Main Street restaurant gets OK from P&Z

KENT — The Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) approved a change-of-use application (from retail to restaurant) for the former Kent Apothecary at 3 Maple St. after a thorough discussion at a special meeting on Thursday, April 28.

The historic building is also known as the Bull House.

When the application was first submitted earlier this year by managing partner Hiram Williams, several area businesses expressed concern that adding a new restaurant would increase demand for what they described as an already limited amount of parking.

Thanks to a shared-parking agreement that allows patrons of 3 Maple St. to park in the spaces at 9 Maple St. (the Kent Barns shopping area), the applicant told the board that 98 total parking spaces are available for the restaurant and the shopping center’s businesses.

This number, the applicant said, satisfies P&Z’s requirements, and therefore the commission would be required to approve the application.

Nearly two hours were spent discussing the matter. Confusion arose over the word “allocation,” as in the allocation of parking spaces, written into the legal document. 

Several commission members also expressed concern that the change of use would isolate the businesses down the street at 10 North Main.

Although the approval was obligatory, one commission member explicitly stated that he did not think it was in the best interest of the town of Kent.

According to the restaurant’s chef, Joel Viehland, the new business should open by the end of the year.