Cafe Business Seeks Approval To Open In Whitemarsh Township

WHITEMARSH TOWNSHIP, PA — The proprietor of a cafe is seeking approval from local officials to open a location inside of a shopping center in the community.

The owner of Cafe du Coeur is seeking conditional use approval to open the tea and coffeehouse in the Shoppers World Shopping Center at 535 Germantown Pike in the Lafayette Hill section of Whitemarsh Township.

The conditional use application is a scheduled agenda item slated to come before Whitemarsh supervisors during a virtual township meeting on Wednesday evening.

According to township documents, the proposal would be to open the business in a space previously occupied by Salon La Blonde.

Planning officials wrote to township supervisors that restaurants and similar businesses are permitted by conditional use in the VC-1 zoning district, which includes the shopping center.

In the letter to supervisors, Charles L. Guttenplan, director of planning and zoning in Whitemarsh, wrote that the cafe proposal came up before planning officials back on July 26 during their public meeting, and that commission members ultimately unanimously approved the application for conditional use.

Township documents list the owner of the business as Carey Kelman, who wrote in the application that the restaurant plans to occupy around 1,300 square feet of existing retail and commercial space in the shopping center.

The property owners, Carol and Jerry Stein, have stated that they are fully supportive of the restaurant occupying space at the shopping center, according to township documents.

The business is expected to have around 35 seats and be open seven days a week.