During the August 19th meeting of Conshohocken’s zoning hearing board, the board voted to grant Cooper Winery zoning relief with three conditions to open a wine garden with two pickleball courts and a bocce court at 127 East Elm Street in the borough.

Cooper Winery is owned by Conshohocken-resident Christina Pieri and is located at Pieri Farm & Vineyard in Bucks County. Her husband, Brian Pieri, is the founder of Pieri Hospitality, which owns the farm, and The StoneRose, Bar Lucca, and Bar Sera in Conshohocken. Brian Pieri is also the owner of the East Elm property, which he recently purchased from the estate of Ray Weinmann. Weinmann was one of the initial developers of Conshohocken and passed away in 2021.

The now-approved plan includes a raised building that would include a bar, dining space, and bathrooms. The outdoor space would offer two pickleball courts, a bocce court, space for a food truck, and outdoor seating with fire pits. The bar would offer wines and beers from Pennsylvania and potentially local canned spirits as well.

The zoning relief sought involved setbacks, construction in the flood plain, and parking. During the hearing, Christina Pieri, and two consultants (traffic and hydrologic engineers) offered testimony on these issues. Regarding parking, Pieri has secured a lease with a neighboring corporate office building to utilize its parking lot/garage. The traffic engineer testified that the plan for the property wouldn’t impact sightlines on the adjacent roadways and the hydrologic engineer testified regarding the minimal impact the plan would have during a flood. For example, the building that is planned is constructed on the edge of the flood plain on the highest portion of the property.

Members of the zoning hearing board asked questions regarding how loose items like furniture and trash containers would be secured (in reference to when the area floods), lighting, sound, neighbor concerns, and parking.

The conditions placed upon the granted zoning relief were that the parking agreement would be provided to the borough, that the venue would offer newer technology paddles to players to reduce sound, and that loose items on the site would be secured during off hours.

There was no public opposition to the plan. Several people spoke in favor of the wine garden, including Mark Weinmann, who was the executor of his father’s estate. He offered that he could have sold the property for other uses, like an office building or for the highest number, but believed in Pieri’s plan for the property and how that aligned with his father’s vision. The estate also sold the property that surrounds The Outbound Station to the borough for a park that will be named for Weinmann.

Disclosure – Pieri Hospitality advertises with MoreThanTheCurve.com
Images – Cooper Winery