to buy its building at 174 …

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What's going on with Bar Veloce?

RR photo by Liam Mayo

Posted Tuesday, March 29, 2022 3:03 pm

The mercy of the arbitrators

By LIAM MAYO

Early in 2020, Frederick Twomey’s Upper Delaware Hospitality Corp. begins talks with Narrowsburg Motors, a third-generation car dealership owned by Kathleen Johnson, to buy its building at 174 Bridge St. in Narrowsburg and use the first floor as the newest Bar Veloce location.

Narrowsburg Motors goes to the planning board to get approval for Bar Veloce, and acquires a special use permit for the first floor at an August 17, 2020 planning board meeting. Upper Delaware Hospitality Corp. finalizes its purchase of 174 Bridge St. on December 10, 2020.

Construction begins on the new Bar Veloce location early in 2021. In addition to the first-floor bar area, Upper Delaware Hospitality Corp. builds a second-floor deck extending the bar’s square footage (shown in the picture above).

The planning board reviews the work done on the bar at its September 28, 2021 meeting. The board indicates that Upper Delaware Hospitality Corp. will need to submit a new special permit application for the second floor, and will need to meet concerns about parking requirements and engineering.

Code enforcer Jim Crowley issues a certificate of occupancy for the first floor of Bar Veloce on October 5, 2021, noting that the certificate of occupancy doesn't extend to the second floor because it doesn't yet have a permit from the planning board.

Brendan and Kathleen Weiden, owners of the neighboring Narrowsburg Union, go before the zoning board of appeals on February 14, 2022, protesting Bar Veloce's certificate of occupancy based on the second-floor construction, the building's insufficient parking and other concerns. The board agrees to hear the case at its March meeting.

Upper Delaware Hospitality Corp. files a lawsuit on March 8, 2022 against the ZBA and its chair, Crowley and the Weidens, challenging the zoning board's decision to hear the Weidens' appeal. The court puts a stay on the zoning board's hearing while the Weidens and the town respond.