VOORHEESVILLE — The dismissal of a first-of-its-kind lawsuit and the adoption of a once-in-a-generation plan has Voorheesville on its way to revitalizing its Main Street thoroughfare. 

At its April 13 meeting, the Voorheesville Planning Commission heard not one but two presentations from area entrepreneurs looking to open restaurants in the village — one a craft brewery and restaurant while the other eatery has yet to be determined. 

Charles Rosenstein told the planning commission he’s been a lawyer for the past 31 years but he’s looking for a new career, “and my passion has always been good beer.”

Northern Barrel Brewery’s proposed location is 10 North Main St., occupying half of Building Six.

The 10-year Guilderland resident said he lives just a mile from the Voorheesville Public Library, but that he and his wife, “consider ourselves almost residents of the village.”

Rosenstein told The Enterprise, “So we’re looking at somewhere between hopefully six and eight different [craft] beers on tap ...,” he said. “We’re looking at probably the four- to six-barrel system.”

One barrel is equal to approximately 117 liters, or about 247 pints of beer.

Northern Barrel will offer IPAs, porters, lagers, and sours.

As for the fare, “I just love going to a place that has good beer and good burgers,” Rosenstein said, so craft burgers are expected on the menu as are wings and wood-fired pizza.

Rosenstein, who has a hobby of hopping in his car and driving hours in any direction to find good food and beer, said one of his favorites is the Whetstone Station Restaurant and Brewery in Brattleboro, Vermont. “The good food, the good beer, the atmosphere that they created, just a really nice vibe,” he said of Whetstone. “And that’s hopefully what we’ll ... bring to the village as well.” 

Rosenstein also hopes to make Northern Barrel Brewery a family affair, with his two daughters and their spouses working at the brewery, he said. “Hopefully if it’s successful [and] goes for generations, our grandson could come in and work there someday.”

In addition to the 2,500-square-foot brewery and restaurant, Rosenstein anticipates asking the planning commission to approve a 375-square-foot outdoor patio. 

And Rosenstein would like to take advantage of the outdoor space by having a cornhole league, and “we also hope to be good neighbors,” he said, hosting cookouts and fundraisers, noting a major advantage of his brewery is its location: the start — or end, depending on your perspective — of the Albany County Helderberg-Hudson Rail Trail.

Rosenstein said during the planning commission meeting that he’s been “wanting to look into the possibility” of opening a craft brewery and restaurant for some time. 

“One of the things that I want to do is fill the void that has been created with Smitty’s going out of business,” he said on April 13. (Rosenstein could be back before the planning commission with more specifics about his proposed project at its next meeting, on May 11.)

Smitty’s, or Smith’s Tavern, on Maple Avenue shut down in May 2017 after its owner sold the building to Stewart’s Shops for $750,000. The company intended to build a convenience store and gas station on the site, but the village adopted a comprehensive plan in June 2018 that included stipulations that the Vly Creek floodplain would not allow for gas stations, nor would Stewart’s “standardized architecture” be accepted.

Also in June 2018, the company announced it would be putting the building on the market for $850,000.

But then, in September 2019, Stewart’s announced that, for the first time in company history, it was suing a municipality because of what it claimed was a “targeted effort to prevent” it from building a new shop on its Maple Avenue property. In November of last year, the judge in the case tossed the suit.

42 South Main St.

The Stewart’s loss may end up being a potential win for Ed Mitzen, a 1985 graduate of Clayton A. Bouton High School. 

Mitzen, the owner of a Saratoga-headquartered 450-person healthcare-marketing firm, and his wife are the owners of Bread Basket Bakery in Saratoga Springs, a shop whose profits are donated directly to charity. 

He told planning commission members during their April 13 meeting that he’d come to terms with Stewart’s Shops for 42 South Main St., and had similar plans for the property but no specifics on the type of restaurant that would go in.

Mitzen said he has a 60-day clause with Stewart’s that allows him to assess the village’s willingness to work with him about putting something on the site “because if it’s going to become a battle with parking or any other issues that you may see that I don't know about, I have the ability to get out of the purchase price,” he said, which would be a not-insignificant-investment itself, $350,000.

In early 2016, citing space constraints, Stewart’s made the decision to eventually close its Voorheesville shop, which it did in January 2019.

Mitzen said he tried to buy 42 South Main St. a year ago but Stewart’s put too many restrictions on the building, in part because the company “was still trying to figure out” the former Smitty’s location. He said he “couldn’t even sell pizza, you couldn’t sell coffee. So at that point, I sort of walked away. But then, when they realized that they weren’t going to be downtown, the only restriction is I can’t turn it into a convenience store.”

The major change between last year and this year was that Stewart’s lost its lawsuit to the village. 

Mitzen told commission members he wants to be a part of breathing new life into “downtown” Voorheesville, but that the entire undertaking is still “very preliminary,” and that he doesn’t even have “architectural drawings ready to go.”

Mitzen told The Enterprise to follow up with him in a month when asked for an interview. “I still have lots to do before I’m ready to announce anything,” he said by email.

During the April 13 meeting, Mitzen said parking would be an issue. 

Chairwoman Georgia Gray, who is stepping down from the position, said the village undertook a comprehensive planning process a couple of years ago and updated its zoning laws. “And we’re extremely interested in developing a business-friendly downtown Voorheesville, so to speak,” Gray said. “So we’re certainly willing to work with, you know, whatever you got within our [code].”

Planning commission member Chuck Dollard said, “People want a gathering place,” and the first thing that comes up when he talks to people is a coffee shop.

Dollard didn’t think parking would be as much of an issue as Mitzen did.

But Mitzen thought that some kind of off-street parking would have to be made available. The site itself is “really small,” he said. “Through the eyes of a 10-year-old, it looked a lot bigger.”

Speaking about parking issues, planning commission member Steve Reilly said that Old Songs Inc, which is located in a former church building not far from the Stewart’s building, has been able to work with other Main Street businesses to find solutions. 

Village Trustee Jack Stevens, the board liaison to the commission, pointed out that there are empty spots at Village Hall, while village attorney Richard Reilly said the comprehensive plan was written with built-in flexibility with regard to parking.  And it was also recommended that Mitzen reach out to Jon Phillips, who closed his hardware store in November of last year and whose property now has unused parking spaces.