Besos Gets OK For Sidewalk Dining

, which opened , is already expanding. It got approval Tuesday night from the Zoning Board to add up to 30 seats on an outdoor patio it will construct.

Adding that number of seats required a parking variance, which the Zoning Board granted in a 4-1 vote.

The restaurant is in The Elms building at 378 Main Street on the corner of London Street. Unlike many businesses on Main Street, Besos actually has two parking lots at its disposal, for a total of 33 spaces. That is not enough for the current seating at Besos; the restaurant had to get a variance for 14 parking spaces before it opened. Adding up to 30 seats, then, required another variance for 15 additional parking spaces.

Zoning Board members Jennifer Walker Fairbank, acting chair, Richard Land, Jodi Gladstone, Bob Bolton voted to approve the parking variance; Renu Englehart voted against. Joe Zenga, who owns abutting property, recused himself from the discussion.

Besos offers valet parking and has its employees park in the municipal lot on Duke Street just off London Street.

Some residents of Marlborough Street just below the restaurant and parking lots spoke at the meeting, citing traffic concerns on London Street due to empty cars in the street waiting to be valeted, and trash and noise problems.

Ashley Ewing-Chow lives behind the Besos parking lot. She mentioned the traffic issues on London Street but said her main concerns were noise related.

“It’s the outdoor seating that I’m concerned with,” she said, referring to talking patrons. Other neighbors complained about trash. The dumpster used by the restaurant sits on the lower of two lots used by the restaurant. Residents said it was noisy on weekends when at 10 or 11 at night trash would be dragged across the lot to the dumpster, and in addition the dumpster would sometimes be left open.

Marie Schaller, who owns on Main Street, spoke out against granting a parking variance in principal.

“I don’t have any specific concerns about Besos,” Schaller said. Still, she said, ‘There are only so many spaces available. Every single time a parking variance is granted, you reduce it for everyone [on Main Street].”

To alleviate traffic issues on London Street, Dellagrotta said she would tell the valet service that cars to be valeted need to pull into the parking lot.

“I think it’s going to be a nice addition to the town,” she said after the vote. “I’m happy to hear what neighbors think – I can remedy all their issues.” To the complaint about a sometimes-open dumpster, Dellagrotta said, “I want it closed too. I look at it all day.” She and her husband own a building directly across from the lower parking lot and she maintains an office there.

Dellagrotta said work on the patio could beging this week and that it wouldn't take more than two weeks to complete.