Last night the ownership group buying the Casmar Cafe held a meet and greet with nearby residents to discuss their plans. The name of the restaurant/bar will be changed to Jasper’s Backyard. Jasper refers to Jasper Farmer, who bought the land that included Conshohocken from William Penn in 1683. The menu will be seasonal American and there will be live music.

The rehab of the building will include incorporating the upstairs apartment, porch and garages into dining space. All together the restaurant will be able to seat 100 people. The front door of the building will also be moved from the corner to the center of the building and facing CVS.

The dozen or so neighbors in attendance for the meet and greet were mostly concerned with parking and noise. A question and answer session lasted about 30 minutes. The Casmar Cafe plans to stay open through the sale and approval process.

To make the changes the new ownership group will need to secure a special exception and variance from the Zoning Hearing Board. These issues involve allowing for the upstairs to be used as restaurant space, putting a bar to be used seasonally in one of the garages and putting up a larger sign. The Zoning Hearing Board will hear these requests on June 2nd at 7:30 p.m. at Old Borough Hall at West 8th and Fayette.

Below is the official zoning notice:

NOTICE IS HEREBY given that the Conshohocken Zoning Hearing Board will conduct a public hearing on Monday, June 2, 2014 at 7:30 p.m. prevailing time at the Conshohocken Borough Hall, 720 Fayette Street, Conshohocken, PA. At this time,the board will hear testimony and accept evidence on the following petition:

PETITIONER:

Three Blind Pigs, LLC

404 W Pennsylvania Ave

Fort Washington, PA 19034

Premises Involved:

101 East 7th Avenue

Conshohocken, PA 19428

OWNER OF RECORD:

Edward M and Elizabeth A. Cassidy

101 East 7th Avenue

Conshohocken, PA 19428

The Pettioner is requesting special exception and a variance under the terms of the Conshohocken Zoning Ordinance Sections 27-703 B, D and E, and a variance to Section 27-703 H.

The Petioner propoes to Change the second floor apartment use to the restaurant/bar use increasing the size of the second floor of the building to match the first floor; expany the restaurant bar use to a garage on the property which would be used seasonally; and to replace the existing sign with one which is larger.

Interested parties are invited to participate in the hearing. Anyone requiring special accommodations to attend should contact Conshohocken Borough Administration Office at 610-828-1092 as soon as possible to make arrangement.

Borough of Conshohocken
Zoning Hearing Board