The Board of Trustees for the Village of Port Washington North held a heated public hearing on the permit renewal for an Indian restaurant in the village, with several community members speaking out against the restaurant’s ongoing odor problem.
The public hearing on Thursday, Aug. 14, saw several representatives from Bombay Kitchen, located at 76 S. Bayles Ave., plead their case to the village board on why they should have their conditional use permit extended. Several residents and board members leveled criticism at the Indian restaurant, citing issues like noise and lack of communication, with the main complaint being that a foul odor has continuously leaked outside the eatery.
The board said both the village and trustees have received several complaints for over a year from residents sharing their frustrations with having to smell the odor. The village attorney, Christopher Prior, said 10 different individual residents had lodged complaints, some sending several, in the past 12 months. According to Prior, as early as October 2024, the Building Department wrote an enforcement action concerning the odor issue.
Bombay Kitchen, under Ethnic Foods Inc., was initially granted its conditional use permit in 2019 by the board, which allows the restaurant to operate and manufacture its food at its location.
For Bombay Kitchen to continue its business at the location, the permit must be renewed every year as the zoning district, “Economic B,” does not allow the processing and manufacturing of any foods. The last renewal occurred in September 2024. Prior to the board meeting, the permit was set to expire Sept. 15.
At the hearing, the restaurant’s attorney, Michael Saan, presented arguments in favor of the board giving an extension of at least six months to the permit to allow more time for the odor problem to be fully resolved. Saan repeatedly mentioned a scrubber system that the restaurant is in the process of obtaining, which when installed in late September is supposed to help fully combat the odor.
Along with the promise of the scrubbing machine, the restaurant’s attorney presented two petitions obtained by the restaurant’s owner, Sanjiv Mody, who reached out to nearby residents and business owners with the petition stating that the odor issue has improved. The petitions were collected the day before and the day of the public hearing, with a total of 11 signatures. The restaurant also submitted various documents detailing efforts and information regarding equipment that has been installed or is in the process of being installed to help with the odor problem.
“My client’s whole outlook is to be collaborative with the village, to be in compliance, to do everything that he could possibly do to make his plant run and work in a manner that satisfies the board of trustees, the mayor, the residents, and all stakeholders,” said the restaurant’s attorney. “Is the odor problem 100% solved? No. Is it substantially solved? We believe the answer to that is yes. We believe that the equipment thus far installed has made a significant, noticeable and marked decrease in any odors.”
Despite these arguments, the board questioned the restaurant’s efforts to solve the odor, citing its history of failure to do so, as well as Mayor Robert Weitzner citing a general trend of the owner being more reactive than proactive when it came to issues. During its opening remarks, the restaurant mentioned that on the Tuesday prior to the hearing, Trustee Matthew Kepke passed by the property and once again smelled an odor coming from a particular food item, which spread outside the perimeter of the premises.
The attorney referred to the Tuesday incident as “bad luck,” saying it was a temporary error in its current anti-odor system when the trustee was passing by, and there has not been an odor since. Weitzner quickly interjected, stating that it wasn’t bad luck.
“You assumed it was going to work [and] it backfired,” said Weitzner. “Your bad luck. It was by circumstance that someone smelled it, but the fact is it still happened regardless of whether or not someone notified you or not.”
During board questioning, Kepke repeatedly emphasized his concern over the source of the odor. In a previous permit board meeting, the restaurant was instructed to cease manufacturing certain foods on the menu that were the source of the smell. Despite the restaurant complying with the board, the odor remains, which Kepke explained makes him worry about the odor’s unseen effect on the public. Kepke went on to state he also has reservations about the scrubbage system and the other machinery in place since the restaurant is close to a residential area.
“With all due respect to everybody, I feel like you’ve been responsive every time there’s an issue to protect your business, but have not been proactive,” said Kepke. “You’ve not come to this board or the Building Department on solutions until we had to threaten you. And I hate that we have to do that to someone who…[is] are part of this community.
Mody said they believe the main cause of the smell is the frying of foods, which is completely safe for people.
The restaurant’s petition was also put into question. Weitzner said he knows one of the people who signed one of the petitions and speculated they not only likely signed it just to be nice, but also that the person hasn’t ever smelled the odor, living out of the range possible for smelling it. The mayor noted the petition was conducted very close to the hearing date and how the town officials would have preferred if the petition had shown whether those who signed it lived within the radius of the restaurant and thus would have been affected by the odor.
“We have 3,100 residents, maybe 2,200 voting residents from over the age of 18, and 11 of those signed your petition,” said Weitzner. “What we have are 10 residents who, on numerous occasions, have complained over a period of years and are very upset and very concerned. From the board’s perspective, I just put a lot more credence in those people who were willing to come forward and express their problems rather than just having a petition signed.”
During public comment at the hearing, several residents spoke out against the restaurant receiving a permit renewal. One resident said he was there on behalf of his neighbors, who allegedly have been forced out of their backyard to avoid the odor when it is in full force.
In a one-to-four vote, the board granted a one-month permit extension until Oct. 15. The mayor explained the extension as “one shot,” where when the renewal comes around, the scrubber system must be in place and show the odor is either completely gone or at a minimum show clear evidence it will be completely gone once the machinery is more finely tuned.
