Nearly four years after Hurricane Sandy destroyed the Mad Hatter, its owners found out if their rebuilding efforts could move forward.
SEA BRIGHT - After several months of planning board meetings, legal arguments, petitions, public support and opposition, waiting and more waiting, the owners of the Mad Hatter anxiously watched as the fate of their popular restaurant and bar was decided late Thursday night.
And when the planning board approved Scott and Amy Kelly's application to rebuild their Hurricane Sandy-ravaged business, by a 6-3 vote, the husband and wife stayed seated for a couple minutes, quietly embracing and wiping tears from their eyes, before they started the lengthy acceptance of congratulations from their dozens of supporters in attendance.
"This is huge. It's a new start for us, it's a new beginning," an emotional Scott Kelly said after the vote. "We get to move forward and run a business now. We get to put our lives back together. Now, I can finally get excited."
Local residents are rallying around the Mad Hatter in Sea Bright, which is facing opposition in its efforts to rebuild after Hurricane Sandy. (Rob Spahr | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) The plans for the new Mad Hatter call for the building to be elevated over seven covered parking spaces and a storage area. The first floor would feature a similar layout to the existing restaurant, with a bar and dining area but no outdoor patio. The second floor would feature additional dining space, the kitchen and an outdoor patio bar that would be slightly smaller than the existing patio area, but would overlook the ocean.
Throughout the application process, opponents to the project publicly voiced concerns over the proposed building's increased size, lot coverage, noise from live bands and patrons, limited parking, its proposed outdoor seating areas and the additional people the new Mad Hatter would accommodate, which is 312 patrons and 30 staff compared a prior capacity that was below 300.
On Thursday night, Ron Gasiorowski, the attorney representing one of the neighbors opposing the rebuild plans, reiterated some of those fears during his closing remarks, comparing the plans for the new Mad Hatter to an Atlantic City casino and warning that it would bring excess traffic and parking problems, loud rock bands and public urination.
After hearing all of the expert testimony, public comments and legal arguments, the planning board deliberated for approximately 40 minutes on the application. During which time, it seemed as though the application was in danger of being denied due to its size, its windows facing neighboring residential properties and the additional patrons it could accommodate.
"We're really starting to choke ourselves in this town, by allowing these businesses to keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger, and we can't handle it. I can't get out of my house any more, forget about it, it's a parking lot on Ocean Avenue," Planning Board Vice Chairman David Desi said prior to voting against the application. "We have to have a balance of life in this town, we just can't support the businesses to go wild. Tommy's (Tavern & Tap) got out of hand and this going to be another on that's going to get out of hand. I think they just went too big."
Kelly said he was "terrified" while a few of the planning board members were voicing their objections.
"I didn't know what to do," he said. "This is our livelihood, all I could think about were my kids."
The Kellys' attorney, Kevin Asadi, reminded the board of the many quality of life benefits that the larger building would provide to the community, including having less outdoor space - therefore less noise and less potential for issues on the residential side streets.
Asadi also argued that the Mad Hatter should not pay the price for Sea Bright's perpetual traffic and parking issues.
"I understand the concern, it's a common sense concern," he said. "But I'm not so sure it's a land use concern for this application, because we're then paying a price for conditions that exist elsewhere and that's not fair to the applicant."
Planning Board Chairman C. Lance Cunningham, who repeatedly had to play the role of referee during contentious meetings throughout the application process, told the other members of the board that while many of the post-Sandy construction projects - including the Mad Hatter and nearby beach clubs - appear to be "much bigger" than they were prior to the storm, a significant reason for that is that they're now elevated to protect themselves from future flooding.
"Some of them are the same size as they we before, they just look bigger because they're up," he said. "But everything's up. That's the reality in Sea Bright now."
Cunningham said the Mad Hatter's application process, which spanned several months and nine public meetings, was a difficult one.
"You want hear everyone out and you want everybody to have their say. We really made an effort to make sure everyone got their two cents in and help the board make a decision," he said. "I'm happy with the end result and I'm not talking about them getting their application approved. I'm happy for the board. The board handled it well, and I think everyone was very careful to do things right."
After the vote, members of the crowd - several of whom were in t-shirts showing support for the Mad Hatter - burst out in applause.
"They're the reason why we kept this going. They're reason we kept going forward and stayed focus on getting back into Sea Bright and getting back in business," Kelly said of the supporters. "This is a community that has embraced us, and I am so, so grateful."
After taking some time to enjoy the project getting the green light, Kelly said they would be turning their attention toward demolition and then construction.
"We want to be up and running by the spring of 2017," he said.
Rob Spahr may be reached at rspahr@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheRobSpahr. Find NJ.com on Facebook.