By Tom Ayres, Senior Staff Writer
The proposed commercial development of the property at 67 Pleasant Street at the foot of Hartland Hill Road at the eastern gateway to Woodstock Village has taken on yet another new iteration. If permitted by the Woodstock Planning and Zoning Department, the newest project planned for the site would add another dining establishment to the community, which has struggled with having enough eateries to meet demand, particularly in peak tourism time periods.
Vaunted local doughnut and cruller makers April and Ben Pauly will appear before the Woodstock Village Development Review Board (VDRB) on Wednesday evening, May 8, to seek a conditional use permit for the proposed opening of a breakfast and lunch café at the one-time location of the former service station, which was demolished in September of 2022. At the time, current property owner Eva Douzinas announced plans to develop a new, 2,440-square-foot retail building and 900-square-foot service annex at the site. The new complex was slated to house four then-undisclosed retail operations.
Douzinas subsequently went back before the VDRB in December of last year and presented plans to modify previously approved plans for the project, decreasing the building size and increasing parking and green space, while still proposing to house retail operations at the site. That plan has now shifted again, with the Paulys, acting as Douzinas’ agents, going before the VDRB to present a detailed plan for their proposed Farmer and the Bell Café, the latest evolution of the couple’s doughnut emporium, which previously operated as a pop-up store and at the Parker House in Quechee.
April and Ben Pauly hope to open the Farmer and the Bell Café at 67 Pleasant Street in the East End of Woodstock Village. Excavation and construction at the site, which formerly housed a gas station and auto repair business in a building that was demolished in the fall of 2022, is underway. Artist’s Rendering Provided.
Ben Pauly, who is the creative director of landscape and design at the Woodstock Inn & Resort, and April, who has a background in fashion and interior design, have detailed their proposed plans for the revised Pleasant Street space in an addendum to the permit application that Douzinas filed with the Woodstock Planning and Zoning office on April 9.
“Our zoning application for a food establishment asks for seven days a week operation from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. in order to cover any potential changes or growth in the business,” the Paulys write. “Our initial planned hours to start are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday, with the potential of limited offerings on selected evenings. While the business is listed as a restaurant use under the conditional use process,” the couple continues, “our primary offerings are go-to items and ready-made. As we operated previously, the majority of our patrons picked up their items and left. That being said, we are expanding our offerings to more meal-type options and forcing more demand to in-person seating, though we still expect a strong clientele that will order food and go. All food is ordered and picked up with no table service.”
The Paulys are asking to set interior seating at the café at 68 seats — 16 downstairs and 52 upstairs in the two-story building. The couple hopes to add an additional 28 seats outside during warmer weather. “We plan on having six employees, but are submitting permits and designing mechanical systems to allow for growth to eight employees at any one time,” the couple noted.
Suitable parking at the site poses a challenge, so the Paulys are asking the VDRB to consider waiving current zoning regulations that stipulate the number of on-site parking spaces required for the new café location. “The site was designed to accommodate the maximum amount of parking possible, which constitutes 16 spaces for guests, with access off Charles Street and three for employees with access at Hartland Hill Road,” the Paulys note. “Section 517 in the zoning regulations states that one parking space is needed for every three seats, plus one space per employee vehicle. By this standard, we would be allowed 48 seats, which is half of our total interior and exterior seating capacity. We are asking the VDRB to consider waiving the additional 16 parking spaces needed to reach that capacity based on our findings that sufficient public parking is available within a reasonable walking distance,” the couple continues.
A site plan and area map submitted with the Farmer and the Bell permit application seek to underpin the couple’s contention regarding parking issues at the site. “Within a five-minute walk (1/4-mile) there are 61 public parking spaces,” the couple offers. “At its longest point, this is the same distance as walking from the front doors of the Woodstock Inn to Mon Verte Café or from the dummy at Elm and Central Streets to the iron bridge. The public parking at its closest point is about 100 feet less than the length of The Green. We will be requiring that all employees, minus the three spaces (on site), park in public parking locations.”
The couple concludes their memorandum to the VDRB by stating, “We will have additional items to apply for in the future as they get worked out in the design. This includes signage, exterior lighting, exhaust hood, and a walk-up window.” No opening date has been set for the Farmer and the Bell Café if it is permitted. Excavation and construction crews have been busily preparing the 67 Pleasant Street site for the past two weeks. The Woodstock TDRB will consider the Douzinas/Pauly application for a conditional use permit at its next regular meeting on Wednesday evening, May 8, at 7:30 p.m. at Woodstock Town Hall.