Major revisions made to Yesterdays project

By Linda Smith Hancharick
WARWICK — The Village Planning Board reaffirmed its decision that the proposed Yesterdays Restaurant and Bar, at 16 Elm St., will not have a significant adverse effect on neighboring properties after the applicant made significant changes to the site plan.
Last Thursday, 16 Elm Street LLC was on the Village of Warwick Planning Board’s agenda. John Cappello, the attorney for Yesterdays owner John Christison, said many changes were made to the site plan after taking comments into account from neighbors at the October public hearing.
The revisionsAmong the changes:
Light poles will be lowered – to 14 feet in height from 20 feet.
Outdoor patio will be removed.
HVAC equipment will be moved forward, further away from surrounding residences.
Outdoor speaker system will be removed.
Side porch will have limited usage.
Nearby residents have voiced their concerns with this project, which includes a 3,600-square-foot restaurant and bar on the empty three-acre lot at 16 Elm Street, and is surrounded by residential neighbors on Elm, West and Van Buren streets.
Residents were most concerned with outside noise, especially coming from the outdoor sections of the restaurant; light spillage from the poles which were to rise 20 feet high; and increased traffic in the area.
Ross Winglovitz, engineer for the project, went down the list of changes from the original site plan. In addition, he said three environmental studies have been done at the property finding no contaminants. Residents have been concerned that metal drums may have been buried and that volatile organic compounds may be present from when the property was used decades ago as a rail yard.
The major changesThe plan has a 2,000-square-foot side porch that will be open seasonally. Original plans called for a speaker system to provide music at the outdoor tables, which would be open during the same hours as the restaurant.
Now, the new plan is to remove the speakers and close the deck at 9 p.m.
If noise is still a problem, construction will be done to enclose the outdoor porch.
“The porch is designed in a manner that can be easily enclosed if noise is found to be a problem,” said Cappello.
The planning board required that noise be tested during the first summer the restaurant is open.
A call to rescind the negative declarationSteve Gross, a critic of the project and environmental consultant, had called on the planning board to rescind its negative declaration under SEQRA (State Environmental Quality Review Act), noting that the project will indeed have substantial impacts to the surrounding neighbors. With the changes to the plans, the planning board decided instead to reaffirm its original negative declaration.
“They’ve done considerable mitigation by removing the outdoor patio and limiting using the outside porch,” said George Aulen, the planning board chairman.
Planning board member Bill Olsen said he was satisfied with the changes proposed by the applicant.
“I had really seriously thought about rescinding the (negative) declaration based on information and concerns from the public,” said Olsen. “However, seeing the new plans and the changes that he made in the new plans, at this stage I think this answers the questions. I think it does.”
All changes will be added to the site plan.
Robert Dickover, the planning board’s attorney, said he will have a draft resolution for approval of the project for the next meeting, if the board is inclined to consider approval.
“When we get a final revision on the site plan, we will consider approval,” Aulen said.
The planning board next meets on Thursday, Feb. 15, 7:30 p.m. at the village hall on Main Street.