Sfoglia seeks more diners; bank gets ATM approval
BY PETER B. BRACE
Sfoglia attorney Melissa Philbrick came to the Jan. 8 Planning Board meeting seeking permission to put the restaurant's kitchen in its basement so it could add 18 seats on its main floor.

What its owner, Ron Suhanosky, learned is that the board cares more about parking spots than seating arrangements.

The request required the inclusion of five more parking spaces on Suhanosky's .13-of-an-acre lot.

Presenting three different parking schemes to the board, Philbrick said the most practical layout includes spaces for seven cars angled inward along Pleasant Street and three on the Chin's Way side of the building. Though Planning Director Andrew Vorce defended this parking option, the board was more skeptical.

"I have a problem with it," said Planning Board member Frank Spriggs. "It sounds like he has got a business there and he wants to double his business there. It's already a problem. It doesn't make any has got a business there and he wants to double his business there. It's already a problem. It doesn't make any kind of sense to me that we would be putting cars out in the street at the intersection."

Planning Board member Barry Rector agreed and said that Sfoglia's parking situation is part of the larger issue of congestion in the mid-island area that cannot be solved by just one property owner.

"I think with the Mid-Island Area Plan that we always have a vision that the parking can be reconfigured. But I also have a vision of a much grander scheme," Rector said, hinting at the concept of eventually making Pleasant Street one-way with onstreet parking. "I've watched traffic backed up half a mile in either direction.

"It's tight right now and the concern is it's getting tighter."

Before the board continued Sfoglia's hearing, Vorce suggested the board reconsider the dynamic of angled parking and go check out Suhanosky's property before rushing to judgment.

"In my discussions with the applicant, there may be a difference of opinion. I would encourage the board to revisit the midisland plan," he said. "This is one where, in our collective staff opinion, it cries out for something better. The parking situation is not a good one, but I think you should take a look at how angled parking works."

The board encouraged Suhanosky to work with the Bamboo Supper Club and the Hen House on a formal shared parking plan since all three entities share their parking areas anyway.

No need to look at Nantucket Bank's parking and drive-thru scheme to see how well that works. In fact, Nantucket Bank is going to be making it even more efficient.

Nantucket Bank scored unanimous approval from the board for a drive-up, automated teller machine kiosk at the north end of the vegetative island in its 104 Pleasant Street branch parking lot, despite the elimination of one of its 52 parking spaces. The ATM will be seven feet by seven feet with a three-foot overhang to keep driving patrons dry

during transactions. I