By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
One of the major pieces of a redevelopment plan for the landmark Springfield Inn does not meet the requirements of Sea Isle City’s building regulations and must undergo scrutiny by the zoning board, according to a ruling by the city’s head construction official.
GMH Restaurant Holdings announced plans in late October to buy the Springfield Inn and then demolish it to make room for a new outdoor beach bar and an enclosed restaurant.
However, Neil Byrne, Sea Isle’s construction and zoning officer, ruled that the proposed restaurant does not meet the requirements of the city’s “Building and Use Standards.” He also said the project should be submitted to the city’s zoning board for site plan approval and a use variance.
“I believe that this project does not meet the definition of a fully enclosed Restaurant with liquor license or fully enclosed Tavern,” Byrne wrote in a Nov. 20 letter to Andrew Catanese, the attorney representing GMH Restaurant Holdings.
Byrne noted that in order to be considered a fully enclosed restaurant with liquor license, the building must have a minimum indoor capacity of 80 seats inside the main structure.
GMH has 20 days to appeal Byrne’s ruling to the zoning board if it wishes to challenge his findings. Catanese did not respond to messages seeking comment.
The company would also have the option of revising its project to respond to Byrne’s ruling.
Gary Holloway, founder of GMH Restaurant Holdings, said that his plans for the Springfield Inn site will be modeled after an outdoor beach-themed bar he has developed in Somers Point, called The Point.
Holloway told Sea Isle’s City Council in October that he wants to start construction in February and have the new outdoor bar ready by May, the traditional start of the Jersey Shore’s peak summer tourism season.
“We believe that what we will bring to the city is something that is so unique. You’ll see the success we’ve had in Somers Point in running the same facility,” Holloway said while revealing his plans to Council during a public meeting held by teleconference on Oct. 27.
The Springfield Inn has been on the market for $6.7 million. Its coveted beachfront location makes it a strong candidate for redevelopment. Located at 43rd Street and Pleasure Avenue, it is the only beachfront business in Sea Isle that has a liquor license.
Holloway and GMH Restaurant Holdings stepped in to buy the Springfield Inn just weeks after another deal to sell the property to a Pennsylvania development group fell through.
It is not immediately clear whether Holloway has completed the purchase yet. He indicated in his remarks to City Council on Oct. 27 that he had reached “an exclusive letter of intent” to buy the property from the current owners.
The Bisciotti family has owned the Springfield Inn since it opened in 1972. Sisters Betsy Cooney, Terry Eidenberg and Joanne Bisciotti followed their parents, Joe and Liz Bisciotti, as the Springfield’s owners.
Holloway, a resident of Ocean City for 50 years, said he is intimately familiar with the Jersey Shore’s bar and restaurant scene. He operated the Waterfront Restaurant in Somers Point for 17 years before demolishing it last year and replacing it with The Point, the outdoor bar that will serve as the template for his proposed Sea Isle project.
Springfield Inn closed in September 2019 in anticipation of its sale then to a Pennsylvania-based development group called HKM43 LLC. The group wanted to demolish the old building to make room for a new three-story complex featuring a restaurant, outdoor bar, banquet hall and condos.
However, the members of the HKM43 group announced in September that they had withdrawn from the sale talks after their investors “got cold feet” amid the coronavirus pandemic, delays in closing the deal and an unsuccessful attempt to secure a bank loan to help finance the purchase.
But only a few weeks later, GMH Restaurant Holdings announced its plans to buy the Springfield Inn and redevelop the property.
