Oxford Appeals Board Hears Tea Shop's Request for a Food Kitchen on East Pier Street Oct. 29

OXFORD, MARYLAND — Oxford's Board of Appeals will hold a hearing Thursday, Oct. 29, on whether a tea business in the town's Commercial Industrial Park may add a kitchen to prepare food for tasting, catering or carryout.

The applicants, Monika Mraz and Caseworks, LLC, are asking for a special exception for Unit A5 at 210 E. Pier Street, according to the board's agenda. The business, Doehrn Tea Kitchen and Shop, proposes a moderate-level licensed kitchen to process and package loose-leaf teas and tisanes into consumer and wholesale products, and to provide food preparation and hosting for private events.

The Planning Commission split the plan in two at its Aug. 25 meeting, according to minutes of that meeting included with the commission's Sept. 29 agenda for approval. Members unanimously approved the first phase, processing and packaging teas and selling tea on site, as a use the town code allows. They denied the second phase, food preparation and kitchen operations, as a use the code does not permit in that district.

Restaurants, bakeries, delis and food services are not permitted in the Commercial Industrial Park district, the minutes note, and the applicant would need either a text amendment or a special exception to run that kind of food service there. The commission also approved electrical and plumbing permit applications to renovate a suite in the Caseworks multi-use building for the tea business.

According to the minutes, consumer tea sales would run through markets, events, online and the kitchen, with wholesale sales to local shops, cafes and bed-and-breakfasts. The applicant has completed the Talbot County Health Department application for food service operations.

The hearing begins at 5 p.m. at 101 Market Street. It is open to the public in person and can be watched online through the town's link on Townhall Streams.