BZA Members
RE: Case No. 9405 (formerly 9089), 202 3rd Street
December 7, 2006
Dear BZA Members:
I write to oppose the variance request for 202 3rd Street to provide entertainment at the Desfina Restaurant and Bar. The Desfina Restaurant is literally attached to private residences and the impacts of late night noise on inhabitants of those residents is very negative. Additionally, it is hard to imagine how the continued use of the restaurant as a venue for entertainment meets the legal criteria required for a variance and in this case, given the discomfort it creates for neighbors, there does not seem to be an argument that the greater public good somehow supports the variance.
Neighbors have explained their case very well, and it mirrors concerns of residential neighbors to bars across the city. What may be background noise at 6:00 PM and interesting noise at 9:00 PM becomes a serious nuisance at 12 AM or 1:00 AM, or, as one neighbor explains, at 1:45 AM. Further, the later people stay in bars, the noisier they tend to be when coming out. No one likes to be woken by loud partiers leaving any bar, and the entertainment at Desfina seems to have led to more loud patrons leaving in the early morning hours than used to be the case. The neighbors have had to put up with this problem for long enough already and should be spared from having to put up with it in the future.
Additionally, in this case, the noise inside the bar creates a nuisance for the neighbors, with both noise and vibrations being a noticeable nuisance until early morning hours inside their own rooms. It isn't quite clear how this issue is covered by the Cambridge Noise Ordinance, especially the vibrations, so the only protection neighbors can expect is from the use limitations in our Zoning Ordinance. Which means that denying this variance application is the only realistic solution to the interior noise and vibration problems.
The neighbors have given the entertainment at Desfina a fair chance. In fact, given the inordinate amount of time it took to schedule this hearing, they have given it more than a fair chance. The entertainment there simply does not work for them and, since it seems not to meet the legal criteria for a variance or meet some other greater public good, should be ended.
Again, I hope that you will deny this variance request and allow the neighbors the right to enjoy their own properties in peace and quiet.
If you have any questions about this communication, please feel free to contact me.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Craig Kelley
Cambridge City Council
6 St. Gerard Terrace
Cambridge, MA 02140
617-354-8353 (home)
617-349-4280 (Council office)