Nick’s Place

Chris Alexandrou, owner of Nick’s Place Restaurant in Winthrop, has long been considered a good businessman and a person of high values. In short, he’s a good man who is admired by his business peers and customers alike.
The high quality of his character was no doubt put to the test last week, when an employee’s actions ended up casting a shadow on the reputation that Alexandrou has worked so hard to build up.
After a delivery driver was accused of speaking and treating a young girl inappropriately during a delivery, police were called to Nick’s, because the father of the young girl had driven to the restaurant to confront the young man.
Alexandrou acted quickly and decisively. He fired the driver and sent the message that inappropriate behavior won’t be tolerated in his place of business, especially among his employees.
Said one source, who had spoken to Alexandrou, “In no way does he condone the behavior of the former delivery driver. He just wants to make sure that people know that is not what his business is about and he won’t tolerate that type of behavior at all.”
The disturbance didn’t result in any arrests, nor was anyone physically hurt in the incident. We applaud Alexandrou’s quick action and hope that the young delivery driver has learned a valuable lesson about treating people with respect and dignity.

Angled Parking at Daw’s Playground

A citizen’s petition is being circulated by a River Road resident to oppose the angled parking plan for Veterans Road, near Daw’s Playground.
Resident Arlene Connors sent a copy of the petition to the paper this past week. However, because of space restrictions and the paper’s policy against endorsing political questions, the petition cannot be reprinted here. A copy of the petition is available at the Winthrop Marketplace for those who are interested in signing it.

Teen/Youth/ Community center

A meeting has been scheduled for Monday, March 19, at 3:30 p.m. at the Cummings School multi-purpose room, at which several town officials and citizens plan to discuss ideas for a teen/youth/community center.
Among those organizing the meeting are representatives of CASA and the Winthrop 21st Century Community Learning Centers After-School Program, Town manager Rick White, Superintendent of Schools Steve Jenkins and other town officials.
The idea to create or develop a space in town for young people has been debated for years, but it is often put on the back burner because of the presumed cost.
Though this discussion is still at the very early stages, the group of town officials and citizen activists wants very much to find a way to bring such a center to fruition.
The meeting is open to the public and the organizers will welcome ideas from any resident who wants to attend the meeting.

School Art Awards

Six students from Winthrop High School and Winthrop Middle School were recognized last week for their achievements in various art endeavors. Five of the students, including two from the middle school, were recognized for their accomplishments in the recent Boston Globe Scholastic Art Contest. They are high schoolers Zacariah Hayes, Stephanie Gaucher and Daorsa Shuka, each of whom was awarded a Silver Key Award in the Globe contest and David Osborne and John Papandrea of Winthrop Middle School, each of whom received Honorable Mention recognition in the Seventh and Eighth Grade category.
The sixth student to be recognized was actress Gabriella Webb-Durham, who recently was named one of the top 10 Shakespearean student actors in Massachusetts.
Congratulations to all of these students on a job well done.

ZBA on Winthrop Street home

Following the highly confrontational and controversial appearance of a Winthrop Street homeowner and her contractor at the Town Council meeting last week, Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) Chairman Richard Lynds took the unusual step of drafting a letter to members of the council to clear up some inaccuracies and misinformation that resulted from that meeting.
Essentially, Lynds’ letter, which gives background to the case of 274 Winthrop Street, supports the town manager’s assertion that Building Inspector Michael Crofts has acted reasonably and responsibly in directing contractors to stop work on the proposal, because the addition to the home doesn’t conform to town zoning bylaws.
Lynds noted the ZBA didn’t even get an application for appeal from the homeowners until December, meaning that because of posting notification requirements, the homeowners weren’t put on the agenda until the January meeting. When they did file notice for appeal, it requested merely a determination of the legality of the building inspector’s decision, not for relief from it. As a result, the ZBA voted to uphold the building inspector’s decision concerning the third floor addition, but allowed work on the rest of the home to continue.
In a phone interview Tuesday night, Lynds said the board encouraged the homeowners to return to the board with an appeal for relief from the cease and desist work order, based on a more recent decision of the building inspector. However, as of Tuesday, March 13, the homeowners still hadn’t filed for a new appeal, so the issue isn’t on the agenda for the March 29th meeting.
All of this illustrates exactly why it was prudent for the Town Council to send the homeowners back to the Appeals Board in the first place.
To date, the disagreement over whether the third-floor addition violates the town’s bylaws regarding two-story homes has been nothing more than a he said/he said. But the fact is that this is exactly why there is a ZBA process in place and exactly why the Town Council was right not to get involved.
The homeowners can claim that they are being put upon or harassed by the town all they want, but when the building inspector issued his first stop work order in the fall, the family should have filed for an appeal with the ZBA. Instead, they tried to get the stop worker order revoked by seeking a restraining order against the building inspector in court.
That attempt failed, when the judge in the case basically told the family they should have taken their case to the Board of Appeals. Now, there are two sides that have basically settled in to fight it out. The ZBA will likely be the next judge, if and when the family files an appeal. If the ZBA rules against them, the homeowners can then take the case to Land Court.
The truth is, there may be no quick end in sight on this matter unless the homeowner comes to the table willing to negotiate.