Lee — With a slated opening next month, the Select Board unanimously approved an Annual All Alcohol Restaurant License on January 21 to proprietors of a new eatery, The Station, at 109 Railroad Street. However, the group provisionally limited the restaurant to a closing time of 11 p.m., an hour short of its requested midnight closure, with a review of that time in three months to determine whether any noise complaints have been cited. Board members additionally pushed representatives of the corporate entity ownership—including licensing attorney Matthew Porter and local business counsel John Graziano—for a seating plan for the main room, with its occupancy of 65 persons, and caboose, or outside area, that will also receive service.
Listed as Charlie’s and Co., Anandkumar Singh and Kevin Orozco are the proprietors of The Station, to be housed in a historic rail station that also served as the previous site of Mexican eatery Antojitos Oaxaca. Singh and Orozco head up food trailers Charlie’s Bistro Bus and Berkshire Cone, with both culinary institutions serving patrons around Berkshire County.
Their application did not include an entertainment license request that is required for live music.
Owners of an abutting business, the Chambery Inn at 199 Main Street, submitted a letter to the Select Board that was read into the record by Chair Gordon Bailey and factored into the dais’s decision. The correspondence asked the group to limit the serving hours to 9 p.m., “as this has been [the] traditional closing time for successful businesses at this location.”
“As you may know, the two buildings are in very close proximity, and our main concern is late-night noise and disturbances that could negatively impact our guests,” Bailey read. “The headboards of our guests’ beds are located less than 100 feet from this establishment.”
The letter stated that two previous applications in the space were approved by the Select Board with an 11 p.m. closing, and those businesses “ultimately failed.” “During these periods, the excessive noise from the location had a significant negative impact on our business, resulting in our lowest public-review scores ever,” Bailey read. “Maintaining a peaceful and quiet environment is crucial to our ability to provide a positive experience for our visitors and to sustain our business.”
Graziano told the dais his clients “run a very tight ship” regarding their other businesses that operate in a way that is considerate of neighbors. “I don’t ever see it being a problem,” he said.
Board member Robert “Bob” Jones acknowledged that “there are other restaurant/bar facilities within walking distance that do stay open later.”
“First and foremost, I want to be fair to everybody, but I would also caution that the applicants for Charlie’s & Co.—that this has been an ongoing concern for some time now and that the only problem is, of course, the proximity to the rail station,” he said. “So that is something we do have to consider. It’s really important that we all work together to make sure that everybody gets what they need, at least to the best of our ability, in operating a business.”
At the meeting, the Select Board also:
- Approved an Inspection Fee Waiver to Berkshire Hills Baptist Church;
- Approved a One Day Wine and Malt License Application for the Lee Sportsmen’s Association for a February 2 fundraising dinner;
- Appointed Melanie Canon to the Sandy Beach Committee;
- Approved signing an amendment to the Complete Streets Tier 2 Technical Assistance Agreement after its November 30 expiration, extending the document to December 1 to elicit comments, reviews, and data the town can use to improve its streets and lighting; and
- Approved signing a seventh amendment to an agreement pertaining to remitting land to The Mount.