Business & Tech

McCourt's Farm to Table Faces Eviction

Following costly and mandated building upgrades, the owners of Hatboro's new restaurant are unable to pay a judgment due to their landlord today.

New copper water lines cost $5,500. Rewiring the restaurant was another $4,980. Electrical work accounted for $1,600. Carpeting following the complete leveling and rip-out of the former terra cotta flooring amounted to $2,510.

These are just a few of the photocopied receipts in Kevin McCourt’s stack of papers. Coupled with before photos of lighting extensions haphazardly hung in ceiling tiles, filthy and pulling up kitchen flooring, exposed pipes and more, they tell the story of the building transformation – and the thousands of dollars that McCourt and his business partner, Bill Civitello pumped into 119 S. York Road – to bring it up to operating standards.

And now, after only being open since Feb. 10, the 50-seat  is in danger of closing its doors for good.

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“I kept $50,000 extra for operating expenses, but it’s all gotten eaten up,” Civitello, 73, said, wiping away tears. “Now I’m completely broke.”

Today is the deadline for Civitello and McCourt to pay a $6,488.65 judgment against them for three months of overdue rent. Barring payment, the tenants of Hatboro’s newest eatery - formerly On A Roll - will be evicted.

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“We want to keep it going,” McCourt said. “It’s been our dream.”

But, the reality is that without money to pay the $2,000 in monthly rent, plus court costs, keeping the business open seems unlikely.

Perhaps an ironic twist is that without Civitello’s willingness to cash in his life savings of nearly $150,000 to help McCourt start the business and bring the building up to code, the restaurant would not have been permitted to open.

Hatboro Fire Marshal Joe Reading said he had several requirements before the establishment could open, including the installation of a fire suppression system in the cooking area; a smoke detection system in the building; and electric signs with an emergency battery backup.

“Under the code they’ve got to bring everything up to what the present day standard is,” Reading said.

As for the person responsible for the improvements, well, that is not as clear-cut.

“As long as it gets done to the code, that’s all I care about,” Reading said. “If it’s an individual who owns the building and is also the business owner, obviously that’s on him.”

For McCourt and Civitello, the business owner and property owner are not one and the same. Sam Braccia is their landlord. And, in their lease with Braccia, Civitello said it states that the tenants are responsible for “making any repairs.”

However, neither McCourt nor Civitello thought that “normal” repairs would amount to re-wiring, purchasing mandated new kitchen equipment at a $20,000 price-tag, installing new toilets, or covering the $12,000 expense of repairing a burst radiator pipe in the apartment above the restaurant.

“It would’ve ruined everything that we were doing,” McCourt said of their reason behind fixing the latter. “We never saw a penny for that.”

Patch was unsuccessful in reaching Braccia, or his daughter and business partner, Angela Harbison, for comment.

McCourt said the necessary improvements were always made with the verbal understanding that Braccia would “work” with them, in essence crediting their rent for out-of-pocket costs. In a letter Harbison sent to McCourt several months ago, she references rent fees being waived from November through February because of the tenants' $8,000 furnace replacement.

A former bartender and waiter, McCourt, a novice business owner, said he never envisioned it would cost so much, or take so long to get clearances to open a restaurant, particularly in a building previously occupied by an eatery. He thought that after the lease took effect in October, he’d be able to go in, repaint, decorate and open the door before Thanksgiving.

But, because there were so many building, and fire code violations, the final ok was not granted until Feb. 9, after dozens of costly upgrades were carried out, leaving McCourt and Civitello nearly penniless. A tearful Civitello said he was forced to sell the restaurant’s prized possession - a baby grand piano - as well as personal belongings. McCourt said he hopes to get a decent return by hocking a sable fur coat.

And, while the future of McCourt’s dream is looking bleaker by the minute, some are still keeping the faith. , perhaps the biggest cheerleader for the borough’s businesses, instead of talking about the restaurant's seemingly inevitable closure, discussed its recent menu shifts and more reasonably priced fare.

“It’s not over til the fat lady sings,” Barth said. “I’m still optimistic he’s going to reopen.”

McCourt too, is hanging onto a shred of hope.

“I’m not giving up. We’ve gotten so far on a wing and a prayer,” McCourt said. “Good things happen to good people.”


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