BY ABBY FOX

On Friday, the Chocolate Delicacy and Chad Verdi meet at Kent County Superior Court, because the Main Street business is challenging the Zoning Board’s decision from June 23 to approve Verdi’s plans to renovate the former United Methodist Church into a retail space for Thorpe’s.

“It’s a very polarizing issue, but I’m afraid if we don’t challenge it, we’ll lose more customers, because parking won’t be available,” said co-owner Dave Schaller. “The argument you hear is parking’s always been bad. In that case, why make it worse? They don’t treat people with bad respiratory health by telling them to keep smoking.”

During the hearing in June, the board “limited by time, they wouldn’t allow me to question the knowledge base of the zoning board, and they allowed them to interrupt me, which I didn’t think was legitimate,” he said.

Schaller was further discouraged when, he said, he heard from one member, “It’s going to go through, and there’s nothing you can do about it,” – which didn’t sound objective to him.

Thorpe’s has been in business over 35 years, Chad Verdi said, and in the CVS plaza for the past 5 years. His brother Tony Verdi had planned to re-open Thorpe’s in the former church on Nov. 16.

Schaller and his wife Marie believe that Thorpe’s re-opening across the street will “threaten our income stream and our ability to stay on Main Street,” he said. “It has nothing to do with personalities; it’s the effect on Main Street.”

Thorpe’s existence and the subsequent strain it could put on local parking availability will “lead to a decline in a commercial value,” he said, based on parking studies he’s read that say “just the opposite” of what “proponents are saying.” The board was “sitting in an ivory tower of ignorance,” he said. “They haven’t done research; they take a ‘laissez-fare’ attitude toward people’s income on Main Street.”

The Chocolate Delicacy has been on Main Street for 17 years, and this commercial proposition is the biggest threat his business has seen in that time, he said.

“When you have businesses that are struggling, there’s a tipping point,” he said, and this is it. “I’ve got to protect my investment. If I could move off Main Street, I would, but I don’t have the financial leverage to do that.”

The Schallers’ attorney Joelle C. Sylvia filed a “motion for stay” with the Kent County Superior Court on Oct. 9. The motion said at the hearing “it was unclear to the public as to the extend and character of the relief the applicant was requesting,” that “the applicant failed to present any evidence to satisfy the criteria for a use variance, special use permit and/or dimensional variance for the alleged relief requested,” and Verdi “failed to present any documentation or evidence regarding an alleged agreement for additional parking spaces…”.

Verdi said by phone this week that “I’ve never met the individual, never spoken to him directly.” But one day he did speak  to his wife, “and she said, ‘We want you to knock down the church and use it for parking, then we’ll let you do what you want in the back building,’” which he said was “appalling” and that he “would never knock down the landmark.” Generally, “I don’t understand what their motives are,” he said.

Friday, “I expect to be victorious,” he said. “The worst that happens is that I re-apply. The town has issued their decision. This is the only person trying to protest it.” Verdi added he wanted to clarify that he owns the property, while the business going in, Thorpe’s, is owned by his brother, Anthony.