Davis Square's night shift has residents losing sleep
By Kristen Green, Globe Correspondent | April 8, 2007
Christina Chan loves being able to wave to Davis Square neighbors as she walks along the street where she has lived for 17 years. In the summer when windows are left open, the neighbors have plenty to discuss -- such as the noisy partiers who awaken them at 1:30 a.m. on weekends when the bars empty out.
Now she worries it could get worse.
News that a local pub, the Burren, has been granted a temporary license to serve alcohol until 2 a.m. makes Chan and her neighbors on Wallace Street, which feeds into Holland, one of the square's main drags, worry how late they'll be awakened this summer and how many other bars will ask for the extension.
"It's like having a party until 2 o'clock in the morning," said Chan, an actress and speaking coach who has an 8-year-old son. "Anything that happens in the square, we hear it."
The Somerville Licensing Commission's decision to grant the 2 a.m. license, despite an outcry from residents, has some concerned that the delicate balance between residents and businesses is shifting, and that the square is becoming more commercialized. The impending arrival of chain stores, including a Chipotle Mexican Grill, fuels worries that the square is increasingly catering to a younger crowd.
"If we become a first destination point for people looking just for the excitement, that will be a problem," said Lee Auspitz, a longtime resident who worries the square is beginning to feel less family-oriented.
Stephen Mackey, president of the Somerville Chamber of Commerce, said Davis Square is a central business district that needs to serve a diverse population. He also stressed that it belongs to the entire community and needs to be nurtured.
He said it's important that bar owners be able to compete with pubs in other neighborhoods, and Davis Square is hardly the first residential area to get a 2 a.m. license. Eight others have been issued in the city.
Residents who complain about the effects on the neighborhood of a bar being open until 2 a.m. need to remember where they are living, Mackey said. "If you're next to a central business district, nobody can have the same expectations as if you live in the country," he said.
Alderwoman Rebekah Gewirtz, whose district includes Davis Square, said residents are concerned the Burren's new hours may attract late-night drinkers from other parts of town, and even beyond. She said representatives of the pub will come before the Davis Square Task Force every eight weeks to discuss issues raised by the later hours, and the owner also agreed not to allow new customers into the Elm Street bar after 1 a.m.
Burren manager Ben Sawyer said the new hours will have "zero impact" on the neighborhood. Because other bars close at 1 a.m., more cabs are available for the Burren's customers and there is less commotion outside at the new closing time. "We don't want to make anybody unhappy," he said.
A newly formed group, Davis Square Area Resident-Business Initiative, is working to address issues that have arisen between businesses and residents. Mouhab Rizkallah, a board member and orthodontist in the square, said there's been "a degree of animosity" between the two sides.
"The residents seem to put on the brakes when it comes to business development, and the businesses seem to be comfortable with overlooking the residents," he said.
He said the new organization will be coming up with ways to help residents cope with the 2 a.m. license, such as putting together a committee that would lobby for antilittering signs and conduct cleanups of the square and nearby streets.
Rizkallah said he understands the bar's need to stay open later, but "it's not going to happen at the expense of the residents."
Jack Connolly, a Davis Square insurance agent and former alderman who is running for an at-large seat on the board, said other bars will soon be lining up for 2 a.m. licenses, and he's concerned that businesses like Dunkin' Donuts, which closes at midnight, and Anna's Taqueria, now open till 11:30, may ask to stay open late r, too.
That, Connolly said, would be "upsetting the very delicate balance between the businesses and the residential district." Until now, nothing was open past 1 a.m.
Many say the success of the square has been its homegrown approach and its diversity.
But over the years a handful of chains have found a niche there, including Au Bon Pain and Starbucks, which both offer outdoor seating.
And Mackey, the chamber president, said he thinks CVS, which is moving into the rebuilt One Davis Square building in the heart of the neighborhood when it's complete this fall, will be an asset because it will increase foot traffic. Boston Sports Clubs will also be a tenant in the building.
Mackey and Rizkallah, the orthodontist, acknowledge that with climbing property values and taxes, which force rents up, sometimes a chain is the best bet to fill an open space.
"There's a reason CVS is moving in. It can afford the space," Rizkallah said. "There's a reason why Chipotle is coming in. They can afford the space."
Still, he said, "I would hate to see it become a bunch of chains. It would then lose all of its charm."
Chan, the Wallace Street resident, said if bars are going to be open until 2 a.m. and other square businesses also focus on the younger demographic, Davis Square will not be a safe environment where parents want to raise their kids.
"It sets a different energy," she said. "You don't want that."
? Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
