Campground Craft Beer Market remains hungry for a patio in Sea Cliff

Campground Craft Beer Market, a half bar, half retail store in Sea Cliff, continues to be at the center of a local controversy since its opening nine months ago.

Its owners, Pete Johnson and Emil Lanne, have twice requested a special-use variance to expand their business with an outdoor patio space, but have been rejected twice by the Zoning Board of Appeals, which claims that there is no way for them to approve it under state law.

Lanne and Johnson explained that when they first opened Campground, they essentially took a run-down former auto mechanic shop and turned it into “a really awesome community space for residents of Sea Cliff to hang out.” During their initial proposal to the village, they requested the right to build up an outdoor space as well, but that idea was rejected by the zoning board.

Campground was granted a non-conforming-use variance, which does not allow it to expand to an outdoor area. The owners hoped to get the variance changed to a special-use permit, which typically is given to restaurants. They claim that the issue occurred due to the zoning board’s “limited understanding of our operation.”

Subsequently, the business partners submitted a second request to the zoning board in March of this year, once again asking for the use of the outdoor space in addition to other requests. While some were approved, such as increasing occupancy of their existing space to 74 people and increasing their business hours, their request to expand outdoors and provide food services with assorted food trucks was again rejected.

Johnson and Lanne assert that their business is effectively a restaurant, and should be treated as such under the village’s zoning code, which they point out defines a restaurant as a place “where all food is prepared, served and consumed on the premises.”

While Campground does not have a kitchen, it does have a food prep counter where they provide snacks made by local partners and not by the beer market’s staff, meaning it is not technically “prepared” at the store, which may be the source of the contention.

The business partners claim the expansion would allow them to beautify the neighborhood, expand their business to accommodate more customers and ultimately benefit the community.

Their proposal would allow for outdoor dining and drinking for approximately nine customers as well as games such as ping pong and cornhole.“A lot of our vision comes from community feedback, right, and I think one of the things that we hear all the time from the community when people come in there is that ‘We’d love outdoor seating,’” Johnson said. “So that was part of why we really pushed hard for it because we knew the community really wanted it.”

“To be completely frank, we’re not doing this for financial gain,” Lanne asserted. “We’re doing it because we felt that something like this was needed and we really wanted to create a place where everyone can come together regardless of their age or their interests or background or whatever.”

Lanne and Johnson said they have garnered a significant amount of community support for the project, represented by over 500 letters written by Sea Cliff residents to the village on behalf of Campground. They also pointed out that cafes and other venues operate under restaurant permits, and they saw no reason why they could not do the same.

Despite this, the zoning board, with support from the village board, stood by their stance that the request does not conform to New York State law.

In a statement posted in the Mayor’s Corner section of the village website, Elena Villafane, Sea Cliff’s mayor, emphasized that the village board of trustees has no authority over the zoning board, and the zoning board makes its decisions based on state law, not “the popularity of an application.”

According to the statement, Lanne and Johnson did not provide sufficient evidence to the zoning board for how their application met state standards for a special use permit, and chose not to have legal representation present to argue their case.

The statement also emphasized that when Johnson and Lanne first applied to open Campground that it was pitched as a “craft beer retail store and tasting room,” not a restaurant, and that it was made clear to them during their first application that the partners would need a special use permit to build an outdoor space.

“The Village Board has heard the disappointment of the principals of Campground, as well as certain residents of the village, that Campground did not get everything that they sought in their application,” the statement reads. “While people are entitled to be disappointed, the village and the ZBA must comply with all applicable laws, as written, to ensure all residents, including homeowners and businesses, are protected in their enjoyment of their properties.”