Pizza has returned to Manorhaven’s Serra Provisions, ending a battle over permits between the Italian establishment and the village government that resulted in the pizza oven closing last month.
“It feels good,” owner Jesse Olson said. “Obviously our business suffered financially from losing the oven, but we made other adjustments that now are part of the mix as well.”
Serra Provisions shut down its pizza oven in April after the village more than a year.
Olson decided to close his pizza oven to bring the issue to an end. The village was not responsible for shutting it down.
His decision to close the pizza oven was met with disappointment from the community and anger directed toward the village over losing a beloved local cuisine.
But that anger has now shifted to rejoicing as the community embraces Serra Provisions’ pizza return.
This month Olson met with Manorhaven officials to find a resolution to the issue, which Mayor John Popeleski said was achieved through submitting all the proper paperwork. The Manorhaven Board of Trustees granted them approval to use the oven at its May 22 meeting.
Popeleski said he is a strong supporter of small businesses and was glad to be able to assist in allowing the pizza oven to resume operations in Manorhaven so that it could serve pizza.
Serra Provisions opened on 7 Sintsink Drive East in Manorhaven in November 2021. About six months later, the business installed a pizza oven to expand its menu.
Olson said the decision to start selling pizza was made to cater to its growing customer base and offer food options that were better for dinner meals. He said pizza was the best option to limit the amount of construction that would be needed.
While the owners admitted they had installed the pizza oven without village approval, they did seek approval from the Nassau County Fire Marshal, which determined there were no fire hazards. They said the failure to go through the village for approval was an oversight.
Popeleski previously said at the root of this issue was safety, saying that bypassing the required permits posed a risk to the public without proper oversight.
Olson denied accusations that he refused to work with the village government, contending he consistently sought clarification on the permit process and provided all the documents that were requested.
He said he also emailed the mayor multiple times but never received a response.
Olson said he had already submitted permit applications for his business, and to resolve this issue he just resubmitted the same ones again. Olson, who said his permits were stamped by the village with a date from three years ago, said a village employee told him the original documents were likely lost by the village.
He said issues have persisted throughout the process of opening his business and after, which he chalked up to turnover in the village’s Building Department.
Olson said the dispute between him and the village was rooted in politics, noting that a resolution to the issue came just weeks before the village’s election.
But Olson said he has now moved on from it and is looking to conduct business as usual.