Last Thursday, the City hosted another abutters meeting regarding a proposed restaurant called El Parche that would open at 636-638 Bennington Street, and once again, residents made it clear they did not want it.
The applicants are seeking a beer, wine, and cordials license, a common victualler license, and live entertainment for the restaurant. It would be open from 10 a.m. to 12 a.m. (midnight) and hold 20 seats.
These new plans differ from those presented at the last abutters meeting in June. Initially, the applicants proposed that the restaurant hold 40 seats and be open from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m., but they faced significant pushback from the community.
In addition to the licensing requests, the applicants are also seeking approval from the Zoning Board of Appeal (ZBA) to change the building’s occupancy from a beauty salon to a restaurant, expand the bathroom to make it handicap accessible, and for additional work like painting and framing.
“They (the applicants) want this to be a family place where people can come and bring guests, bring friends, and spend an evening having a meal and sharing a drink or two,” said Francisco Gonzalez Palacio, an Attorney representing the applicants.
While the plan was modified, the sentiment of residents at the abutters meeting remained unchanged: many were outright opposed to or had major concerns with the proposal as it was presented.
A significant concern among meeting attendees was the operating hours, and even though the closing time was pushed back to midnight, it was still too late.
“For us who have to get up to go to work by six o’clock in the morning, to have a restaurant open until 12:00 a.m. is, first of all, ridiculous,” said one attendee.
“We’re grateful that you brought it (the closing time) back to 12, but it still needs to come further back because people are going to be coming here to this establishment until midnight to be able to drink,” said another attendee.
In response to these concerns, Palacio noted that there would be a cut-off time for ordering before midnight.
“It’s not that the restaurant is going to be operating constantly churning food and drinks until midnight — that is not a reasonable expectation for the owners and the managers of the place,” he said.
Another concern for many attendees was that this proposed restaurant would be in an area with many kids, between the programming and the school in the area.
“If someone goes in at 10 o’clock and starts to drink, even if it’s just cordials by two o’clock, they’re pretty well toasted,” said an attendee.
“At two o’clock, there are hundreds of children in that neighborhood. A school gets out; the Boys & Girls Club starts; Boston Scores is going to have a program down there with children, and people are going to be coming out of there and getting into cars and killing children.”
“There are children all over that neighborhood after school and during the summer all day into the evening — too many children to have a restaurant with an alcohol or liquor license of any sort,” said another attendee.
The disposal of trash and the issue of rodents were other issues brought up by community members.
Palacio indicated that trash would be stored in bins in an area directly adjacent to the building and that a company would pick it up. He also noted that there would not be a dumpster on the property.
As the meeting progressed, several residents reiterated their concerns about the abovementioned topics. They also emphasized other concerns brought up at the previous abutters meeting, such as the lack of parking in the area, the establishment appearing more like a bar than a restaurant and more.
Moreover, the meeting featured a sense of growing frustration as the applicants and their attorney had technical difficulties and dropped off the Zoom call several times.
Overall, the opposition to this proposal from those who attended the meeting was clear, and not one resident spoke in support of the proposal.
“Everything that you present is a negative impact to this community. As has been already stated, there is nothing like this in this very residential area; a business such as this is at least five to six blocks away,” said one attendee.
“This is the second meeting. These are legitimate quality-of-life issues presented by homeowners, abutters, [and] lifelong residents, and not one single person has spoken in support of this proposal, so I think it just goes to show you that this is the wrong fit for this area,” said another attendee.
To close out the meeting, Palacio made a statement indicating that there is a difference between the community expressing opposition and making allegations that they are bringing something to the neighborhood cynically or nefariously.
“We have presented a proposal that initially was ambitious; to put it politely, it was too big to be true, and we understood the concerns of the community, and accordingly, we modified our proposal, and we’re trying to work with the concerns of the community within the range of the regulations of the building department and the zoning regulations of the City of Boston,” he said.
“We have no ulterior motives to create something just for the detriment of the community or to affect the people who have resided in this community for a long time.”
If you would like to provide testimony about the proposed restaurant, you can contact Eva Jones, a Community Engagement Specialist with the City, by email at [email protected] or by phone at 617-635-2679.
“We are presenting a plan that we believe is conforming with the regulations and the opportunities for a small business. They want to create something that is amenable, that is decent, that will be a place for the community to have a good time, to entertain themselves within reasonable bounds, to enjoy a meal, and basically grow as part of the community,” said Palacio.