A PROPOSED RENDERING OF Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse’s new enclosed four-season patio project. The Planning Board held a public hearing on the project on Wednesday, Feb. 26. (WS Development Photo)
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse is seeking Planning Board approval for a proposed expansion project.
WS Development Associates Asset Strategy and Development Director Chris Boyce said during a recent Planning Board meeting that Davio’s wants to construct an enclosed four-season patio on the existing patio area. The Planning Board held a public hearing on Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse’s proposed enclosed patio project on Wednesday, Feb. 26.
“It would have a similar footprint as it does today,” said Boyce during the Planning Board’s January meeting. “The patio has been the same since Davio’s first opened.”
Boyce said Davio’s proposed enclosed patio would be 286-square-feet.
“This would have 72 new interior seats,” said Boyce. “The new occupancy increases by those 72 seats. That is 1,549-square-feet.”
Boyce stated in a letter sent to the Planning Board before the meeting that Davio’s will be “extending their interior dining space” into the existing Bluemercury building that is located next door, Suite 1245 Market St.
“That would be an overflow of seating, but will also provide a private function room,” said Boyce during the Planning Board’s meeting. “That is something the property has lacked and I think Davio’s would see some great success with. The Bluemercury space would be expanded and become private dining with a removable partition between the two spaces.”
Boyce stated in the letter that the enclosed patio “will maintain the required 8-feet sidewalk clearances at all edges and not extend further into the pedestrian realm, as it will align with the existing outdoor patio today that is exclusively used by this restaurant.”
“That 8-feet was what was approved in 2023,” said Boyce during the Planning Board’s meeting.
Boyce said Davio’s proposed enclosed patio is a “true building expansion.”
“Unlike the other seasonal patios we have had, this is truly enclosed,” said Boyce. “This is a glass enclosed space that is temperate, heated and with fire protection.”
Boyce said the expansion project “shows how much we value Davio’s” at MarketStreet Lynnfield.
“Large restaurants are always something you have to think about carefully,” said Boyce. “The square footage of a restaurant is a science, and to allow Davio’s to continue to grow and expand shows our confidence in their success. This is a space that we feel is going to add a lot to the property. Architecturally, I think we put in our proposal that we probably understand that there will be a third party review to look at the design and make sure everyone is comfortable. It adds another character and bump out to that façade that we feel is going to add a lot to this corner of the property. That outdoor dining, sitting in glass and overlooking The Green across the way is a nice addition to the property that we are excited about. We worked very closely with Davio’s to get to this plan.”
Boyce appeared before the Planning Board in January to request that the Davio’s enclosed patio project be considered a minor change and not a major change to the Planned Village Development District (PVDD).
The PVDD stipulates that a minor change occurs when an “applicant may apply to make minor changes in a development project involving minor utility or building orientation adjustments, or minor adjustments to parking or other site details that do not affect the overall build-out or building envelope of the site.”
According to the PVDD, a major change are “those changes deemed by the (Planning Board) to constitute a major change in the development project because of the nature of the change in relation to the prior approved plan, or because the nature of the change in relation to the prior approved plan, or because such change cannot be appropriately characterized as a minor change as described above, shall be processed by the (Planning Board) as a new application for Site Plan Approval.”
The Planning Board voted last November that the proposed Davio’s enclosed patio project did not qualify as a minor change and was a major change. Boyce recently urged the Planning Board to reverse that decision.
“We would like this reviewed as a minor modification,” said Boyce.
In response to a question from Planning Board Chair Page Wilkins, Boyce said there were trees planted in front of Bluemercury and Kendra Scott that were removed and paved over in 2019 for “two reasons.”
“The irrigation was not really successful,” said Boyce. “This space is in a lot of shadow and shade.”
Boyce said WS Development was open to planting trees in a different area of MarketStreet.
Wilkins said the proposed Davio’s enclosed patio project represents a major change.
“We got feedback from town counsel that this would be a major change because of the building envelope,” said Wilkins. “I think what you are arguing is the whole MarketStreet development is the building envelop. It seems pretty clear that this is a change to the building envelope of the Davio’s building. I think it would still remain a major change. I know things in the past have been seen as minor changes, but we are supposed to make our decision based on the bylaw and how it is interpreted. It is not driven by prior decisions, whether they were right or wrong. We just have to follow a process of a public hearing, and notifying other boards, the fire chief and that sort of thing. There is a time period for us to make a decision on this. I am feeling that is what we have to follow here based on the language of the bylaw.”
Planning Board member Brian Charville agreed.
“I would love to have some flexibility on this, but now that town counsel has weighed in, he is black and white on it that it is major,” said Charville.
Boyce said, “Codes are always open to interpretation.”
“I totally understand where you are coming from,” said Boyce. “We did not realize that town counsel had shared something.”
Wilkins said she took Boyce’s revised submission “seriously because it was more robust” than the originally proposed plan in November.
“I asked the question of what town counsel thought,” said Wilkins. “He felt that we made the right call there based on the building envelope.”
Planning and Conservation Director Emilie Cademartori informed the Villager that the Feb. 26 public hearing pertains to the enclosed patio project and does not involve Davio’s expansion into the Bluemercury building.