Neighbor Questions Rooftop Dining Plan in Huntington Village

Bon Bons Chocolatier co-owner Mary Alice Meinersman, left, said she has concerns over a possible rooftop establishment on Main Street. Also pictured is her daughter, fellow co-owner Susannah Meinersman.

By Andrew Wroblewski
awroblewski@longislandergroup.com

A gastropub with rooftop dining eyed for a vacant Main Street storefront in downtown Huntington has been questioned by a neighboring business owner, who’s concerned with safety and how the establishment could impact her business.

Mary Alice Meinersman, co-owner of Bon Bons Chocolatier, said during the Aug. 17 Town of Huntington Zoning Board of Appeals meeting that her 319 Main St. business shares the building with the vacant storefront, where Brewology, a Long Island gastropub chain, wants to open and become the first restaurant in town to offer rooftop dining.

The building, owned by Huntington-based WDP Organization, and sublet through Stop & Shop, has several issues, according to Meinersman, who is also a Huntington Village Business Improvement District board member.

Meinersman said the building’s sewer line runs through both storefronts and in its current condition is “not adequate” for a restaurant. “We’ve had several incidents with the sewer. We’ve asked our landlord repeatedly to divide the sewers.”

She also said the roof is not in “good repair” and has leaking issues. Claudia Dowling Interiors, the former tenant of the vacant storefront, “left the building because of the leaks in the roof that were not fixed,” Meinersman said.

She added that there’s no fire wall between the two spaces.

“The other problem that I foresee is: where are they going to vent cooking odors?... Our business really lives and survives on the great chocolate smell we have in our store. We’re very fussy about that,” she said.

Woodbury-based attorney Thomas Abbate, representing Brewology owners Roger Bencosme and Kazi Hassan, said his clients would perform structural work to reinforce the roof so that it can support the 925-square-foot seasonal dining space with 40 seats.

Abbate added that they would also follow local and state fire codes. “Fire safety is obviously the paramount concern of any of our state and local code.”

This location would be Brewology’s third; it also operates in Port Jefferson and Speonk. The Huntington location would also span 4,506 square feet on the ground floor.

In order for the proposal to move forward, the zoning board must issue a special use permit for rooftop dining, and a parking variance for an 86-spot deficiency.

The zoning board left the hearing open and is scheduled to next meet tonight, 6 p.m. at Huntington Town Hall.