PORTSMOUTH – The owner of the well-known but deserted old Getty fuel station on Islington Street won the diversions to turn it into a restaurant.
Attorney Derek Durbin told the city’s Zoning Adjustment Board, “I think everyone on this council knows this property, I think most citizens know as well. “
Durbin represented Michael Labrie at Tuesday’s board meeting. Labrie owns Jimmy’s Jazz
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Documents filed with the city imply that the assets of the former Getty Station will be converted into a “full-service restaurant” with a total of 74 seats and more. The proposal includes the structure of two small additions to the existing building on the site.
Jeff Dyer, one of the members of the progression team, stood up to say it possibly wouldn’t be a brewery as one resident suggested.
“We’re going to make bagels,” Dyer said at Tuesday night’s town hall assembly. “It’s by no means a brewery. We need to be a smart neighbor, a smart neighborhood manager. We need to do this
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Dyer said the planned addition to the rear of the old Getty Station and paint bay is proposed “because you need a lot of space to make bagels . . . It takes up a lot of space. “
“You have to put them on and they have to get up during the night,” Dyer said. “That’s legitimately what the extra meters are for. “
Before the council voted unanimously to grant the requested exemptions, Durbin said existing construction at 361 Islington St. is “in poor condition (and) does not comply with the code and protection criteria in force. “
According to Portsmouth Herald and Seacoastonline, the former Getty fuel station opened at 361 Islington St. in 1956 and closed in 2007.
Michael Labrie bought the assets in 2013, saying he was planning an explicit laundry business, a plan that didn’t materialize. In 2021, chef Bobthrough Marcotte, owner of Durham’s Hop Grind and Rise Grind, known for his appearances on Food Network. But the city council rejected his requests for exemptions.
The renovation and redevelopment of the newly proposed through Labrie is “a viable long-term solution for the property,” said M. Durbin.
“The plaintiff takes a deserted sale of a property, for lack of better words, and turns it into a good thing, editing the property’s open, green spaces,” Durbin said.
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He pointed to all the other restaurants in the domain of the former Getty site and said the proposed one “will make viable use of assets that have been unoccupied for most of the past 15 years. “
“This will serve as a community collection position, a connection between the West End and downtown, which will give life and dynamism to this specific property, which has no life in its current state, unless there are some amenities stacked up front,” Durbin said. says. ” I think it will sometimes make dominance a position to live and work in. “
The Council voted to grant a number of variants for the project, adding to allow a secondary setback of 66 feet in the backyard where 12 feet is the maximum allowed; allow 32% of the front line of the lot where 60% to 80% is required to be built, allow 14. 5% of loose areas where 25% is the minimum required, and allow off-street parking areas to be in front of the main façade of the construction.
Board member Beth Margeson proposed approving all of the requested exemptions, which first included one to allow a place to eat with an occupancy rate between 50 and 250.
But he said it’s not mandatory because 50 indoor seats are allowed in the zoning district, with developers proposing 43 inside and 31 outside.
The Planning Council will ultimately decide whether to approve a conditional use permit (CUP) for outdoor seating, he said.
The allocation still requires approval from the Planning Council and the Historic District Commission, Durbin said.
Margeson said developers plan to keep the existing Getty building, which is mandatory “because it’s in the historic district. “
He also argued that the proposed reuse of the assets would not adjust “the character of the neighborhood” because of the many other restaurants nearby.
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Board member Paul Mannle, who supported the move to approve the deviations, thanked the progression team for “the efforts that have been made” on the project.
“A place to eat in this place, when it’s a wonderful idea, a dinner, a coffee, anything like that,” he said. “If you’re going to set up a place to eat downtown, you’re going to have problems, strictly because of that express location, if it’s a fuel station before. “
He pointed to all the houses around the old Getty Station and said, “Because it’s an island in its own right, it will be tricky because everything you do here will have a direct impact. “
Stephen Iandoli, one of the neighbors who spoke out against granting the derogations.
“It sure would have a negative effect on my quality of life, because my window is right above it,” he said.
He told the council he believes the segment of Islington Street where the allocation is proposed is “arguably the most damaging stretch of road in the city. “
Development, he said, may simply “cause an immeasurable threat to us and the large number of pedestrians who walk down this street every day. “