Date: Fri 20-Dec-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Hawley-Inn-Borough-ZBA

Full Text:

Borough ZBA Allows Outdoor Dining At Renovated Hawley Inn

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

The Borough Zoning Board of Appeals has approved a request for a zoning

variance from Hawley Inn, LLC, to let it have outdoor dining facilities at the

inn which now is under renovation and slated to reopen.

Appeals board members approved the request to permit the use of a porch at the

inn for seasonal dining. The inn is located at 19 Main Street in a residential

zone.

The inn has been closed in recent years. It is now undergoing a major

renovation intended to have the historic structure meet applicable building

codes.

In granting the zoning variance, appeals board members placed two conditions

on the approval.

Any audio provided for diners on the inn's porch shall only be background

music. If outdoor furniture and sun umbrellas are used on the porch, those

items must be of similar design and color.

The appeals board unanimously approved the variance for Hawley Inn, LLC, last

week. Voting in favor of it were members James Crick, Janet Woycik, Patrick

Hill, Jeffrey Hilgert, and John Madzula.

The historic restaurant, to be doing business under the name The Mary Hawley

Inn, is expected to reopen for business sometime in February. The owners had

hoped to be open by this month, but delays have postponed the opening.

Hawley Inn, LLC, of Newtown purchased the building on Main Street from Lowell

Hodgkiss Associates Inc of Trumbull in August for $475,000. Construction

financing was provided by Nutmeg Federal Savings & Loan.

Philip Manger, who lives on Taunton Lake Road and Richard Mullen of Great

Quarter Road, Sandy Hook, are principals in Hawley Inn LLC.

A real estate closing on the property was delayed until August due to liens

against the property which had to be settled before the sale could take place.

As part of the sale, Lowell Hodgkiss Associates took back a $425,000 mortgage.

The property, which was operated for many years by the Vazanno family of

Stratford, is assessed at $443,000.

The facade of the wing known as Carriage House will be restored to closely

resemble its original appearance, including a working lit clock. It will

contain three suites for overnight guests. The building will be painted white,

and will have black window shutters.

Most of the changes to the building will be in the main building's interior.

There will be a tearoom with a fireplace; an English pub-style taproom with a

U-shaped bar; a 110-seat dining room; an 800-square-foot, second-story dining

porch; and a new restaurant kitchen.

Built in the 1820s, the inn was the home of Cyrenius H. Booth. The house was

gutted when it was remodeled twice, once in 1870 by the Hawley family, and

again in 1930 when it became an inn.

The Borough of Newtown Historic District Commission approved plans for the

inn's renovation last summer.