Sidewalk Dining at Kind Burgers Soon

Three weeks. That's the timeframe. At the end of three weeks, Fair Havenites should see the new Kind Burgers open on River Road and patrons dining outdoors.

The new gluten-free gourmet burger joint, transplanted from its Hurricane Sandy-slammed spot in Sea Bright, will join the Fair Haven business and sidewalk cafe family right on the cusp of the unofficial summer's start.

The sidewalk dining permit was approved, contingent on an anticipated zoning go-ahead, at last week's Borough Council meeting. However, the approval came with a grandfathered kink in the ordinance that officials are now working out.

Co-owner Anthony Cafaro, of Rumson, showed at the meeting and told the governing body of his enthusiasm to open by mid-May and offer the outdoor seating option to accommodate "four deuces" — four tables for two — on a "sidewalk setback running east to west on the brick pavement."

Cafaro does not own the building at 160 River Road, but, he said the landlord is pleased with the plan.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but there's a Kind Burgers in Sea Bright with a big red X on the front (from Sandy)," Councilman Rowland Wilhelm said. "That's the place moving here? Let's get these people in and moving forward ..."

With that notion, and the mayor and council in overhelming support of outdoor dining final say on applications in their purview, an historic planning ordinance that forbade sidewalk dining in the former LeFandy site was bypassed and Kind Burgers' permit approved — with a contingency plan in the works to ascertain a zoning thumbs up and change the ordinance.

In the end, the governing body's approval or denial of the sidewalk cafe permits would be the final say, with recommendations accepted from applicable boards, and site review of the borough engineer, zoning officer and nod from fire and police officials to ensure any plan's feasibility and safety.

The goal: to make it easier and cheaper for those who would otherwise need to go back to the applicable board, spend money on fees and wait it out because of an outdated ruling.

As a first step toward untangling the ordinance's red tape, Administrator Theresa Casagrande said that she, "the mayor and councilmen Marchese and Peters reviewed the issue regarding what the borough's sidewalk dining ordinance reads. We looked at what the intent of the original ordinance was and how it relates to wether or not the Planning or Zoning Board should have input on sidewalk dining or actually have it in their specific resolution."

Borough Attorney Sal Alfieri weighed in, she said, and "at this juncture, I think its fair to say that our ordinance does specificially say that 'issues of any license shall be subject to any limitation or conditions to be enclosed by the planning and zoning boards with respect to sidewalk cafes or restaurants.'"

In the case of Kind Burgers' license for the dining, officials are dealing with the historic, basically defunct or outdated, board credo of about a decade ago that nixed the outdoor dining idea.

In this case, "the borough attorney did say that mayor and council could say that part of the ordinance is null and void," Casagrande said.

As for the ordinance/issue on an all-encompassing scale, moving forward, Casagrande said that there was a three-prong approach that should be considered as the new official parameters for the approvals:

• In a situation wherein the applicant is before the Planning Board, which usually indictes a change of use, the resolution for their plan should include the recommendation of the mayor and council, and the ultimate application for the sidewalk dining must be approved by the governing body;

• If the applicant is not before a board, and there is no change of use, that applicant could apply directly to the mayor and council, with a presumption of input by borough engineer on the plan;

• If, as with Kind Burger, a historic site plan resolution prohibits the dining, the governing body's approval would supercede it as long as the plan meets with engineer, zoning and other safety officials' approval.

Crafting the new ordinance "won't be that complicated," Alfieri said. "I just have to look at licensing section of the ordinance and have to make sure there's coordination" with all the entities involved in the review process.

"We just have to make sure we're covered as far as not blocking sidewalks, etc ..." Casagrande said.

"We want to work with any applicant looking for tables outside of their restaurant," Mayor Ben Lucarelli said.

At this point, Tavolo, Balderose Fine Foods and Kind Burgers are approved for small seasonal sidewalk cafes. Booskerdoo is expected to apply, but has not yet opened, and Umberto's is up for approval.

"Two tables. I just want two tables (of four) outside," Silvio at Umberto's told Patch. The mayor said he didn't anticipate a problem with that.

Fairwinds' application is still pending, with approval depending on some minor conditions to be met, the mayor had said.

"Welcome to Fair Haven!" council said to Cafaro.