Burger Co. Holds off on Asking for Restored Seats

Westchester Burger Company will hold off until early next year in asking Mount Kisco's Planning Board to let it have outdoor seating again, owner Vincent Corso said.

The intent now is for the company to make its request between January to March, with the goal for outdoor seating by the warmer months, Corso explained.

The burger place lost a temporary authorization for limited outdoor usage in late June, after the Planning Board decided that it had not complied with a series of site issues, including having a landscaping plan, fixing fencing, lighting and an exit. At its July meeting, Planning Board Chairman Joseph Cosentino informed representatives from the company that more parking may be needed, as permitted seating depends on parking capacity, according to building codes.

Cosentino also said, at the July meeting, that outdoor seating could come, but at the expense of indoor seating. The site plan, Cosentino said in July, allows for 129 seats, while Building Inspector Austin Cassidy, at the same meeting, pegged the parking spaces figure at 48.

Ironically, the place, which opened last spring, appeared to be a victim of its own success. Corso feels that the crunch was caused by a spike in initial customer demand, but that it has leveled off.

"Everybody want to check out a piece of the action immediately," Corso said about when a new business opens. Despite parking no longer being in as short supply, Corso feels that business is still good.

Westchester Burger Company was back on the agenda for Monday's Planning Board meeting, specifically for a landscaping plan. The company was not in full compliance of it at the time of the meeting, which Corso attributes to the hot summer inhibiting. He intends to get things moving by either the end of this week or next week.

Planning Board member Karen Schleimer is pleased with how relations between both sides are going now, noting the intent to implement the plan.

No future appearance date has been set, Village Attorney Whitney Singleton said.