At the September 8 Lancaster City Council Meeting, the Council rejected a request by Antonio’s Pizza House LLC to transfer a presently out-of-city liquor license for use at the restaurant’s 678 West Chestnut Street, Lancaster City location. The Council’s decision, which was slated initially for the next meeting, was hastened by the strong opposition presented by residents of the establishment’s West End neighborhood.
Manager Tony Lyristis explained that his family, who owns the restaurant, planned to begin serving beer and wine as part of a larger effort to transform the pizza shop into a bistro-style restaurant. The upgrade would involve changes in interior and exterior décor, an expanded menu, and the enclosure of patio seating to increase indoor seating from around 25 to more than 50 seats. However, Lyristis explained, the family would not likely seek a long-term lease and move forward with these plans without a liquor license in place.
Lyristris did note that six-packs of beer would also be sold upon request, but without advertisement or open display.
Since no licenses were presently for sale in Lancaster City, the Pizza House arranged for the purchase of one currently held by an establishment in Pequea. For this reason, the Council was needed to approve the transfer of a new liquor license in the City.
During the period of public comment a number of community residents addressed the Council to oppose Lyristis’s request. First was John McGrann, a West Chestnut Street resident, who cited the business’s past handling of the property—uncut grass, unused junk and construction equipment left in the back—to question their worthiness of a liquor license. McGrann said that granting such prerogatives to the business would be like raising a bad employee’s salary under the promise of better future performance.
McGrann also presented a petition, signed by 75 residents of the surrounding neighborhood in opposing the liquor license transfer.
Half a dozen other residents expressed their concern. One man, who has seen his home value triple since its 1997 purchase, feared that, with alcohol available, the shop would increase noise and public disturbances and pull back property values. Another man complained that doubling the seating capacity would absorb already-limited parking spaces. One woman, who identified herself as an interior design professional, said that the proposed improvements would likely require expensive accessibility upgrades; in such a case, she noted, the owners could be tempted to chase easier profits as a bar-like establishment.
After the public comment session, Mayor Gray noted that the hearing at hand related specifically to the introduction of an additional liquor license to Lancaster City. It was not a zoning hearing at which conditions of use could be applied, Gray said. However, he later asserted that he did not think the sale of alcohol would be “good for neighborhood,” and stated that his administration opposes the request.
Early in the meeting, it was informally decided that the Council would wait until to their next meeting to accept or reject the request. This was because not every member of the Council had been provided with a copy of the transfer application for review. Following the remarks from Lyristris, the public, and Mayor Gray, Councilwoman Pat Coller recommended that Council vote against the request during the present meeting.
The Council then voted unanimously to reject the request from Antonio’s Pizza House to transfer a liquor license to the City of Lancaster.
Obviously the neighbors don’t want an eating establishment on their block.
I hope the proprietors and manager of this business move on to greener pastures, and find much greater success elsewhere.
Most likely, the neighbors would prefer the restaurant be turned into a small apartment – or else left vacant.