Verona's zoning code describes its Town Center as a place meant to "discourage uses that generate high-volume, episodic attendance or simultaneous arrival and departure of large groups."
That is a fairly exact description of a birthday party. Guests arrive within the same ten minutes, stay two hours, and leave together. Over the past year that one clause has done more to change where Verona holds its celebrations than any single closing or opening. The businesses that hosted parties in the center of town have left or are fighting to stay. The town's largest banquet hall is the subject of a redevelopment application. The township's planner is now pointing event uses toward zones away from the downtown blocks.
If you have a shower, a first birthday, or a holiday gathering on the calendar, here is how the pieces fit.
The Rule Behind the Closings
The Town Center zone covers the stretch of Bloomfield Avenue from Park Avenue to Fairview Avenue. The zoning text itself says the zone should support neighborhood-scale retail, dining, services, and offices. It also says the zone should limit reliance on public parking and protect nearby homes from traffic and noise.
The TC Zone is intended to "promote active street-level commercial uses" and "discourage uses that generate high-volume, episodic attendance or simultaneous arrival and departure of large groups."
That clause explains a list of changes that might otherwise look unrelated. In a July 22 roundup, MyVeronaNJ counted the closings of Palmetto Venues, The Specialists Entertainment, and Bella Princess Cafe in the center of town. It also noted that the Thai Elephant was closing on July 31 and that the Chase branch at 566 Bloomfield Avenue would close as of October 6, 2026. The restaurant and the bank closed for their own reasons. The party businesses are the ones the zoning text speaks to directly. MyVeronaNJ later reported that the Board of Adjustment had denied Palmetto Venues a use variance in 2025.
Bella Princess Cafe Has a Date on November 13
Bella Princess Cafe is the clearest case, because it is still open while the question gets decided. According to MyVeronaNJ's October 7 report, the cafe has run princess-themed parties at 555 Bloomfield Avenue since it opened in 2023. Its location held a permit for retail and personal service uses. Those uses do not include a food business, and event spaces are prohibited in the center of Verona.
Here is the sequence that outlet reported. The township issued a notice of noncompliance on May 6. The appeal was lost at a July zoning board hearing. The cafe closed for a time, then reopened when the town offered the chance to apply for a new variance. A complete application went in on Monday, October 5, and the cafe now has a November 13 hearing before the Verona Board of Adjustment. Until then, it can keep running its private parties and themed events, which are open to the public.
If you are thinking about booking a party there for late November or December, the hearing date is the one to watch.
The Richfield Regency Is Still Hosting Events, and the Paperwork Is Moving
The bigger change for Verona's event calendar sits on the north side of the avenue. The Richfield Regency at 420 Bloomfield Avenue has long been the town's banquet hall. Its own website still presents it as a wedding, party, and event venue and lists its booking line as 973-239-6234. No closing date or final event has been announced there.
The site is also the subject of a redevelopment application. In February, MyVeronaNJ reported that the Town Council heard a plan for ground-floor retail with up to 65 apartments on two upper floors. The plan calls for 52 one-bedroom units, nine two-bedroom units, and the rest three-bedroom units, with 10 set aside as affordable housing. Parking would go under the building and on the Claremont Avenue lot now used for Richfield overflow. This is the site's second redevelopment attempt. In 2019, a 92-unit assisted living proposal for the one-acre event space was voted down.
The township's Planning Board documents page shows the site plan application posted September 23. Revised site plans, architectural plans, a revised traffic study, and a response to the board engineer's review were posted October 16. The application is not on the Planning Board's October 22 agenda, and no hearing date for 420 Bloomfield has been posted. MyVeronaNJ reported in February that there was no estimate yet for when construction would begin.
For now, the Richfield is open. Over time, though, the town's biggest dedicated party room is on a path toward becoming apartments over shops. Event spaces are prohibited in the center of Verona, so a new hall could not simply open downtown to replace it.
Where the Township's Planner Is Pointing Events Instead
The Town Council has begun discussing where event businesses could go instead. At the October 5 Council meeting, township planner San Chavan of H2M Associates walked through options for zones outside the Town Center. MyVeronaNJ reported that she said event spaces typically generate traffic and parking demand. She called the Regional Retail zone a strong fit for event spaces allowed as-of-right, because sites there have adequate parking. She suggested the Professional Office (C-2) and Extended Town Center zones could allow event businesses as a conditional use, which would require special zoning permission. She also raised pop-up businesses, food truck festivals, and experiential retail such as workshops and live classes as possible permitted uses.
None of these options has been adopted. The agenda for the October 19 Council meeting listed other ordinances for introduction but no event-space zoning ordinance. If one moves forward, it would be the first sign of where Verona's next party businesses could legally open. The township's current zoning map shows the four commercial zones in question.
The Rooms That Stay Available
With private party space thinning out downtown, the most dependable options are public ones. None of them depend on a pending variance or site plan:
- Verona Community Center, 880 Bloomfield Avenue. The township's rental page lists a Ballroom, a Small Party Room, and the Gym. It covers everything from a large family gathering to a toddler's birthday.
- Verona Municipal Pool, 257 Fairview Avenue. The township rents gazebos and recreation tents and has posted booking instructions for 2026-season parties on its gazebo rental page. That is worth bookmarking now for anyone planning a summer birthday next year.
- Verona Park Boathouse. Essex County Parks advertises event rentals at the boathouse in Verona Park, at Bloomfield and Lakeside avenues. Bookings go through the county, not the township.
All three are booked through the township or the county, not through a private business awaiting a zoning decision. The Community Center ballroom is the closest thing in town to a banquet room whose future is not tied to a pending application.
The Dates Coming Up
The township's own calendar still puts events on Bloomfield Avenue. The coming weeks look like this:
- Saturday, October 24, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fall-O-Ween at 600 Bloomfield Avenue, with a sensory-friendly first half hour, pumpkin painting, inflatables, goodie bags, and a costume parade.
- Saturday, October 24, 2 to 4 p.m. Trick-or-treating with participating businesses along downtown Bloomfield Avenue, according to Patch.
- Thursday, November 5, 5:30 p.m. The township's Diwali celebration.
- Friday, November 13. Bella Princess Cafe's Board of Adjustment hearing.
- Saturday, December 5. Fair in the Square, listed on the township events page.
Seasonal events like these come around a few times a year. What Verona is short on this season is a private room in the center of town where a family can book a party on an ordinary Saturday.
A note on the zoning details above: this is a summary of public reporting and township documents. It is general information, not legal advice, so anyone weighing a business or property decision should confirm the rules with the township and their own attorney.
Questions like where a business can operate or what a site might become often come up when people are thinking about a move, or about what is changing near home. If you want to talk through what the Bloomfield Avenue applications could mean for your block, Joseph D Charles Jr is glad to go through the township filings with you. Let's Connect.
