MADISON — The owner of Killingworth’s La Foresta restaurant plans to try again to get zoning approval to open a much-anticipated Italian steakhouse at the former Madison Winter Club.
The Planning and Zoning Commission in May denied Frasher Lulaj’s application for a special exception to allow a restaurant on the residential-zoned, 2.3-acre parcel at 251 Boston Post Road.
Lulaj is under contract to buy the Winter Club for $1.185 million on the condition he gets approval for a restaurant there; the original sale price was $1.45 million, according to real estate agent John Campbell of Page Taft/Compass, who is handling the sale.
Lulaj plans to submit a new application soon, according to Campbell, who said Lulaj’s attorney is working on an amendment to the zoning regulations.
Additionally, the town is considering “broadening” the existing Planned Development District “in a controlled way,” according to Town Planner Erin Mannix.
This district originally was proposed by former Town Planner Dave Anderson and approved by the commission in 2019.
But the timing seems right, Mannix said, noting another development proposal was presented that would also benefit from this amendment.
“We are in the process of submitting a new application which should be done in the next couple of weeks,” Campbell said.
Neither Lulaj nor his attorney, Jeff Beatty, would comment at this time.
PZC members were split 3-2 against Lulaj’s application to seek a zone change for the parcel to allow a restaurant.
Instead, according to Mannix, the town is looking to amend the zoning regulations and map to allow a “floating zone” for specific “opportunity areas” to allow redevelopment. The Winter Club site is one of those that would qualify, she said.
The floating zone, she said, “can be a tool you can apply to other locations in town.”
Mannix noted that under current regulations, while a club is allowed by a special exception permit in a residential zone, a restaurant is not permitted use in that zone.
She said the commission also “wanted to end this spot-zoning process” of granting special exceptions. With the Planned Development District, she said, “You can selectively apply it to places where you do need redevelopment.”
“So it gives the commission a sense of control over where they have full discretion in their legislative capacity to look at this master plan and how it relates to the adjacent properties,” she said.
While the potential owner did not get his approval the first time around, it was not all bad news, according to Campbell.
“They were denied 3 to 2 but two of the three negative votes really wanted the restaurant to be approved, but they didn’t like the language of the application,” said Campbell.
“They asked us to go back … and make it so that it was a little more structured, so that if this restaurant were to fail somebody couldn’t just put up a McDonalds,” Campbell said. “They wanted it to be the same echelon of dining.”
“I think most of the board was excited,” Campbell said. At the popular Italian restaurant La Foresta, he added, “A lot of people from Madison go there.”
Campbell noted that no one from the general public spoke against the project.
One resident, Peter J. Scranton whose letter was among 12 letters in support, said Lulaj “has an excellent reputation in the restaurant industry” and that La Foresta “is a first class establishment and I am sure his venture in Madison will be as well .”
After some 50 years, The Madison Winter Club closed last fall due to steadily declining membership. The club held functions and served dinners three nights a week with the capacity to seat 140 members; it employed its own chef seasonally, who lived in the apartment upstairs.
“It was a difficult spot — what could be done there,” Campbell said about selling the defunct club to prospective buyers. He noted that before it was a club it had been home to two different restaurants over the years.
Tom King, treasurer of the Madison Winter Club, is a big supporter of the proposed restaurant.
“I think it’s an absolute terrific fit,” he said. “We have all the kitchen facilities there for a commercial kitchen..”
“And as far as we’re concerned it’s a natural transition from a private club to a restaurant,” King said. “We’re looking forward to [them] working it out.”
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