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Hyde Park North

Tell us more about plans for hotel, school asks

The owner of an Irish pub wants to add a hotel to the parking lot. A nearby school wants details on how it might be affected.

By JANET ZINK
Published April 8, 2005

When Colin Breen, owner of Four Green Fields, announced that he wanted to build a hotel on the parking lot of his popular Irish pub, no one complained.

But several months later, the plans are raising a yellow flag for St. John's Episcopal Middle School, next to the parking lot at Platt Street and Plant Avenue.

A public hearing on a request to rezone the site for a boutique hotel has been rescheduled twice.

The City Council was supposed to consider the issue in January but postponed it so that details about landscaping and traffic could be worked out. Then last week, the hearing was delayed again after representatives of St. John's said they wanted more time to review the plans.

The hearing is now set for May 19 at 10 a.m. at City Hall, 315 E Kennedy Blvd.

Breen's plans call for a four-story hotel on top of a four-story parking garage. The garage would have free parking for hotel guests and employees, patrons of Four Green Fields and some faculty at St. John's school, said Stephen Michelini, a land-use consultant representing Breen.

The school has worked closely with Four Green Fields over the years, said headmaster David Frothingham. Faculty and staff use the pub's parking lot during the day, and the school closes on St. Patrick's Day, one of the bar's busiest days of the year.

But as last week's public hearing approached, school officials said they didn't know enough about what was planned for the lot and had no assurances about the project in writing.

"None of the things that we had discussed with the developer had been dealt with formally in any way at all. We just want to make sure our interests are protected," Frothingham said. "Our position of not opposing the project still stands. As we face these changes, we just want to make sure that everything is very clearly spelled out."

Parking guarantees are the biggest issue, he said. But school officials also want to know how construction will affect use of a shared alley, and they want details on the site plan, which has shown 111 to 148 rooms. Plans now call for 115 rooms, Michelini said.

"There's some uncertainty to the site plan," said Brad Douglas, a School Board member whose children attend St. John's. "We want to make sure we understand what's being built next door."

Michelini said the site plan changed to accommodate the city's transportation and landscaping requests.

"We're working toward answering and addressing all (of the school's) issues," Michelini said. "There's been a continued spirit of cooperation."

Douglas and Frothingham emphasized they are not opposing the hotel plans.

"We just want to make sure we have a clear understanding of how we're going to work together with these guys as good neighbors," Douglas said.

If approved, construction on the hotel would begin in about six months and last for about a year.

Janet Zink can be reached at 226-3401 or jzink@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 7, 2005, 08:55:10]