Two restaurants on the opposite side of the township and on the opposite side of dining options were on the agenda of this month’s meeting of the Salisbury Township Zoning Hearing Board.

The Zoning Hearing Board voted 3-1 to grant a special exception relief and a variance for Bolete, 1740 Seidersville Road, Salisbury Township.

The Zoning Hearing Board voted 4-0 to grant a special exception use and two variances for Dunkin’ Donuts, 3111 Lehigh St., Salisbury Township.

The owners of Bolete, Lee Chizmar and Erin Shea, want to expand the kitchen at the back, or north side, of their upscale restaurant as to not encroach on a parking lot on the building’s east side.

Bolete is described as a “rustic-chic destination serving a seasonal farm-to-table menu of American cuisine, with a full bar.” Since opening in 2007, Bolete (Latin for wild mushroom) was named one of the 105 hottest new restaurants internationally by Conde Nast Traveler magazine and was mentioned on the Food Network’s “The Best Thing I Ever Ate.”

According to Lee Chizmar’s father, Will Chizmar, who attended the Dec. 1 zoning hearing, Bolete (formerly The Inn Of The Falcon for about 26 years and before that Acker’s Hotel), at the intersection of East Emmaus Avenue, Seidersville Road, Broadway and East Susquehanna Street, has one of the, if not the longest-held liquor licenses in Pennyslvania, believed to date to the 1800s.

Township zoners granted the owners a special exception and a variance to reduce the required setbacks for construction on a nonconforming lot. The setback along the property’s northern line is 8.15 feet where 15 feet is required.

Atty. Erich J. Schock, chair, Real Estate, Land Use and Development, Fitzpatrick, Lentz & Bubba, P.C., representing the owners, who were not present at the hearing, said the kitchen and back of the house changes would allow the restaurant to run more efficiently.

“When they pass each other, they have to turn sideways,” Jessica Gentile, director, project development, North Star Construction Management, Inc., said of employees in the kitchen.

“Your existing building envelope is pretty narrow,” Kevin Markell, head of civil engineering, Barry Isett & Associates, Inc., said.

“We have a very old building and a very irregular lot,” Schock said.

“I sort of feel there is a hardship,” planner Ronald Evans said, adding of the facility, “And it’s been there forever.”

Traffic flow at the restaurant is expected to be the same.

Construction of the approximate 1,080-square-foot addition is expected to begin in February 2016 and take six weeks to complete, Gentile told a reporter for The Press after the hearing.

The Dunkin’ Donuts’ plan is expected to be considered by the Salisbury Planning Commission, which reviewed sketch plans for the project at the Sept. 8 and Oct. 13 planners’ meeting.

The Nov. 10 and Dec. 8 planners’ meetings were cancelled.

Township planners are next scheduled to meet 7:30 p.m. Jan. 12, 2016 in the meeting room at the municipal building, 2900 S. Pike Ave.

A special exception for the Dunkin’ Donuts’ facility was required because it is a fast-food restaurant in a C-3 Zoning District.

A variance was required for the size of the Dunkin’ Donuts’ facility because the lot size is 19,479.39-square-feet when a minimum 20,000-square-feet is required.

A second variance was required for a minimum 300-foot setback from other fast-food restaurants.

The proposed Dunkin’ Donuts would replace a Dunkin’ Donuts, 3039 Lehigh St., on the southeast corner of 31st and Lehigh streets. The new store is to be open 24 hours and would have a drive-through lane.

The new location was the site of a Jiffy Lube store, destroyed in a Jan. 6, 2014, fire and is adjacent to Kost Tire & Auto Service, 3117 Lehigh St.

“The site is very accessible. It flows better,” Carl Cruz, construction manager, Dunkin’ Donuts, told zoners Dec. 1 of the new location, which has “better access, better flow” than the old location.

Atty. Victor F. Cavacini, Gross McGinley LLP, township zoners’ solicitor, said traffic flow at the proposed Dunkin’ Donuts’ site will get further scrutiny when the plan is presented to the township planning commission.

“We have a long way to go yet,” Cruz said.

The new restaurant would be owned and operated by Dunkin’ Brands Group, Inc. and not a franchisee.