WESTWOOD, N.J.—Craft beer aficionados likely will have a new—and local—destination in summer 2021: Westwood’s recently approved Five Dimes Brewery, to be opened at 247 Westwood Ave.
A unanimous Zoning Board of Adjustment approved Five Dimes Brewery, the borough’s first microbrewery, on Oct. 5, granting variances for the limited brewery and use of rooftop commercial space following four hearings that began in June.
The business will take the place of the former LN Grand Five and Dime, which occupied the site for six decades before closing last year.
The Five Dimes Brewery moniker was chosen by its owner to honor the former longstanding local business.
Following two 7-0 votes to allow the new conditional uses, some board members complimented the project’s principal, Christopher Alepa, a local chiropractor, for his cooperation in making accommodations to neighboring businesses and working with borough professionals.
“I’m very excited. This was a long process and I’m very excited to bring this to Westwood,” Alepa told Pascack Press on Oct. 6. He said he got strong support from Westwood to bring the microbrewery downtown.
He said the new craft brewery will feature photos of its former tenant, LN Grand Five and Dime, inside the brewery once complete. “It’s wonderful and it will bring people back to the community and I’m looking forward to seeing the old LN Grand Five and Dime brought back to life,” he said.
According to Alepa, the 4,100-square-foot building will likely begin demolition and roof improvement soon after the Zoning Board adopts a resolution of approval in November. He anticipates a summer 2021 opening.
Approximately 50 participants were on the two-hour Zoom meeting to hear final brief testimony from several applicant professionals, including its architect, parking consultant and planner.
Board Planner Steve Lydon recommended the board take two votes on “D” variances for the conditional use variance and commercial rooftop use so that both uses would be decided.
The 82-seat restaurant will include 18 seats on its rooftop in an enclosed atrium. A maximum of 40 occupants can be on the roof at any one time, according to the plan approved.
Member Gary Conkling said he thought the microbrewery “satisfied all the criteria” it was required to meet and noted the microbrewery also has 12 on-site parking spaces.
“I think this would be a wonderful thing for the town,” said Conkling. He said the rooftop space use “is a new use in this era…this is just evolution,” he said.
Board member Eric Oakes said he saw the microbrewery “as a nice big positive” for Westwood and noted many people are likely to patronize the business using ride-share transport as opposed to cars. He did not see parking for the new business to be as big a concern as was pointed out by another local business owner.
Member Wayne Harper called the microbrewery “a unique opportunity” for Westwood to not only bring in more customers for downtown businesses but add more downtown businesses. He noted “all of the accommodations they have made to make this work” means they want to operate in Westwood.
Member Matt Ceplo said he had a personal preference for a green roof (occupied by plants, trees, and plantings) to absorb storm runoff but did not see it as a condition for approval.
Chair William J. Martin said the microbrewery use seems to be substantially consistent with the new Master Plan adopted by the Planning Board and that “its presence should mean a stronger Westwood Avenue and a stronger downtown feeling.”
He said, “I think the application meets the criteria in the law and I vote yes.”
One resident, Carolyn Lomolino, a real estate agent, said she had concerns with about 14 vacant storefronts in downtown Westwood, and called the microbrewery “something new and something different” and added “I would hope that the town would welcome that.”
She called the craft brewery “a win-win for the town” and noted that the owner was “really trying to work with the town on this.” She said her daughter and friends go to craft breweries mainly to socialize and loved having a rooftop seating option during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Another resident, Kimberly Smith, who recently moved to town, said she thought the possible microbrewery business moving into Westwood “was such a great thing” and she noted potential local economic benefits based on research she found online.
She said such breweries were found to draw people to a community, who then would spend dollars at local businesses, and lead to more interest and life being injected into the community.
While not objecting to a microbrewery, local business owner Joseph Blundo again pointed out that he believed data used by parking consultant Michael Maris to estimate available local parking during peak daytime hours might not be valid.
Maris said his parking study, based on parking data collected in February by Alepa, showed no fewer than 82 parking spaces within 1,000 feet of the proposed microbrewery, including a municipal lot on Fairview Avenue, during peak business hours, 5–9 p.m.
Blundo also questioned Maris’ statement that a visitor would walk up to 1,000 feet from a parked car to visit a local business. Blundo owns Joe’s Craft Pies at 257 Westwood Ave.
Blundo was worried that patrons parking on Westwood Avenue to visit the new brewery would stay for two to four hours to possibly watch a sports event there and monopolize on-street parking spaces that might affect his business.
He said customers go in and out at his shop and prefer close parking and he worried the microbrewery’s customers would occupy those Westwood Avenue spaces for prolonged periods.
A resolution of approval to memorialize all conditions agreed to during the microbrewery’s four hearings will likely be voted on at the next Zoning Board meeting Nov. 9.