Gabriele's Grilled Over Traffic, Noise

Neighbors of Gabriele's Italian Steakhouse on Church Street urged the Greenwich Planning & Zoning Commission to deny the restaurant’s request for a certificate of occupancy for its new second floor banquet hall during the commission’s meeting at Town Hall Tuesday.

The residents asked that the request be denied on the grounds that the restaurant hasn’t been complying with set of restrictions stipulated in the approval of its recent renovation and expansion pertaining to parking, traffic pattern and hours of operation.

What’s more, several residents said the restaurant’s parking is already full on busy nights, as it is, and questioned where the additional cars for banquet hall customers would be parked. They urged the commission to conduct another parking and traffic study taking into account the additional capacity before granting the certificate of occupancy.

“I would implore the commission that the valet parking and the pattern of behavior is tested over a period of time before there is any expansion of use to the second floor,” said local attorney Jane Hogeman, representing the Church Street neighbors. “Because the second floor banquet hall is not going to be like the restaurant — the pattern of use is different. At the restaurant people come and go at staggered times — but when you have a party in the banquet hall, and a host of people are coming en masse, you won’t be able to use the driveway [safely]. Somebody’s going to get hit…”

Neighbors said the main problem is that the restaurant isn’t positioning its valet station at the rear of the building, near the back entrance, as stipulated in the approval, rather the valets are out front by Church Street. This is not only causing cars to back up on Church Street, it is also bringing the noise to the front of the building, where it impacts neighbors more, they said.

“The late night noise is the predominant issue,” said Philip Finn of 20 Church Street, whose condo unit is straight across from the restaurant’s driveway. “What’s happening is, the valets are bringing the cars to front of restaurant, on Church Street, and in so doing they are honking their horns and doors are being slammed and people are out there talking sometimes until 1 a.m.”

Finn said the late night noise affects residents’ quality of life because it disrupts their sleep.

“There’s a simple way to fix this,” Finn said. “Have cars get picked up in the rear as stipulated. This will eliminate a substantial amount of the noise we are experiencing now – because, quite frankly, everything is happening on Church Street.”

In addition several residents said limousines are routinely parked on Church Street to pick up or drop off patrons, blocking traffic and sometimes residents’ driveways.

Hogeman said another concern is that the restaurant’s driveway is narrow with no walkway, and that many patrons use it to access the front door of the restaurant, even though P&Z stipulated that the rear door is only to be used. She said with the increased traffic on the driveway, there’s an increased risk that someone walking is going to get hit.

Hogeman said the traffic and noise issues caused by Gabriele's impact “a lot of people” because it is a very dense neighborhood: “There’s about 100 apartments at Town and Country [condos]; 15 to 20 at the Nantucket; and about a dozen a Sherwood Place condos, plus there’s about six houses on the street,” she said.

The restaurant’s hours of operations were also called into question: The commission’s approval specifies that the restaurant must close at 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday (Hogeman said she wanted confirmation of this), however numerous neighbors said there is still activity at the restaurant as late as 1 a.m.

The traffic and parking issues, as well as late night noise, started as soon as the restaurant, formerly Luca’s Steakhouse, reopened in February, neighbors said.

Hogeman thanked the Greenwich Police Department for monitoring the situation and compiling a record of all the incidents.

“The residents have been attempting to communicate over time what they’ve seen but it hasn’t been sufficient for [police] action to be taken,” she said.

“We have a very tight neighborhood we have a very loud and boisterous use,” Hogeman said. “I think the neighbors hope the restaurant succeeds but not at the expense of their quality of life. I have people calling me in the middle of the night in tears.”

“This is not supposed to be a bar – it’s supposed to be a neighborhood restaurant,” she added.

Valerie Stauffer, chairman of RTM Dist 7, said it is clear that Gabriele’s is not obeying the legal regulations specified in P&Z’s approval.

“The back entry, legally required for valet entry and exit, is not used,” she said, enumerating the violations. “Instead valet operations take place on Church Street. Cars of patrons park up and down narrow Church Street, often with engines idling. Hours of operation extend well beyond the legal limits. Noise and congestion are the result.”

“I urge P&Z to take extremely seriously the violations,” Stauffer said. “No certificate of occupancy should be issued for the second floor use either temporary or permanent should be issued — the dedicated parking is not adequate now: Where will the cars of 100 additional patrons park?”

Stauffer added that it appears the cars of employees and patrons are being parked in other locations in the neighborhood as well.

“The P&Z commission has placed restrictions on Gabriele’s to protect their neighbors — but what good are they if they aren’t enforced?” Stauffer said. “If regulations are ignored, it makes a mockery of the system.”

Judy Onthank, a member of the board, presented a petition signed by residents of the complex asking the commission to enforce the requested conditions, “which have been continuously violated since Gabriele’s opened in Feb. 2011,” and to deny the request for a C/O.

Several of the commissioners expressed frustration with the situation.

"This body has wasted a great deal of time because this man is not listening," Commissioner Nancy Ramer said. "He does not get that there are rules and he needs to follow them, and we are all tired of that."

Thomas Heagney, the attorney representing restaurant owners Luca and Danny Gabriele, expressed surprise that the restaurant had been seen by neighbors committing so many violations. He said he had explained to his client that all valet operations had to be located at the rear of the building “and he said he would comply,” he said.

Heagney said having customers use the east-side entrance of the lot "will go a long way in addressing the issue."

The commission declined to act on the request for a certificate of occupancy. Commission chairman Donald Heller recommended that the commission impose a condition that the restaurant must demonstrate a pattern of compliance over a period of time, including fixing the valet, parking, traffic, noise and hours of operation issues, before the C/O would be issued.

Gabriele’s, and known for attracting celebrities, can return to the commission to request the C/O again at any time.