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Clifton Heights zoning board approves application for coffee shop at 500 East Broadway
Summary
The Clifton Heights Zoning Board voted to accept an application from 500 East Broadway LLC to operate a Good Karma Coffee retail location in an existing building at 500 East Broadway, granting the applicant’s request for relief to permit the use and to address off-street parking requirements.
The Clifton Heights Zoning Board voted Tuesday to accept an application from 500 East Broadway LLC to operate a coffee shop in a small commercial space at 500 East Broadway, Unit 7.
The action followed a presentation by the applicant’s representative and the proposed tenant and brief public comment. The board’s roll call recorded affirmative votes from the hearing members, and the chair offered the applicant congratulations after the vote.
John Gould, building code official and zoning officer for the Borough of Clifton Heights, opened the hearing with a zoning report and described the site. "The property at 500 East Broadway Avenue has recently underwent an adaptive reuse from an industrial use to a residential use," Gould said, and added that the building "can right now house, I believe, 74 apartments." He identified the front unit as the proposed coffee-shop location and said the applicant was seeking a special-exception under the borough zoning ordinance and a variance from the off-street parking requirements.
Applicant representative Judah Angster, of Dwight City Group, said the larger complex includes residential units and two small commercial spaces and described the front retail unit as about 800 square feet and ready for tenant fit-out. Angster said the company focuses on adaptive reuse and has worked with borough staff toward occupancy for the converted building.
The prospective tenant, the owner of Good Karma Coffee (name not stated on the record), described the business and operations, saying, "We put good karma in everything we do," and that the chain has three existing Philadelphia-area locations. The owner said products emphasize organic and fair-trade sourcing and described an operations model focused on daytime hours and neighborhood customers.
During questions, the applicant said proposed hours would be roughly 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday with slightly later weekend hours, that designated parking spaces would be set in the site lot with signage, and that trash would be handled via a designated, secured dumpster on the property to prevent dumping and rodent issues. Gould and board members discussed code parking formulas; Gould summarized the ordinance standards on the record, saying the code requires one parking space per 150 square feet for a sit-down restaurant and six spaces per 150 square feet for a fast-food or carryout restaurant and characterized the proposed use as a hybrid of sit-down and takeout.
Harris Resnick, identified as a councilman for the ward, spoke in support from the public and said he had heard positive reaction from nearby residents. No other members of the public registered comments at the hearing, and the solicitor confirmed notice and publication for the hearing, including publication in the Delaware County Daily Times and posting at Borough Hall and the site.
After hearing testimony and discussing parking and operations, a board member moved to vote on the application; the motion was seconded and approved by roll call. The board’s recorded votes were affirmative and the chair congratulated the applicants.
The board did not provide detailed findings on record in the hearing transcript about how it weighed each variance factor; the transcript shows the application was accepted and the applicant was instructed that a written copy of the decision would be provided in the next few days.
The approved proposal would place a neighborhood coffee shop inside an existing mixed-use adaptive-reuse building; the project includes proposed designated parking, a secured trash plan, and a tenant-operated patio area of roughly 1,200 square feet for residents’ and customers’ use.
Board and staff comments during the hearing focused on parking availability on the property and borough-owned lots nearby, operations/hours, and trash control rather than traffic or noise complaints. The transcript records two different counts for the number of residential units in the complex (Gould said "I believe 74 apartments," while the applicant said the property "has 68 apartments").
