Portsmouth Town Council Notes

Tremblay’s in Portsmouth gets OK to offer al fresco dining

Asian restaurant wants to locate in former Kaufman’s building

By Jim McGaw
Posted 1/9/18

You may want to wait until the weather warms up, but once it does you’ll be able to feast on a giant pretzel, Nashville chicken or house-cured pork belly right outside Tremblay’s Island …

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Portsmouth Town Council Notes

Tremblay’s in Portsmouth gets OK to offer al fresco dining

Asian restaurant wants to locate in former Kaufman’s building

Posted

You may want to wait until the weather warms up, but once it does you’ll be able to feast on a giant pretzel, Nashville chicken or house-cured pork belly right outside Tremblay’s Island Park Bar & Grill

The Town Council, sitting as the Board of License Commissioners Monday night, unanimously approved Tremblay’s request to offer outdoor dining at the restaurant, located at 514 Park Ave. 

Owner Mike MacFarlane said the outdoor dining area will be contained to an area on the sidewalk along Park Avenue, under the establishment’s awning.

The seating area would be about 40 feet long and extend eight feet from the building. There would still be plenty of room for sidewalk pedestrians to walk around, he said.

The Zoning Board of Review unanimously granted the business a special-use permit for outdoor seating last October.

John VItkevich, a member of the Portsmouth Business Association along with Mr. MacFarlane, was the only member of the public to speak at the brief public hearing.

“I think this is a great addition to Island Park,” Mr. Vitkevich said.

Asian restaurant licensed

In other business, the board unanimously granted a Class BV liquor license to Yulin Zhang, doing business as Wild Ginger Asian Cuisine, at 2984 East Main Road.

The property is familiar to many Portsmouth residents as the former location of Kaufman’s hardware store. More recently it was used as an antique store, but has sat dormant for years.

The vote was contingent upon the business being at least 250 feet from the high school as required by law. Ms. Zhang said the distance easily exceeds that length. The restaurant’s hours of operation would be from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., she said.

The vote followed a public hearing, during which no members of the public spoke. 

New doughnut shop

The board also unanimously approved a new victualler license to Raksmeyleakena Dul and Sothy Khiev, doing business as New England Homemade Donuts, at 3302 East Main Road. The address is the same location as Patriot Petroleum.

The shop will be open daily from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to its license application. 

CFPIA land transfer

The council unanimously voted to grant a quarter-acre, town-owned lot to the Common Fence Point Improvement Association (CFPIA) in order to assist the group with its efforts to renovate its community hall. 

“The (CFPIA) is faced with the task of replacing its septic system and the only place they can put it is behind the back of the building and in doing so they’ll lose a great deal of their parking,” Town Planner Gary Crosby explained to the council.

The empty lot, located just south of the hall, was acquired by the town after a tax sale and is not being maintained for any purpose. “There’s no real land around there that would be any use to the Town of Portsmouth and it’s quite valuable to the CFPIA,” Mr. Crosby said.

As part of the deal, the CFPIA will wave the $300 fee it normally charges the town each time the hall is used as a polling place.

Council member Linda Ujifusa spoke in favor of the proposal and recognized the efforts of Conley Zani, CFPIA president.

“The (CFPIA) has done amazing work there and this is something we should do to support the phenomenal job they’ve done,” she said.

The ‘Beast’ returns

The annual Beast of the East collegiate rugby tournament will return to Glen Farm on Saturday and Sunday, April 14-15.

The board unanimously approved an entertainment license to the Rhode Island Rugby Football Foundation, based in Barrington.

An estimated 2,500 participants are expected to attend each day.

Resignation accepted

The council accepted with regret the resignation of Philip Driscoll as a Portsmouth representative to the Aquidneck Island Planning Commission.

Portsmouth Town Council, CFPIA, Common Fence Point, Tremblay's

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Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.