Frozen Yogurt Shop Could Come to Main Street
The Chatham Borough Planning Board will hear the application Wednesday.
The Chatham Borough Planning Board plans to hear an application from Berkeley Business Concepts, LLC to place a new frozen yogurt shop in a storefront at the intersection of Main Street and Center Street.
According to Chatham Borough Engineer Vincent J. DeNave, the application will need a parking variance if they wish to have seating for more than six customers. A full site plan is required for the application, DeNave said at the April 18 Planning Board meeting.
The storefront, located at 258 Main St., is next to Main Cleaners and across from Powerflow Yoga, in the heart of downtown Chatham. Gerry's, a women's clothing and accessory store, used to be in the space, but it has been empty since 2010.
The space has recently been renovated in anticipation of a new business coming in, though the renovations are not related specifically to the frozen yogurt shop, DeNave said. New floors and walls have been installed, and the space has been painted.
The board approved an application from the Chicago-based Homemade Pizza Co. in March 2011, but by December 2011 the company ceased construction and backed out of their plans to move into the storefront.
This is the first application to fill the space since Homemade Pizza Co.'s application was approved.
In This article
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Main Cleaners
260 Main St, Chatham, NJ -
Powerflow Yoga
254 Main St, Chatham, NJ -
Gerry's
258 Main St, Chatham, NJ -
R. Swanson
9:31 am on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
This is a wonderful development for the business district and I hope the Planning Board does not put the applicant through the ringer over a parking issue. Chatham Borough's downtown needs a significant boost - to say the least it's not the most interesting or dynamic destination and the Planning Board we shouldn't be hindering downtown development because of parking technicalities. A vibrant small business that may not cross all the t's with respect to parking is clearly more desireable than a vacant storefront. Chatham residents currently drive to Summit, Madison, & New Providence where there are similar frozen yogurt establishments - why can't we have one right here in our own town? Many customers, including teens, would probably walk there, which would be great. Wouldn't it be nice to see more pedestrian traffic on Main Street?
llbxy
9:53 am on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
I agree 100%!
Trish
9:29 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Totally agree also! So many can walk there and we really do need this!
heretoolong
10:44 am on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Let's face it...it is not possible to for any business to provide additional parking downtown.
Peter Null
10:33 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
I'd rather eat ice cream.
Alice Jameson
10:43 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
I would prefer some alcohol and/or real dessert.
Chatsum
5:59 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Who cares...won't last.
Duncan Munchkin
8:58 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Yeah, okay...but let's talk about WHY it won't last. I say it is largely because Chatham is a traffic-clogged, pedestrian UN-friendly, business UN-friendly town. And I wish we had elected a Mayor with vision instead of a guy trying to pad his resume for a judicial job.
Yelowhownd
8:28 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
These frozen yogurt places are popping up all over the area now. The one in New Providence is very good. However they will begin to saturate the market and inevitably some will fail.