Owners getting ready for potential restaurant tenant

Nantucket lost its source for fresh bagels on West Creek Road when the Blue Water Bakery closed.

The property at 5 and 7 West Creek Road, currently owned by former Nantucket Bagel Company operators Bert and Sarah Dickerson, is going through the Planning Board special permit process to change its use from a take-out to a sit-down food establishment.

"We don't have a tenant yet," said the Dickersons' island attorney, Arthur Reade. "What the Dickersons are trying to do is have the option of putting a restaurant in there. Given what is in the area, [they're] getting a permit to put in a restaurant."

Although the Dickersons are still looking for a restaurant while prepping the space to be a turnkey opportunity for the right bistro, the Planning Board is likely to issue the special permit the Dickersons require at its next meeting in two weeks. At the Oct. 26 meeting, the board worked on the details for parking and a loading zone that is likely going to go in front of the building on West Creek Road, with the help of a five-foot easement from the Dickersons, to allow delivery vehicles to pull deeper onto their land from the road. That easement, which the Board of Selectmen subsequently accepted at its Oct. 28 meeting, is going to allow all but the widest of delivery trucks to pull completely off the road while delivering, said Reade.

Most of the Planning Board liked what it heard on how the Dickersons plan to solve these issues. While Planning Board member Sylvia Howard stressed that businesses in the Mid Island Planned Overlay District are required to encourage a pedestrian friendly setting through their site plans and that the Dickersons' proposal appears to diverge from the intent of the MIPOD, fellow member Linda Williams defended their site plan.

"The sidewalk is completely developed on the John Keane side," said Williams. "I'm not so worried about pedestrian access because it is provided on his side and impossible to provide on the other side. I like this site plan. I think it's much more usable. I think it's a good site plan and frankly, I don't mind another restaurant. I think the use in the parking area is consistent."

Planning Board member Nat Lowell agreed with Williams, adding that delivery trucks would not have to go through so many maneuvers and hold up traffic for so long while trying to get into this loading zone.

Chairman Barry Rector, however, did have some concerns about trucks still sticking out into the street.

Inside their parking lot the Dickersons will be providing 15 parking spaces for what is likely to be a 40-seat restaurant, but Reade said that any notions of merging their parking area with Pi Pizza's next door, as floated by several members of the board, is not feasible because Pi's owner, Evan Marley, is not open to the idea. Also, the difference in grade between the two lots would be a problem, Reade added. I