Nora Grace-Flood photo
The now-closed Mexican eatery on Whalley Ave.
A currently shuttered Mexican eatery on Whalley may soon find company — in the form of six new apartments stacked atop the erstwhile dining and kitchen space.
Local zoning commissioners heard about that housing-atop-El Amigo Felix plan during Tuesday night’s latest regular monthly meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals.
The commissioners referred the matter to the City Plan Commission for further review, and should take a final vote on the zoning relief request next month.
Local attorney Ben Trachten told the commissioners that the owner of the pandemic-shuttered Mexican eatery at 8 Whalley Ave. plans to build six apartments across three new floors atop the groundfloor restaurant space. The property itself is owned by a holding company controlled by Kadir Catalbasoglu, a local pizza maker and landlord who has branched out into new apartment development nearby on Dixwell Avenue.
In order to make that six-apartment plan a reality, the restaurant building’s owner has applied to the BZA for a variance to permit a rear yard of five feet where 10 feet is required, and a special exception to permit 0 off-street parking spaces where three are required.
Trachten said that parking could not be accommodated on the site given its spatial limitations. He asked for a special exception to skip over regulations that would require the creation of 13 parking spaces for the restaurant and apartments on the basis that “extensive public transit, alternative transit modes, and public street and public lot parking are available within a very short distance” of 8 Whalley.
As for the requested rear-yard variance, Trachten said, the southern side of the restaurant is directly next to two other businesses, Pizza Empire and Patricia’s Restaurant. He said the eastern side has between two and four feet of space between El Amigo Felix and abutting properties. Trachten added that, since five feet is required to construct windows on the back of the building, the owner is looking to set back the new second, third and fourth floors to allow for a five-foot backyard.
Jerry Gagliardi, the owner of both Pizza Empire and “Trisha’s,” said he neither approved of nor opposed the project. He said isn’t sure “how thrilled” his customers will be about new tenants and no new parking. “Parking on the street is pretty challenging,” he said, noting that “people can’t park and run in and out” of restaurants but rather have to pay for parking. That’s a disincentive for eating out on Whalley Avenue.
He also expressed concern that the new apartment dwellers would contribute to a hefty amount of trash that is already produced by the restaurants and kept in the back alleyway behind Whalley. He said that residential trash might increase the possibility of “rodent and vermin issues.”
Trachten responded that the set back of additional stories on the building would help separate renters from the alleyway of what Gagliardi referred to as “garbage and grease.”
He added that there are plenty of additional puzzles for the project that have yet to be solved: “Our next stop after approval is going to be an extensive, complicated site plan for the tiny corner lot.”
In a concluding pitch, Trachten encouraged the zoning commissioners to consider the proposal because ownership’s plan was in line with a set of recently adopted zoning updates that make Whalley a so-called Commercial Gateway District (CGD). The alders adopted those zoning rules in an attempt to encourage denser commercial and residential development along avenues connecting downtown with the city’s neighborhoods.
Trachten said the new housing above the 39-seat restaurant is “probably the first development” proposed in response to and in compliance with the CGD plan. Noting the lack of density-driven projects that have been approved since the CGD regulations were adopted, he added: “Clearly the CGD is not living up to its expectations so far.”
I hope this application will be approved. The City is gearing toward density goals, bike-friendly, and better public transportation. The location is within walking distance of downtown, the central campus, bus lines, and even the supermarket. The former restaurant did not have parking. We do not need this corner to remain vacant any longer. Let's have this proven hard-working successful local businessman have a chance, and not just the out-of-town developers and giant corporations who make their money here and run.