Chipotle Mexican Grill, a nationwide chain of Mexican restaurants known for huge burritos and natural ingredients, is currently embroiled in a fight to open a new location on the corner of Thayer Street and Euclid Avenue, next to Kabob and Curry.
Chipotle's application for zoning variances, which are necessary to finalize the project, was presented to the Providence Zoning Board of Review in a marathon meeting Tuesday night. The company is seeking relief from zoning ordinances concerning on-site parking and property line setback. The College Hill Neighborhood Association led a group of local property owners opposed to the restaurant at the meeting.
Because the meeting ran so long, the zoning board voted to table the issue and discuss it again at its next meeting in May.
The most contentious issue at the meeting was parking for the proposed restaurant. Providence zoning ordinance demands that restaurants have one parking space for every four seats. Since the proposed Chipotle would have 74 seats, the law requires 19 spaces. But the current plan includes no on-site parking.
Chipotle Real Estate Manager Brad Toothman, who represented the company at the hearing, claimed the site was too small. David Shwaery, who owns the building Chipotle would be located in and most of the rest of the block, pledged that Chipotle could use the nine spaces behind his Squires Salon, which is next door, after the salon closes at 6 p.m.
Toothman said about 45 percent of customers at Chipotle's locations near other college campuses walk instead of drive, and the company expected a similar proportion of walk-in traffic at the Thayer location, which should justify the lack of on-site parking.
Opponents of the proposed restaurant argued that parking on College Hill is already extremely limited and that Chipotle would only make it worse. CHNA representative Antoinette Breed contended that the planned restaurant, which would replace the currently vacant building on the site, is too large and a better design would be able to accommodate the needed parking.
"For a developer to come here ... and make the problem worse before there is a solution is unconscionable," said Grant Dulgarian, a trustee for Krikor S. Dulgarian Trust, which owns the property on Thayer Street between Meeting and Olive streets.
Dulgarian passionately argued that the application should be rejected because Thayer Street needs more retail businesses and fewer eating establishments. In addition to diversifying Thayer's offerings, a retail store requires less parking.
In addition to the parking issue, Breed cited alcohol as a reason to oppose Chipotle. She said the group is opposed to increasing the number of liquor licenses along Thayer Street. Toothman said Chipotle will not apply for a liquor license for the Thayer location and doesn't plan to in the future.
Chipotle's corporate Web site states the company looks for locations with "zoning to accommodate restaurant use and allow liquor license (beer and margaritas)." Breed said she thought the company would apply for a liquor license in the future.
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