More Pie? Have a seat.
| July 13, 2010 | ||
| 7:45 pm | to | 9:45 pm |
A petition by Pie Bakery and Cafe comes before the Board of Aldermen’s Land Use Committee on Tuesday night.
As you may recall from our earlier post (and op-ed in the Newton Tab), Pie’s owner Ellen Kaplansky must lease basement space in order to qualify for six of the 24 seats patrons use. This is because antiquated parking requirements make it especially hard for restaurants to open in village centers.
Kaplansky is requesting permission to add 24 seats in her existing restaurant space at 796 Beacon Street in Newton Centre. In the coming months, Panera Bread and the Deluxe Station Diner will be opening their Newton Centre locations, both with more than 50 seats.
If you would like to show support for a local restaurateur, please come to the Land Use Committee meeting at 7:45pm Tuesday, July 13, in the Aldermanic Chamber at City Hall. (Thanks to Philippe Wells of Prana Cafe for the reminder.)
Download the details (PDF) from the city’s planning department: 151-10_796 Beacon Street
2 comments
At the Land Use committee’s public hearing last night, local residents spoke out in favor of Pie becoming a full-fledged restaurant with 48 seats with a waiver of the off-street parking required by antiquated zoning ordinances. The restaurant’s owners explained that the expansion is necessary to make the operation financially viable. No one spoke out against the expansion. Next, the committee will discuss the details of Pie’s petition in a working session.
John, as Chair of the Land Use Committee, I want to thank you and the other members of the public who took the time to come to City Hall to comment on Pie Pie LLC’s petition for a special permit to waive parking so it can double its seating. I can asssure you that I intend to take this item up as soon as it is ready for a working session. In fact, I will be meeting with the petitioner’s attorney and the planning department next week to getting it ready to take up in committee.
As you and I have discussed before, Newton’s parking ordinance for restaurants is terribly outdated. The planning department and some of the aldermen, myself included, are working on a “payment in lieu of parking” ordinance which would create a fund for the purpose of building parking structures that wouldl be paid for through special permits for parking. But it seems to me that we still need to fundamentally rework the parking ordinance to make it more accommodating to restaurants and other businesses that would like to locate in Newton’s villages. I assume other communities have more progressive parking ordinances and I would be interested in your thoughts on what approaches the Board of Aldermen might want to consider to encourage commerical development in Newton. Thanks!
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