ELLENVILLE – Plans to renovate and expand the nearly century old Cohen's Bakery on Center Street have been conditionally approved by the village planning board. Owner Genario Garcia (also of Gaby's) has proposed the construction of a three-season addition plus a masonry wall surrounding the Center Street corner location to support outdoor patio dining.

The planning board's March 15 approval allows for phased construction starting with the wall and outdoor dining patio before starting the three season addition.

In a December meeting, planning board members brought up minor concerns mostly regarding materials and visibility. At the recent meeting, village building inspector, Brian Schug referred Garcia to a list of approved materials, but also noted that the project sounded as beautiful as other projects Garcia has completed in the village, including the recent Gaby's move and expansion.

Planning board member Carl Rosenstock added that "he's done nothing but quality work," although fellow member Eric Cafaro raised concerns that the site plan and suggested materials didn't jibe.

"We usually have people bring in sample materials. We should have everything, it shouldn't be the habit of the planning board to vote based on trust," he said.

Schug responded that had the applicant been new, he wouldn't hesitate to ask for material samples, but he added, "It says a lot when you have a repeat customer three or four times... with successful projects." Getting projects through with minimal red tape, he said, is the difference in speed between the town planning board and village.

With the conditional approval in hand, the board asked Garcia to bring in samples of the materials he plans to use to next months' meeting.

In other news, planning board chairman Mark Steinhoff said that representatives from Taco Bell will be at the April meeting, explaining that they could not attend the March meeting because of revisions they were making to the initial plans first brought to the board in February. Those proposed plans included the construction of an addition at 35 N. Main Street to allow for drive-through space. Schug said that after discussing the plans with their nation-wide company, the applicant may be looking into other locations within the village, as well as ways to modify the current plan to better utilize space available at 35 North Main Street and possibly construct an addition.