New Haven Independent

Such was the result of two separate votes by the Board of Zoning Appeals during its monthly meeting on Wednesday night.

First, the board voted to approve Ajim Khan and Zahed Sarwar’s (pictured) plan to open a new hookah lounge at 900 Chapel St., next to Starbucks and across from the Green. Then the board voted to deny a request from Toad’s nightclub to build a roof deck for cigarette smokers.

The vote against Toad’s was the latest development in a rooftop quest that has unfolded over the past several months. The nightclub’s plan was first presented to the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) in July, when Toad’s requested permission to build a 400-square-foot roof deck for smokers. The deck would have had 11 tables with soda and cappuccino service.

In July, the BZA referred the roof deck proposal to the City Plan Commission, which initially tabled it. The proposal met with opposition from Yale, but was ultimately approved by the City Plan Commission in August. A final green light on Wednesday night from the BZA was all that stood between Toad’s and cigarettes on the roof.

But zoning board voted it down in a four-to-one vote Wednesday night. Rejecting advice from the City Plan Commission, board members cited parking concerns in their vote.

Board members Regina Winters, David Streever, Walter Esdaile, and Chairperson Cathy Weber voted to deny the request without prejudice, leaving the door open for a resubmittal of the application. Secretary Gaylord Bourne was the only vote of support for the measure. Esdaile changed his vote from yes to no after an initial vote that did not include the “without prejudice” consideration.

Stepping into the hallway after the vote, Toad’s attorney James Segaloff (pictured) struggled to understand what had just happened.

“I just can’t fathom how anyone could have concluded that there’s a parking problem,” Segaloff said. Parking problems were never raised as an objection by anyone, even in the letter that Yale wrote against the proposal, Segaloff said. Even the city’s traffic department had cleared the plan, he said.

People visit Toad’s to hear music, Segaloff argued. A rooftop smoking area is not going to create a massive increase in clubgoers, he said. “There’s no indication whatsoever that that rooftop is going to generate significantly more people attending Toad’s,” Segaloff said.

Board member Bourne expressed a similar sentiment. “People go to Toad’s for the entertainment,” she said after the meeting. She noted that there’s a cover charge to get in there, unlike at some other bars.

Bourne called putting smokers on the roof rather than on the sidewalk a “novel idea.”

“I’m not a proponent of smoking,” Bourne said, “but it does put people out in the street, and that has its own impact.”

After the meeting, board member David Streever said he voted against the request because it could increase traffic and parking problems on weeknights, when there is no live music at Toad’s and clubgoers might be attracted by the prospect of having a roof to smoke on.

Since Toad’s is in a residential neighborhood, it would not be in the “public convenience or welfare” to have an increase in traffic in the area, Streever said

“If Toad’s wasn’t located in an area surrounded by residences,” he said, “I would have been inclined to approve.”

Attorney Segaloff said that he planned to talk with his client and make a decision on how to proceed now. The club has two options: It can either appeal the BZA’s decision or re-file the application.

“It strikes me as a very appealable decision,” Segaloff said. It “flies in the face of what Traffic and Parking concluded and what City Plan recommended. If a decision is arbitrary, I think you win on appeal.”

“All the professionals that looked at this said there wasn’t a problem,” he said. “I can respect the views and concerns of the board, but I don’t agree with it and don’t see the basis of their decision.”

Attorney Segaloff concluded that by denying the request of the 30-year-old nightclub, the board’s decision sends a negative message to new entertainment businesses in the city.

Board Chairperson Cathy Weber declined to comment on her vote to deny the application.

Jasmine and Double Apple

Young entrepreneurs Ajim Khan (at left in photo) and Zahed Sarwar (at right) had more luck with their application to the BZA. They received a unanimous vote of approval to open a tobacco- and nicotine-free smoking lounge on Chapel Street.

The new business will be named La Sheesh, which means “the place of hookah” in Arabic. It will be a South Asian-style hookah lounge where customers can get a water pipe for two and select from among many varieties of flavored herbs to smoke.

BZA members had some trouble getting their heads around the concept. Chairperson Weber asked Khan and Sarwar to walk her through what it would look like when a customer comes in. Saying that she herself would not be patronizing the business, Weber asked the proprietors to use Streever as an example customer.

“As soon as he walks in,” Sarwar explained, “a host greets him.” Streever would be given “different flavors to smell” as he selects what he would like to smoke. Flavors include a variety of fruits.

Weber wanted to know what exactly Streever would be smoking.

“Herbs,” Sarwar said.

“I don’t like that word, but OK,” Weber said.

After selecting the flavor of herb that he would like to smoke, Streever can “have a seat and enjoy the music,” Sarwar said. “We’ll go in back and put it in a water pipe. He’ll smoke out of it for half an hour.”

Each herbal experience will cost between $18 and $20, Sarwar said.

Per health regulations for a smoking lounge, La Sheesh will not serve food or beverages but customers can bring their own. La Sheesh will accommodate about 15 customers at a time and be open from 3 p.m. to 12 or 1 a.m.

The board gave its unanimous approval to the hookah lounge plan. “I don’t know. I guess it’s something that’s new, a trend to smoke pineapples or strawberries,” said Weber. “I’ll approve it as long as it’s quiet.”

Khan, who’s 25, later explained that La Sheesh is designed to give customers a “bit of a taste of a different culture.” Khan and Sarwar, who’s 24, were born in the United States to Bangladeshi parents. They said that La Sheesh will be like a typical hookah lounge that one might find in Bangladesh, dimly lit, with lots of music and art.

Khan said that he anticipated that the business would be popular with young people looking for a spot to chill out and puff on some flavored herbs. “You just play with the smoke a little, that’s it,” he said.

Sarwar graduated last year from Southern Connecticut State University with a degree in business; the lounge will be his first attempt to put his degree to work. Khan is studying Information Technology at Central Connecticut State University. The pair’s parents are providing financial backing for the venture.

There will be about 15 flavors on offer at La Sheesh. Khan said his favorite is Jasmine. Sarwar said he prefers Double Apple.