Wellesley Selectmen OK Outdoor Changes for Comella's, Gelato

The goal, as always, is to increase business.

Comella's Restaurant on Washington Street and The Gilato Café on Linden Street are going to be able to slightly alter their appearance.

Comella's wants to add some outdoor seating to give its customers another option during the summer months. Last year the Italian eatery had two benches for customers to sit on, but the Board of Selectmen decided they were too big and bulky for the sidewalk. Instead, at last night's Selectmen's meeting at the Wellesley Middle School Library, the restaurant was approved for the addition of two outdoor tables for customers to enjoy the warm weather.

The Gilato Café had a similar request that was also approved. They will be taking out the smaller trees along Linden Street and adding larger ones to block off the street traffic and make the area a little more scenic.

 "There's such a large, barren space between the Gilato and the next store on that strip, they need something to break it up and the trees will give it a nice look," said Selectmen Secretary Owen Dugan.

The other question that was brought up concerned the noise coming from the construction on Washington and Rice Streets. There has not been a noise complaint from that neighborhood since July of 2009, but according to Dugan, he hears the compactors going off as early as 6 a.m. as he drives past the Sprague Elementary School, which is more than a mile away.

Selectmen Executive Director Hans Larsen said that the property manager – Mike Kelleher – has taken the necessary steps to reduce the noise, citing a change in the compactor padding. However, Larsen pointed out that in the initial agreement, trash removal activities can only occur between the hours of 7 a.m. – 9 p.m., but there was no mention of a time constraint on the compactors themselves.

 Dugan suggested the original motion be modified to limit the compactor usage between certain hours.

 "When I drive pass the Sprague school in the morning, I hear that noise and I just say to myself, 'I'm lucky I don't live over here,'" Dugan said.

Larsen suggested that Kelleher has done all he can to limit the noise and since the complaints have since stopped, the issue seems to be resolved.