When the owners of Nica’s Market showed up at an East Rock neighborhood meeting to unveil expansion plans, they encountered some unfinished business.
The Sabino family plans to expand the kitchen at its popular market at 603 Orange St. in East Rock and add indoor and balcony seating on the second story.
Giuseppe “Joe” Sabino and his daughter, Rosanna (in photo, left to right), co-owners of Nica’s, unveiled their plans Monday night at a meeting of the East Rock Community Management Team at the East Rock Global Magnet School on Nash Street.
Nica’s plans come at a time of tightening competition in East Rock’s booming gourmet food industry. Orange Street will soon be home to three markets and a caf√©, all owned by former allies in the same Italian family network. Just two blocks away from Nica’s, Joe Sabino’s relative and former business partner Romeo Simeone, who owns Romeo and Cesare’s, is opening Caf√© Romeo in the former Bunnel Hardware store.
On the other side, at Orange and Cottage, former Nica’s co-owner Joseph “Pino” Ciccone, who’s also Rosanna Sabino’s ex-husband, is revamping the former Orange Street Market under a new name.
Rosanna Sabino said the expansion plans were not spurred by the newfound competition — they have been in the works for 2 1/2 years, she said. Of the competition, she said, “We wish everyone lots of luck in the neighborhood.” She said that Nica’s is not looking to expand its customer base, only to retain its current one.
Neighbors Monday extolled Nica’s Market as a hub of high-quality food and community. But before the Sabinos could bring them aboard with the new expansion plans, they had to address a feeling of “broken trust” stemming from a controversial parking addition three years ago.
“Decongestion Plan”
The proposed addition, said Rosanna Sabino, boils down to a “decongestion plan.” Nica’s regulars routinely complain of “cramped” quarters in the shop, she said. In order to pick up a drink from a cooler, stand in line for a panino from the deli in the back of the store, and pay at the cash register, you have to push five people out of your way, she said.
The store’s 20 outdoor patio seats are nice when it’s sunny, she said, but customers have been clamoring for a place to unwrap their focaccia and mozzarella salads in bad weather. (In photo, Nick Fiori and his 21-month-old son, Matteo, enjoy a bowl of ice cream at a patio table outside the market minutes before a burst of rainfall Monday afternoon.)
To alleviate the crunch, Nica’s plans to add more space to the back of the store, as well as second-story seating. The plans would allow for expanded aisles and more room for customers at the deli and cashier. The family hired veteran zoning attorney Tony Avallone to usher the plan through the city zoning board.
Avallone stood up in the school’s library and addressed a somewhat skeptical East Rock crowd.
“The store has gotten more and more congested,” explained Avallone, a former state senator who has been an influential zoning lawyer for decades.
Nica’s plans to add 1,300 square feet to the footprint of the store by extending the coolers towards the rear property line, he said. The addition would allow the store to expand the cramped kitchen and prep area, he said.
On the second floor, where now stands a small office space, Nica’s proposes to add 3,200 square feet to create indoor seating for about 24 people, plus balcony seating to accommodate about 10 people. There would be no waiter service, Avallone assured the crowd.
The plans would require a special zoning exception to rear yard and side yard setbacks regulations, as well as permission to expand a non-conforming use, said Avallone. The market lies in an RM2 zone for single-family homes. Avallone filed an application to the city zoning board Friday. He expects it to be heard at the board’s monthly meeting on July 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the Hall of Records at 200 Orange St.
The proposal met a skeptical response from Joe Puleo, vice-chair of the management team.
“What’s the hardship?” he asked.
Avallone (pictured) answered that in order to be granted zoning relief, one must show that there’s a “unique situation,” that the property is “peculiar to other properties in the area.” He said the Nica’s lot fit that criterion, because it sits on two lots: The market sits on one plot, and the parking lot sits on an adjacent residential property, owned by the same family.
Rosanna Sabino later said the hardship is that the customers and staffers are too cramped in the space they have. Customers want somewhere to sit when it rains, she added, and the only direction the market can accommodate that is upstairs.
Unfinished Business
Puleo reminded the trio of the last time they sought neighborhood support for a zoning variance. It was three years ago, when Nica’s pitched plans for a parking lot.
After a year of meetings over how to blend the parking lot into the walkable, residential street, neighbors thought they’d come to an agreement with Nica’s on the design of the lot. What the owners ended up presenting to the city zoning board included more parking spots than they’d bargained for, said Puleo.
“That wasn’t the plan that the community wanted,” said Puleo. “It wasn’t the plan that the community and Joe agreed to.” Neighbors thought they’d settled on one row of cars; the market got approved for two rows with 14 to 18 parking spots.
Avallone responded that he wasn’t part of those neighborhood meetings or any agreement.
“We did not make a commitment to someone and break our word,” said Avallone.
East Rock Alderman Roland Lemar backed up Puleo’s account. He said neighbors thought they’d settled on a plan, but then “Tony didn’t present that plan to the BZA. We ended up with something that no one felt comfortable with.”
Avallone replied that the plan he presented before the board was the same one he’d aired at a community meeting held at Nica’s Market.
“I don’t lie,” said Avallone. “I did not negotiate a backroom deal.”
Lemar said he wasn’t accusing anyone of lying. He said neighbors thought they’d reached a plan with Nica’s that everyone felt comfortable with. “It felt that [there] was a trust that had been violated.”
“Scared To Death”
Lemar said while he couldn’t comment on the current proposal, since he sits on the City Plan Commission, he does have concerns about how Nica’s runs its day-to-day operations.
Neighbors love Nica’s and applaud the expansion, he said, but are “scared to death” of how the expansion might exacerbate traffic troubles. Large delivery trucks often jut out into the street, he said, creating blind corners and large obstacles for bikers, drivers, and walkers alike. People who live nearby report “routine near-fatal accidents” at Bishop and Orange due to the limited visibility created by these trucks, he said.
Rosanna Sabino replied that Nica’s takes tips in an anonymous suggestion box at the store and is open to limiting its delivery times. She said the family tried to get a delivery loading zone, but struck out getting city permission. She added that the market is still working on landscaping the property to obscure the parking lot — another sore point among some neighbors. Progress has been slowed by the recession, she said.
In heavily accented English, Joe Sabino made an appeal for solidarity.
“We want to do everything for the benefit of the neighborhood,” he said. “We have to make like one family.” He said if the expansion plans disturb the neighborhood, “I pull back, no problem.”
Granting a variance for a large parking lot on Orange street set a bad precedent and could lead to further erosion of the neighborhood architectural fabric. We don't need more missing teeth on Orange Street. Its nice to have a business like this in the neighborhood, but they have to live with what they've got and what they've got is a successful small scale business in a small scale neighborhood. The neighborhood shouldn't be penalized because they're reaching for more success.