Sea Cliff beer spot's new lager is a hoppy ode to owners' battle over zoning laws to set up outdoor picnic tables

A zoning battle brewing in Sea Cliff bubbled over last week as the business unveiled a specially commissioned craft lager called Bureaucratic Nightmare.

Campground Craft Beer Market on Sea Cliff Avenue, which opened in October, sought zoning variances and a reclassification as a restaurant so that it could add an outdoor beer garden, but the village zoning board last month denied the appeal. Last February, the zoning board approved the craft beer and retail store to open but with certain limitations. Per zoning law, only restaurants are allowed to have outdoor dining and the market didn't fit the definition of a restaurant, according to village attorney Brian Stolar. 

Owners Emil Lanne and Peter Johnson have tried to find a way to open a beer garden while navigating state liquor law, village zoning code and the terms of their lease. They said they have no plans to fight through legal means. Finding their path blocked, they decided to tell their story through hops and yeast. 

“It’s an unnecessarily complex lager,” said Lanne before cases of the limited run beer arrived last week. Lanne said the name is intended to be humorous. “The beer is a joke. It makes light of our situation.”

"Our main goal when we opened this was to have outdoor seating," Johnson said last week. The zoning board's refusal to reopen its application was "a big blow financially for us," he said. 

The notion that outdoor seating was crucial to their business plan wasn't part of their original pitch to the village. 

At their initial zoning board hearing on Dec. 28, 2021, Lanne said, "we are not asking for outdoor seating," in response to a question from a board member. 

He added, "We think that's a good idea, potentially to think about in the future but we're focused on opening up the store portion of this." 

Johnson told the ZBA at a Feb. 15, 2022, hearing that their goal was to enhance Sea Cliff. 

"This is as much a passion project as it is a business operation," Johnson said then. 

For decades, the property was split between an auto body shop and towing business. Lanne and Johnson saw it as the perfect spot to sell craft beer. There was one big problem, however.

“We don’t allow bars,” village attorney Stolar said. Sea Cliff allows bars if they’re “in the form of a restaurant.” Restaurants require a special use permit and outdoor dining can be granted as an accessory use to a restaurant, Stolar said.

Their state liquor license categorizes them as a tavern, which means they must serve food. But Campground’s landlord won’t allow them to install a kitchen to prepare food on premises so they offer prepared finger food that they heat in a microwave or toaster oven.

That doesn't meet the requirements to be a restaurant and thus outdoor dining is not allowed, Stolar said. 

“Their original concept was just absolutely clever,” said Mayor Elena Villafane. “It was a great use of what had been an unattractive use and I want them to be successful, but their messaging is inconsistent.”

Villafane said that while she wants to support small businesses, Campground's changing requests have been problematic and simply making an exception could open the village to litigation. 

“You can't say that it's a passion project and you don't need it to make money and then say, if we don't get this, we're going to go out of business,” Villafane said.

Anthony Ladonna, who owns a house across the street, said he’s concerned that allowing drinking outside will depress his property's value.

“I’m trying to sell the house and I don’t want people drinking beers right across the street," Ladonna said. 

Mark Cline, 69, of Sea Cliff, was among 50 people who came to sample the new beer. He said it was “very drinkable" and hopes Campground succeeds. 

“You want to keep these guys in business, otherwise you have another empty space," Cline said.