“Every Hour Is Happy Hour” at Princeton’s Ivy Inn (map), and one thing that helps makes those hours happy is the beer garden out front, where patrons can hang out while enjoying the wide selection of food and drinks. People who moved to town recently might not realize that this space was, until quite recently, a parking lot, where up to five vehicles could occupy the space where the picnic tables now stand. It was converted to a beer garden after the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, when outdoor dining was strongly favored. And now, five years later, the Ivy is hoping to make that arrangement permanent, through an application to Princeton’s Planning Board.

The problem is that Princeton’s Zoning Code requires one parking space for every five seats for establishments serving food and drink. The Ivy Inn had been able to get away with only providing five parking spaces – far below the minimum number required – thanks to an existing variance that was granted years ago. Those five parking spaces were in the old parking lot in front of the bar, which was accessed directly from Nassau Street. Since the COVID lockdown, those parking spaces have been gone. Not only that, but by adding a load of tables out front, the code requirement for parking spaces has increased by a lot, because there is now space for many more eaters and drinkers.

Theoretically the Ivy Inn should be providing 42 parking spaces for the 210 patrons who could occupy the premises on the inside and outside. If the beer garden is made permanent, they would be providing zero. Is that OK? A memo from a traffic consultant included with the application notes:

The Ivy Inn has been operating under the existing conditions since the COVID-19 Pandemic without any known significant parking issues and various other eateries in the downtown area rely on publicly available parking as they do not have a dedicated parking lot…

The application further justifies the lack of dedicated parking because the Ivy Inn is in a “densely-populated, walkable area of Princeton Downtown Business District”. The applicant argues that people can arrive at the Ivy Inn on bicycles, by foot, or in rideshare, and that there is shared street parking on Nassau St. They do not mention, although it would be a valid point, that eliminating the parking lot at the front of the bar makes the street safer for people who are walking, because there are two fewer curb cuts where cars drive over the sidewalk. The application also promises a new 10-space bike rack, which is much needed in this area.

Princeton has a serious lack of outdoor dining spaces. The beer garden at the Ivy Inn, which has a capacity for 128 diners, is probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest outdoor dining space in town. The Planning Board will have to determine if outdoor seating for 128 people is more or less valuable than parking for five cars. No date has been made public for any hearing at this point.

Related materials (via princetonnj.gov):

• Minor site plan for 248 Nassau St (Ivy Inn)
• Variance application, including project narrative
• Consultant’s parking assessment