VOORHEESVILLE — The owner of a popular Bethlehem pizzeria has come forward as the likely buyer of 112 Maple Ave., once the home of Smith’s Tavern.

Anthony Berghela, owner of Romo’s Pizza in Glenmont, was before the Voorheesville Planning Commission on Tuesday with an initial proposal for a Maple Avenue restaurant, to which the commission was receptive, encouraging him to move forward.

Berghela is under contract with current owner Stewart’s Shops to buy the turn-of-the-last-century building. The Enterprise had previously and incorrectly reported the sale had already gone through. 

Berghela intends to use the existing building. He needs a special-use permit from the planning commission to open the restaurant.

The March 8 proposal was more “conceptual,” to use the verbiage of village attorney Rich Reilly. “The next step would be to have a more formal proposal that you would submit, that would talk about any changes you were maybe going to make to the structure itself, lighting, hours of operation,” said Reilly.

The commission on Tuesday offered feedback that Berghela’s proposal was generally well-received and that it was “excited to see more details,” Reilly said in a manner partially explaining the approval process to the applicant and commission. “And once you get those details, then we’d be in a position to formally act on SEQR and formally approve,” he said of the state environmental quality review process.

“My intentions are to rebuild and kind of bring the old building back to life to something similar to what a Smitty’s was to the village of Voorheesville,” Berghela told commission members. Berghela told The Enterprise he believes he’ll run his new shop with some kind of Romo’s tie-in. 

“The biggest thing for me right now, as far as closing on the contract that I have, is to get the special-use permit that will allow me to put a restaurant pizzeria back in that location and then you know, move forward with the cosmetic part of that and, you know, the build and how everything is going to be and things like that,” he said.

Berghela told commission members that his closing on the contract with Stewart’s is contingent on approval of the special-use permit. A narrative submitted with his permit application says Berghela has “an early April closing date to officially purchase the building.” His contractor estimated a four- to six-month buildout, with a fall or early winter opening.

As for the offerings, Berghela told the commission he may have to downsize his menu from what he offers at his Glenmont location because his Bethlehem kitchen is just “much bigger,” but he said, “obviously” he would “have pizza be the focal point,” while also having a selection of dinners, sandwiches, appetizers, and salads on the menu.