At a March 22 special meeting, Old Saybrook’s Zoning Commission (ZC) unanimously approved zoning regulations, with some changes, proposed by The Point, LLC, the entity behind Smoke on the Water, the outdoor restaurant it hopes to establish at the Saybrook Point site of the former Dock and Dine. The amended changes will take effect on Monday, April 12.

The Point, LLC is a partnership of Jon Kadama, owner of JTK Management Restaurants, which owns the Dock and Dine property, and Colt Taylor, executive chef and owner of The Essex, a restaurant in Centerbrook.

At the start of the ZC’s deliberations on the proposed changes, Chair Bob Friedmann explained to the other members that “it’s important to pay attention to the words as proposed and that they be consistent with our existing regulations and not create new conflicts.”

The approved changes include an added entry to zoning regulation Section 9, Definitions, for “Restaurant, Outdoor.” The term is defined as an establishment offering retail sale of food and beverages to the general public for consumption on the premises at outdoor tables or counters.

Section 53, Special Standards, will newly include “Restaurant, Outdoor,” making clear that restaurant facilities must be located on the same lot and distinguishes outdoor restaurants from Food and Beverage Concession Services, which are referenced in the same section. Concession services are not for the general public but are accessories to town parks or playgrounds abutting Long Island Sound and may be allowed in other areas with special exception permits. Also in Section 53, special standards for “Outdoor seating” were amended to include outdoor restaurants as well as indoor ones.

Two sections were added to Section 66, Trailers, pertaining to temporary non-residential restaurant trailers, which Smoke on the Water proposes to use for everything from bars to salad preparation to restrooms.

The first section defines them as wheeled and used for storage, restaurant facilities, and/or food preparation, and located on the lot for fewer than 180 days per calendar year, including time for set-up and breakdown. The second specifies special standards for the trailers and states that when located in a Special Flood Hazard Area, as is the location of the former Dock and Dine, approval of their use will be subject to a storm and flood emergency action plan for site evacuation.

The Smoke on the Water proposal is controversial, and is objectionable to many of those who live in the North Cove neighborhood, the residential zone nearest the former Dock and Dine site. Residents have expressed concerns about odors, noise, parking at Saybrook Point, and the restaurant’s possible impacts on people visiting the town park, among other possible issues.

To date, the ZC has received more than 90 letters and emails from residents and non-residents both for and against the idea, with the majority of those in opposition residing in that neighborhood: More than 70 North Cove residents signed a petition objecting to the proposed restaurant, resulting in what appears to be roughly a 50/50 split between those in favor and those against. The residential neighborhood is not directly adjacent to the private property on which the restaurant would be located; several hundred feet separate the two.

David and Earla Frisbie, who live in the North Cove area, have hired attorney Evan J. Seeman of Robinson + Cole in Hartford. A letter written on their behalf from his office states their opposition to the project saying they live approximately 500 feet from the proposed site for Smoke on the Water. They are not opposed to an indoor restaurant at the site complying with existing zoning regulation, according to the letter. Their concerns are with “an outdoor restaurant and bar with amplified music and up to 300 people on site at a time.”

The letter claims that the amendments constitute “bad planning,” as there are no controls to protect residents from negative effects of the venue; that approval of the project would “constitute illegal ‘spot zoning’ under Connecticut law because it would benefit a single property and individual”; and that the application is incomplete.

While Seeman cannot predict what his clients will decide to do, he explained in a call with Harbor News that they have 15 days from the legal notice of the ZC’s decision to amend the regulations to make an appeal in Superior Court. This applies as well to the ZC’s eventual decision on the special exemption permit, an application for which The Point, LLC has now submitted.

The special exemption permit would allow The Point, LLC to operate an outdoor restaurant for a maximum of 180 days per year, using trailers for everything from salad preparation to restrooms. As the application is not complete, however, it has not yet been added to the ZC agenda, according to Zoning Enforcement Officer Chris Costa.