City Council approves restaurant parking lot over landlord concerns

Attorney James Ferrera, representing petitioner Rakesh Patel, discussed the zoning change with the City Council
Photo credit: Focus Springfield

SPRINGFIELD — A pair of landlords in Indian Orchard vehemently opposed a zone change to create a five-car parking lot at 376-378 Main St., citing concerns about noise and traffic.

Despite this, the Springfield City Council voted 10-1 to approve the change, feeling that it would actually ease the parking congestion the landlords were concerned about.

Attorney James Ferrera, representing petitioner Rakesh Patel, explained that his client would be opening a restaurant at the site. As with many businesses on Main Street, on-street parking is all that is currently available. To address this, Patel wished to change the zone of the back half of the property, from Residential C to Commercial P, which is dedicated to parking. The now-dirt lot would be paved, lined and lit, Ferrera said. It would only be accessible via Quebec Street, a residential street.

After hosting a community meeting on the topic, the Indian Orchard Citizen’s Council had written a letter in support of the zone change. Ferrera also produced a petition in favor of the zone change, which he said was signed by 35 neighbors and abutters. Not all abutters were in favor of the plan, however.

Dariusz Winkiewicz, who owns a residential property next door to the proposed lot, feared the lot would bring people with noisy cars and loud radios. His tenants sleep during the day and want quiet, he said. He said people already have trouble finding parking spaces on Quebec Street and he felt attracting commercial customers would make that worse.

“When I lose tenants, how will I pay your taxes?” he asked the councilors.

Eddie Ramos owns the residential property across from the lot’s frontage on Quebec Street. He said the street is too narrow for commercial traffic, and when people park on both sides of the street, only one vehicle can pass at a time.

Ward 6 City Council Victor Davila asked the opponents if they lived in the neighborhood. Winkiewicz lived elsewhere in Springfield, while Ramos lived in Ludlow. Both said that where they live is inconsequential because they pay taxes on their respective Quebec Street properties.

Ward 4 City Councilor Malo Brown sought to find a resolution to the opponents’ concerns. He suggested they could put in triple pane windows to keep the sound out. Winkiewicz was adamant that no windows would block the noise he was worried would occur. Brown also suggested road signage might help with traffic, encouraging residents to go slow. Ramos said only changing the road to a one-way traffic pattern would help.

Finally, Brown said the area may benefit from police patrols. He suggested the petitioner work with the opponents. “I’m always for good neighbors.” Ferrera said his client was willing to work with them.

City Council President Tracye Whitfield asked Ferrera if residents would be allowed to park in the lot when the restaurant was closed or if there was a snow emergency. “Of course,” Ferrera said. “We’re good neighbors.”

Ward 8 City Councilor Zaida Govan said the zone change is preliminary, and that the council could impose conditions of the business during the special permit process, but Whitfield reminded Govan that the business does not need a special permit.

Ward 3 City Councilor Melvin Edwards asked Deputy Director of Planning Philip Dromey if the restaurant could operate in the location regardless of whether the property was rezoned. Dromey confirmed that the front portion of the property, where the restaurant would be located, is already zoned for such use.

When Winkiewicz said there was a restaurant on the site before that did not request to install a parking lot, Whitfield said the lack of parking may be why that restaurant went out of business.

Winkiewicz also theorized that the business owner would run the restaurant for six months and then sell the property to a used car seller or autobody mechanic. Ward 2 City Councilor Michael Fenton asked Dromey to address Winkiewicz’s concerns about a “bait-and-switch.” Dromey said Commercial P is solely used for parking lots and no other uses are allowed.

Winkiewicz said children play in the street. He said that if the council approved the zone change and a child was hit by a car, they would be responsible. “You may not think it now, but when you visit the big guy upstairs, this is what you’ll have to answer to, whether you like it or not,” he said.

Whitfield responded, “We can always live in the what ifs. We can what-if to death … but we’re operating in the facts that we have presented in front of us.”

Fenton pointed out that the Resident C zone is “high intensity” and if a multifamily residential building is built there, he felt that the traffic would be worse than this use.

The one councilor swayed by the opponents was At Large City Councilor Justin Hurst. “I think these two gentlemen raise some serious concerns,” he said. He said the restaurant’s grab-and-go concept would work against traffic safety and increase the number of vehicles visiting the business. When the vote was taken, Hurst was the only councilor to dissent.